
My message to the Lions: own the experience and convert it into your fuel
For all the sports psychology, visualisation and every bit of preparation you can do, it's still different. It changed the way I warmed up. I made sure I got out on to the field early just to be able to absorb it. You are not a spectator when the whistle goes, you're not looking around thinking: 'This is cool'. That's for the fans, so I would go out early to feel it, to sense it and just get used to it.
It's relevant because so many of this Lions team will be sampling that atmosphere for the first time. Only Tadhg Furlong and Maro Itoje have played Lions Test matches in front of supporters. For the rest, it's a brand-new experience but you can't approach it as if it's brand new. You have to own it and convert all of that energy into something that provides fuel.
The Lions are heavy favourites to win the first Test and in my opinion, whoever wins this one will win the series. It's also worth noting that the five occasions when the Lions won the first Test against Australia – in 1904, 1950, 1959, 1966 and 2013 – they've gone on to win the series.
It's inconceivable that anyone from the Lions camp would be talking about a 3-0 victory if this was a tour of New Zealand or South Africa but that is a demonstration of where Australian rugby is at the moment. We see it all the time during the Six Nations or during World Cups, teams fighting for the underdog status. Let's be honest, it's not much of a fight at the moment, it's been gift-wrapped for Australia and understandably Joe Schmidt has leant into that somewhat.
The Lions are the clear favourites and that's a tag they'll have to wear but I think it's one they'll be really comfortable with. The Lions were the favourites before we saw the squad, even bigger after the team announcements. They're not shying away from it, there are 40,000 fans rocking up, expecting a team to win and I don't think they'll be disappointed.
When I arrived in Brisbane earlier this week, all I kept hearing at the airport was talk of whitewashing the Wallabies. While that would be a brilliant result, it's not good for the tour. What I like as a fan is jeopardy, the level of uncertainty but before a ball has been kicked in a Test match the jeopardy is just not as high. The competition is not as strong.
Australia have been on this really weird journey with Schmidt coming in this time last year, trying loads of different things in the Rugby Championship, but you could see they were building as a team. They looked to have been complete by November, they were fantastic against England and probably should have beaten Ireland, but six months on it feels like there's more uncertainty.
One of the fundamental aspects that the Lions have to get right is a fast start. The next thing is territory. With the half-backs for the Lions and the Wallabies, there's a significant gap in experience there. So I expect the Lions to be able to control territory and control the pace of the game better. I think the Australians are wanting to play unstructured, to make everything frantic. I think the Lions want to keep it in structure. They'd be happy to go from set piece to set piece. They can play a quick game, particularly, with the familiarity they have at 10-12-13 but I think the Lions will look to use their structure and only break out of it when they get the right opportunities in the right areas.
Sign up to The Breakdown
The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewed
after newsletter promotion
The aerial battle is going to be massive because I anticipate that the Lions will kick a lot, looking for Tommy Freeman who is brilliant in the air. So is Harry Potter by the way and I'm expecting a big performance from him on Saturday. The Lions will have to be careful with the depth of their kicking, too. If they kick long then the chase needs to be on point because Tom Wright at full-back is the most unheralded world-class player in rugby. If you look at the compilation of tries he scored last year, if you had that across your whole career you'd be very happy and I think he's exceptional.
Another key battleground will be the head to head between the centres. Len Ikitau and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii together are magic but I'm not sure they'll get the same service that Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones will be getting to have an impact. Australia will want to break the game up and use their individual star power to be able to give them footprints into the game and that is how they increase the influence that Suaalii can have on proceedings. It feels like it's going to be a match where pretty much everything is going to have to go right for the Wallabies, though. The Lions are comfortable wearing the favourites tag and they are going to take some stopping.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Independent
22 minutes ago
- The Independent
Liverpool complete signing of Hugo Ekitike after seeing off late Man United interest
The Frenchman, whose fee could rise to £79m depending on bonuses, has signed a six-year contract at Anfield after passing a medical. Liverpool saw off late interest from Manchester United for the 23-year-old, while Newcastle had offered £70m for Ekitike, which Eintracht rejected. The former Paris Saint-Germain forward, who told United he had no interest in joining them when director of recruitment Christopher Vivell contacted Frankfurt, was a long-term target for Liverpool, who had been in contact with his representatives for six months, while Arne Slot spoke to him at the end of the season. Ekitike becomes Liverpool's fourth major summer signing and takes their spending to £250m – and up to £300m, including potential add-ons and the deal for Giorgi Mamardashvili, which was sealed last summer. and full-backs Milos Kerez and Jeremie Frimpong. Liverpool had also made an inquiry for Alexander Isak, who Newcastle did not want to sell, but believe they were pursuing Ekitike before the Carabao Cup winners turned to him after failing in attempts to sign Liam Delap and Joao Pedro, who both joined Chelsea instead. But they were reluctant to get involved in an auction and waited before making a late move, as they had when they took the Tottenham target Luis Diaz from Porto in 2022. Liverpool see Ekitike as a multi-functional forward who, though largely a No 9, can also play in deeper and wider roles and think that only Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe have shown more potential among strikers of such age. Ekitike scored 22 goals for Eintracht last season, though Liverpool believe his impact was greater than that and he has the potential to become more prolific.


