The UK media is expecting a power-packed British and Irish Lions to overwhelm a Wallabies team missing two of its best players in Rob Valetini and Will Skelton when the three-Test series tarts in Brisbane on Saturday night.
Both teams were named on Thursday with Lions coach naming a pack capable of blowing away Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies.
“Without Skelton and Valetini, Australia are underpowered and it takes away some of their super strengths,” summed Ugo Monye, who toured South Africa with the Lions in 2009, on the BBC’s Rugby Union Weekly podcast.
“The Lions were favourites before we even saw their squad.
“Now we have seen their team and the Australian team, there is a greater sense of confidence.”
Rob Kitson, in the Guardian, said Farrell had a chance meeting with former Queensland State of Origin star Gorden Tallis, where the Lions coach – a former international league player – got a timely reminder of the threat of underdogs, despite the “conspicuous crater” of Valetini’s absence.
CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA – OCTOBER 14: Rob Valetini is pictured during an Australia Wallabies Training Session at the AIS on October 14, 2024 in Canberra, Australia. (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)
“Farrell, in short, has been around enough Australian opposition to remain on red alert despite a Wallaby team sheet which, at first glance, contains more holes than a battered old colander,” Kitson wrote.
“No Rob Valetini; no Will Skelton; no Langi Gleeson; a fly-half making his first Test start in the shape of Tom Lynagh and an uncapped flanker, the magnificently named Nick Champion de Crespigny, whose family originate from Normandy and whose grandfather is a renowned Asian historian. If they intend to rival the legendary Wallaby sides of yesteryear, not least those that featured Lynagh’s father, Michael, this depleted mob still have some way to travel.
“Farrell looks likely to tailor his selections to fit the circumstances in this series but, first up, it would seem he wants to give his hosts a proper full-frontal physical examination.
“Hence the selection of no-nonsense forwards such as Ellis Genge and Joe McCarthy and, notably, Tom Curry who has narrowly won the nod to start ahead of Jac Morgan and Josh van der Flier. With Dan Sheehan and Jack Conan riding shotgun, the Wallaby defence will be fully occupied even before Jamison Gibson-Park and Finn Russell start pulling the strings.
“Then there is the big game experience of Tadhg Beirne which, as much as anything else, has earned him the blindside berth ahead of Ollie Chessum. Beirne, as well as providing an extra lineout presence, has the ability to snaffle a turnover or two. The Wallabies have some talented athletes but first of all they have to win the ball.
“And if that proves a struggle and their foundations start to wobble, the Lions fancy they have enough on the bench to capitalise. Australia, for that very reason, have held the excellent Angus Bell back while the Exeter-bound Tom Hooper and Carlo Tizzano will also be invited to add extra second‑half zest.”
Former World Cup-winning coach Clive Woodward, writing in the Daily Mail, noted the pressure on Farrell’s men.
“Andy Farrell’s side simply cannot afford to lose. Such a scenario is unthinkable. If the Lions are beaten, I think serious questions will have to be asked not only of Farrell, but the players and the whole organisational committee. Everything is on the line and I’m expecting a very, very tight Test match in Brisbane on Saturday,” Woodward wrote.
“I think the Lions might be in for a rude awakening. Don’t get me wrong, they are the better team and should win.
“The team Farrell has picked for Brisbane is a strong one. Other than Tom Curry over Jac Morgan and Tadhg Beirne in place of Ollie Chessum, it’s the XV I’d have gone with.”
But Woodward said comments by Henry Pollock, who missed selection, that Lions would win 3-0, had not helped the team.
Henry Pollock of British & Irish Lions during the Lions 1888 Cup match between the British & Irish Lions and Argentina at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. (Photo By Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
“I lived in Australia for five years. I loved it. I got married there, two of my kids were born there, and I really enjoyed the way of life. So, I’d like to think I’ve got a good understanding of how Australians operate,” wrote Woodward.
“When I was England coach, Australia were our biggest rivals too and the team I most enjoyed facing, especially Down Under.
“Anyone with a passion for sport in Australia loves to be put in a corner. Australians like to prove a point and show you why you were wrong about them.”
Chris Foy, also in the Daily Mail, said the Wallabies “won’t be as dangerous as they should be, as leading forwards Will Skelton and Rob Valetini were absent from the line-up.”
In the UK Telegraph Gavin Mairs wrote: “Make no mistake, this selection is a power play from Andy Farrell.
“By picking the most physically imposing back row that is available to him, with Tadhg Beirne included on the blindside flank and Tom Curry at openside, Farrell has made a powerhouse statement of intent.
