Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt has exposed a raw nerve up north with his sly description of two key British and Irish Lions players ahead of the blockbuster tour Down Under.
After naming the Wallabies 36-man squad on Thursday, Schmidt discussed the make up of the Lions team to play their warmup Test against Argentina this weekend.
Schmidt focussed on the midfield pairing of Kiwi-born Bundee Aki and Aussie-born Sione Tuipulotu and described them as a “southern hemisphere centre partnership that will be pretty formidable.”
Schmidt is a calculated coach and surely knew what he was doing, throwing a little dig into the mix at a time when the heritage of the Lions players is the subject of debate in both hemispheres.
“Obviously, I coached Bundee for several years [with Ireland] and know him really well, respect him massively as a player and a great contributor to the team environment,” Schmidt added.
“I’ve only had glancing conversations with Sione but again, by all accounts a champion bloke. You don’t get to be captain of a national team without being a great bloke and really professional in those high-performance environments. They are real athletes, those two together, so that’ll be really interesting.”
Andy Farrell’s Lions squad features nine foreign-born players, including Tuipulotu’s fellow Australians Mack Hansen and Finlay Bealham.
Bundee Aki looks on during the British & Irish Lions training session at The Campus, Quinta do Lago on June 12, 2025 in Faro, Portugal. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
Lions legend Willie John McBride voiced opposition to the number of foreigners, while former England No.9 Danny Care suggested there were plenty of critics who “feel the same but can’t say it.”
“Both your starting wingers are going to be lads that never, ever once in their childhood or even their mid-twenties dreamt of wearing a red Lions jersey,” Care said on the BBC Rugby Union Weekly podcast, referring to New Zealand-born James Lowe and South Africa-born Duhan van der Merwe.
“It is what it is, it’s the rules, and why not. If you’re James Lowe or you’re Duhan van der Merwe or you’re [Jamison] Gibson-Park, you go, ‘Oh, I’ll play for the Lions, yeah.’”
Instead of letting Schmidt’s choice of words through to the keeper, Lions assistant coach Richard Wigglesworth took a swing on Friday.
“I don’t know if they [Australia] are questioning their commitment because you would argue … their journey and how committed they have been to their country, whether that be Scotland or Ireland, England or Wales, everyone has earned the right to pull on the Lions jersey,” Wigglesworth said.
“They are, to a man, incredibly proud to be here. It is not your background or how you have got here… it is what sort of player are you and what sort of man you are and we have got great men and great players.”
Wigglesworth seemed happier with Schmidt’s decision to allow several Force players to remain with the state to face the Lions before joining up with the Wallabies.
“We want to be tested. We test each other in training and you want to be tested on a Saturday night,” Wigglesworth said. “Whatever comes we will be tested because we will be pushing ourselves. Whether players play or don’t, it will be a test because we expect incredibly high standards.
“Andy [Farrell] has talked about impressing the people who are sitting in the stands and in the changing rooms around you. We have got a few weeks to impress each other.
“We want to see how we connect on and off the ball. We want to play to space, and play fast. Every Test match is different, so if we work hard with the players we’ve got, we’ll create some stuff.”
Meanwhile, it was reported in the UK Telegraph that the Lions board have rejected an appeal from Australia for the three Tests to be decided by golden point in the case of draws – to ensure there is a clear series winner.
Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh had argued the prospect of golden point extra time – in which first team to score win – should be played.
“We’ve had some really constructive conversations. That’s got to go to the Lions board around whether it’s a drawn series, or you decide it through golden point or extra time,” Waugh said earlier this year.
“Our preference, if we put the fans at the centre of everything we’re doing, I think that the familiarity that everyone has with ‘golden point’ and the interest for that in our market is a good guide.
“Obviously, we will be making sure both parties agree. But I think that if you’re thinking about some fan engagement, that’s certainly very appealing.”
The series honours were shared between the Lions and All Blacks in 2017 after a drawn Test.