Daily Mail
23 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Ben Stokes once again delivers when England need it most on tight first day - as India's batting genius Rishabh Pant is carted off on a golf buggy
It was quarter to six on a slow-moving day in Manchester when Ben Stokes did what he has done so often, and gave England the pick-me-up they desperately craved. Sai Sudharsan had reached a patient but classy 61 on his return to India 's problem position at No 3 when Stokes dropped short, inviting the pull. Sudharsan obliged, and Brydon Carse was waiting for the top edge at fine leg, bringing Old Trafford to its feet. The scoreboard said India were still a relatively healthy 235 for four. But that did not factor in an even more significant blow 20 minutes earlier, when Rishabh Pant – the batting genius of this gripping series – was carted off on a golf buggy after being pinned painfully on the boot by a full-length delivery from Chris Woakes. It almost went without saying that Pant, who has spent the past few weeks redefining 'maverick', had incurred the injury while missing a reverse-sweep, which he regards as most others do the forward defensive. But any humour quickly vanished: having moved with customary mischief to 37, Pant grimaced in pain. As the swelling on the outside half of his right foot became visible, all of India grimaced with him. At Lord's, he had handed the gloves to substitute wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel after hurting a finger. Now, Jurel will surely be called into action once more – presumably for the rest of this game, and quite possibly for next week's fifth and final Test at The Oval. If Pant, who was on Wednesday night heading for a scan, has played the last of his cricket for the summer, it will be an almighty blow to India's chances of turning a 2–1 deficit into something more palatable. Soon after, Stokes's dismissal of Sudharsan helped convince him he really had made the right decision by putting India in for the third time in four games, and never mind the fact that no captain in 85 Tests at Old Trafford dating back to 1884 has won after opting to bowl. The Indian genius was forced to retire hurt and was heading for a scan on Wednesday evening And it followed two champagne moments that kept England in the hunt on a day when both sides seemed too busy probing and prodding, too fixated on the prize at stake, to become involved in more argy-bargy. Top Spin at the Test By Lawrence Booth Only two England players have missed more than the 102 Tests since Liam Dawson last appeared: Gareth Batty sat out a world-record 142 games between 2005 and 2016, and Martin Bicknell had a gap of 114 games between 1993 and 2003. KL Rahul became only the second overseas opener this century to pass 1,000 runs in England, after South Africa's Graeme Smith managed 1,355 at 67. Sai Sudharsan's 61 was the first half-century by an Indian No 3 in 16 innings, stretching back to Shubman Gill's 90 against New Zealand at Mumbai in November. The first came when Liam Dawson, a Test cricketer once more, struck with his seventh ball back at the highest level. Having somehow survived a morning of playing and missing at Chris Woakes, India's opener Yashasvi Jaiswal had reached 58 when he propped forward to a delivery that turned less than he expected, and edged to Harry Brook at slip. Dawson greeted his first Test wicket in 2,928 days with a roar and a clenched fist. Some things are worth the wait. Not long ago, the 35-year-old Dawson suggested Test cricket was no longer on his radar. Here he looked the part, offering the control that Shoaib Bashir – nursing a broken finger – occasionally lacks, and building on Woakes's dismissal of KL Rahul, who had edged into Zak Crawley's midriff at third slip for 46 to end an opening stand of 94. The second of the day's highlights involved, inevitably, Stokes. He had just had Sudharsan badly missed down the leg side by Jamie Smith on 20 – a planned-for dismissal that would have replicated Sudharsan's demise in the first innings of the series at Headingley. But Shubman Gill, who had walked out to boos after suggesting England had disrespected the spirit of the game at Lord's, remained in Stokes's sights. Anticipating awayswing, India's captain padded up to one that went the other way, though Rod Tucker raised his finger only after a leg-before appeal that could be heard up the road at the other Old Trafford. Since making 585 in his first four innings, Gill has made 34 in three, and twice wasted a review trying to overturn a plumb lbw. When DRS revealed three reds, there was little sympathy as he walked off. Stokes's removal of Sudharsan, meanwhile, took his haul in this Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy to 13, joining