“Other flankers have shown better form on this tour; Jac Morgan has been a greater jackal threat, Ben Earl and Henry Pollock have both been explosive carriers, Josh van der Flier the continuity specialist while Ollie Chessum has been a relentless workhorse.
“But it is clear that the Lions have prioritised the basics; the tourists want to utterly dominate the scrum and line-out.”
He added: “With two of Australia’s most powerful forwards, Will Skelton and Rob Valetini, both ruled out of Saturday’s Test at Suncorp Stadium, Farrell’s pick looks even more ominous in terms of their intent to attempt to bully their opponents, underscored by the presence of Chessum, Earl and Bundee Aki on the bench.”
Will Kelleher, in The Times, also used the P word. “Farrell named a team with a powerful, abrasive pack of forwards that includes Ellis Genge, Joe McCarthy, Tadhg Beirne and Tom Curry, and told his players to “walk forward” towards the expectation upon them,” he wrote.
“The Lions are favoured by the bookmakers to beat Australia at Suncorp Stadium by ten points, and are odds-on to win the three-match series. Farrell, the Lions head coach, likes that his team is owning their status as favourites, but does not expect Australia to roll over for them.”
Also in The Times, Alex Lowe said a message was being sent – “that they intend to blow Australia off the ball and out of the game, offering them no window to compete.
“Tom Lynagh, the diminutive Wallabies fly half, is starting a Test for the first time. The Lions will look to be aggressive, physical and in his face, making the whole experience distinctly uncomfortable. [Tom] Curry is perfect for that.
“After the ACT Brumbies game, Farrell highlighted an easily forgettable passage of play when the home full back cleared to touch. The kick did not buy anywhere near enough territory because Curry, way ahead of his colleagues, had flown up to apply the pressure.
“The only position where raw power has not won the day is at inside centre, where Sione Tuipulotu is … preferred to Bundee Aki. The Irishman is the more direct, physical option. The Lions have played some of their best rugby on this tour when he has generated momentum by driving through the gainline.”
Graham Bean, in The Scotsman, noted the back line picks of Finn Russell, Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones.
“The selection of Russell, Tuipulotu and Jones puts the creative onus on the Scots and it is the first time since 1993 one country has provided the 10/12/13 axis in a Lions Test,” wrote Bean.
“On that occasion it was English trio Rob Andrew, Will Carling and Jeremy Guscott who played in the series opener against New Zealand.
“Russell becomes the first Scot to start a Lions Test match at 10 since Gregor Townsend in South Africa in 1997. The Bath flyhalf, on his third Lions tour, was always expected to get the nod after a string of impressive performances over the last month.
J(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
“Tuipulotu and Jones’ status was less certain but a head injury to Ireland centre Garry Ringrose opened the door and head coach Farrell opted to go for the Glasgow Warriors centre pairing rather than mix it up by playing one of them with Bundee Aki, who wins a place on the bench.
“The hope now is that the Russell-Tuipulotu-Jones axis can bring their chemistry to the Lions stage. Jamison Gibson-Park will be at scrum-half having linked up well with Russell in the preliminary matches.”
While there was pride for Scotland, Oliver Brown, in the Telegraph, wrote of the absence of a Welsh player in a Lions matchday squad for the first time in 129 years, after Jac Morgan missed out on backrow selection.
“Of all the moments of reckoning for Welsh rugby since the last World Cup, few have been so bleak as the principality’s failure to produce even a single member of the British and Irish Lions squad here in Brisbane, its first such humiliation for 129 years.
“It was 1896, a time when the only match-day rule was to restrict lunchtime alcohol consumption to four tumblers of champagne, when Wales were last blanked in a Test line-up in Australia, New Zealand or South Africa.
“While Andy Farrell’s decision to leave out Jac Morgan against the Wallabies is a bitter pill for the player himself, it pales against the corrosive effect that this move will have on national pride.
“As deflating as it is for Welsh supporters to travel 10,000 miles and discover that not a single one of their players has made the cut, it should not be seen as some dreadful betrayal of the ethos of four unions becoming one. If you want to be fundamentalist about the Lions’ founding principles, it is far more striking that three of the Brisbane starters – Tuipulotu, James Lowe and Jamison Gibson-Park – were born and raised in the southern hemisphere.
“Tokenism should always be resisted at the pinnacle of international sport. This is not a moment for making some perfunctory effort to appease the under-represented Welsh, but to assemble the mightiest side at Farrell’s disposal. And for all the respect that Morgan has deservedly drawn in Australia, his Test place must come only because he is the best available, not because he warrants some form of sympathy vote.”