Mohammed Siraj at the top of the wicket-taking list. And his workload for the series stands at 119 overs, more than he has bowled in any other. So much for trying to nurse his body through 10 high-profile Tests: England's captain is on a roll, and just you try stopping him. His energy and charisma were just as well on another sluggish surface that drew some of the sting from Jofra Archer, whose pace was a few mph down from Lord's, and Carse, who didn't help himself by bowling too wide, too often. Not for the first time, Stokes was shouldering another burden, having stuck India in at a venue where, over the last decade, the batting average has fallen steadily throughout Test matches: from 42 on the first day down to 21 on the last. The ploy worked at Headingley, but backfired at Edgbaston, before Stokes bucked the trend by batting first at Lord's, and emerging with a heart-stopping 22-run win. That he has gambled again should surprise no one. As for India, they can feel pleased with a close-of-play score of 264 for four, but Pant's absence means Shardul Thakur – like Sudharsan, appearing for the first time since Leeds – is already at the crease. And England will take the second new ball immediately this morning in the knowledge that India's lower order can be vulnerable. Blocking their path is Ravindra Jadeja, who is seeking a fifth straight half-century, and reprised one of the themes of the series by wasting time as the floodlights came on. No one mentioned the spirit of the game. But then no one needed to: after an old-fashioned arm-wrestle of a day, the cricket spoke for itself.


Daily Mail
23 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Liverpool confirm £79m signing of striker Hugo Ekitike as Reds' summer spending passes £290MILLION
Liverpool have confirmed the £79million signing of striker Hugo Ekitike. The Eintracht Frankfurt No 9 is expected to join up with the squad in Hong Kong in the next 48 hours for training sessions but is unlikely to play in Saturday's fixture against AC Milan. Ekitike, 23, joins on a six-year contract and has been on Liverpool's radar for some years, with Mail Sport first revealing in March that he was a top target. Liverpool have been in contact with Ekitike since January and Arne Slot informed the Frenchman of his intention to sign him at the end of the season just gone. The Reds' data tests showed that no one other than Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe scored higher in their data tests for No 9s. Slot's men do see him as a central striker but acknowledge that he can play off the wings too. The package is a £69m base fee plus £10m in add-ons which are based on team and player performance. The Frenchman has joined on a six-year deal and underwent his medical on Tuesday. Sporting director Richard Hughes has remained in the UK for now to finalise this transfer after Arne Slot's squad departed for the Far East on Sunday night after beating Stoke 5-0 in a behind-closed-doors game at the AXA Training Base in Kirkby. The champions played two different starting line-ups before and after half-time and Florian Wirtz, the club record addition, got his first competitive action for the club following his £116million move from Bayer Leverkusen. The likes of Jeremine Frimpong, Milos Kerkez and Giorgi Mamardashvili have also featured, having joined for £29.5m, £40m and £29m respectively. Those four signings have taken the Reds' summer spending past £290m as they continue to splash the cash and look to improve on a season that saw them become Premier League champions for a second time. Last week, Newcastle had an offer of £70m rejected for Ekitike, which fell £16m short of his release clause. Liverpool have also been linked with a move for Newcastle striker Alexander Isak but that move remains in question, especially after the major outplay for the France Under 21 international. Last season Ekitike scored 22 goals in 48 games for Frankfurt in all competitions, with 15 of those strikes coming in the Bundesliga. He was also named in the Bundesliga team of the season following a hugely impressive campaign. Ekitike was previously at Paris Saint-Germain, initially on loan from Reims before joining permanently. However, he only made 33 appearances for PSG in total and scored four goals. Liverpool have already been heavily active in the transfer market this summer, with several familiar faces leaving Anfield in a summer of churn. Trent Alexander-Arnold joined Real Madrid, while Jarell Quansah signed for Bayer Leverkusen and Caoimhin Kelleher made the switch to Brentford. The Reds are also expected to sell a number of stars before the window closes, with the likes of Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz and Harvey Elliot all heavily linked with moves away.