We want to embrace being favourites – Lions boss Andy Farrell on Australia test
Ireland dominate the starting XV with an eight-strong contingent, while England provide four players and Scotland three. For the first time since 1896 there is no Welshman in the squad for a Test against traditional opponents Australia, New Zealand or South Africa.
Our line up for Saturday's first Test! 👊🦁#Lions2025
— British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) July 17, 2025
The Lions were expected to seize the initiative by winning even before bulldozing Australia forwards Rob Valetini and Will Skelton were ruled out of the Suncorp Stadium showdown by calf injuries on Thursday.
Ranked eighth in the world, the Wallabies are not the force of old, but a chance meeting in Brisbane between former Great Britain rugby league captain Farrell and his old Kangaroos sparring partner Gordon Tallis highlighted Australia's fighting spirit.
'I actually saw him in the street. I went 'Gordy' and he said 'flipping heck!'. We had a good 20 minutes in the street and it was good to catch up with him,' Farrell said.
'He said everyone used to talk about Queensland being underdogs. He said we never, ever saw it that way. And Australia will be exactly the same.
'If you're in a position where it comes down to this every 12 years and you get to pull the shirt on for the Wallabies and the privilege that goes with that, representing your country, they'll be fighting tooth and nail.
'One hundred per cent we want to embrace being favourites. Why wouldn't you? There's no overconfidence at all. It's having an inner confidence within our group that we are going to execute the plan when it matters.'
Maro Itoje leads the Lions into battle on Saturday but it will be the final message delivered by their head coach that will be ringing in their ears when they take the field.
'Make sure you don't have regrets and you don't get in your own way. You don't want to come off the pitch and think 'I wish I had another chance'. You've got to make it happen when it matters,' Farrell said.
While the Lions look forward to the first Test with anticipation, Welsh rugby is left reeling from yet more confirmation of its decline after failing to have any representation in the matchday 23.
Jac Morgan is the only Welshman left in Farrell's 44-man squad following Tomos Williams' tour-ending hamstring injury and while he has impressed, he is operating in the ferociously competitive openside position.
Ireland's Josh van der Flier is also unfortunate to miss out – the versatility of England's Ollie Chessum and Ben Earl have secured their spots on the bench – with Curry's remarkable work rate, physicality and big-match experience winning the day, even if he has not played as well as his rivals on tour.
When asked if it was a wrench to pick a side with no Wales players, Farrell replied: 'Honestly, as far as selection is concerned, we can't get involved in that. It's who deserves to get picked.
'Jac was unbelievably close and in great form. There's not much more he could have done.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ITV News
19 minutes ago
- ITV News
Usyk defeats Dubois to become undisputed world heavyweight champion for a second time
Oleksandr Usyk scored a fifth-round knockout of Daniel Dubois to become the undisputed world heavyweight champion for a second time. The heavily anticipated fight at Wembley Stadium on Saturday saw the Ukrainian seal victory with a crunching left hook to Dubois' jaw. The undefeated southpaw retained his WBA, WBC and WBO belts, and regained the IBF belt he relinquished just over a year ago. Speaking afterwards, 38-year-old Usyk said he had no plans to retire any time soon, naming Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, and Joseph Parker as possible next foes. "I will continue boxing and I will continue training, but now I cannot say who my next opponent will be," Usyk said during the post-match press conference. "I prepared for three and a half months. I've not seen my family, my wife. Every day I live with my team - 14 guys in one house. Now I want to go back home." Usyk dropped Dubois twice in the fifth round, the second time with a lunging left hook midway through the round after Dubois missed with the right. The London native looked stunned and couldn't beat the count before about 90,000 spectators at Wembley. Dubois joined British countrymen Fury and Joshua in having lost twice to Usyk, who was undisputed world champion as a cruiserweight before he moved up in weight six years ago. 27-year-old Dubois told DAZN: "I gave everything I had. Take no credit away from that man, I'll be back." Dubois was hoping to become the first British heavyweight to hold every major belt since Lennox Lewis just over 25 years ago. Speaking to ITV News ahead of the fight, Dubois said when he thought about Usyk, all he saw was "the guy I gotta go through, the obstacle in my way, the guy I gotta break up and take them belts from". When asked about what he loved most about boxing, he said: "Victory, discipline and the spoils of war." But Usyk was equally as confident when ITV News spoke to him and said "it didn't matter" that London-born Dubois was likely to be the more popular of the two among the crowd at Wembley, saying "focus just [on] the ring, it will be a great win."Their first bout happened in Wroclaw, Poland in August 2023, with Usyk controlling much of the fight. A low blow in the fifth round remains the talking point. Dubois's punch sent Usyk to the floor with referee Luis Pabon ruling it an illegal low blow, though Dubois's camp accused Usyk of pretending to be hurt. Usyk was given nearly four minutes to recover. Usyk scored a knockdown late in the eighth round and ended it a round later with a straight right that dropped Dubois. When asked by ITV News, Usyk dismissed speculation that the recovery time helped him win the match, saying "it doesn't matter". He said the only opinion that mattered was the "opinion of my family, my wife, my team, my children, my mama." After Saturday's fight, when Usyk was asked whether he thinks he's one of the sport's all-time greats, he answered "no". "I don't have motivation, I have discipline. Motivation is temporary," he said.
The Independent
19 minutes ago
- The Independent
Scotland's Gregor Brown called up by Lions as cover for Joe McCarthy
Scotland second row Gregor Brown has been called up to the British and Irish Lions' tour of Australia amid concerns over the fitness of Joe McCarthy. Brown joins Andy Farrell's squad in Melbourne on Sunday to provide cover for Tuesday's final midweek match against a First Nations and Pasifika XV, which is sandwiched by the first and second Tests. McCarthy left the field in the 44th minute of Saturday's 27-19 victory over the Wallabies because of a foot issue that makes him a doubt for the Lions' shot at clinching the series in the looming rematch at Melbourne Cricket Ground. 'It was niggling away at Joe. We got him off. Hopefully we got him off in time,' said head coach Farrell, who revealed that the Ireland enforcer is struggling with plantar fasciitis. Brown joins Rory Sutherland and Ewan Ashman in leaving Scotland's tour of New Zealand to link up with the Lions. All three of them started Friday's 41-12 victory over Samoa in Auckland. The 24-year-old has won nine caps since making his debut against Canada last year and featured throughout the recent Six Nations. Farrell is entering his most challenging week of the tour as he balances preparation for a potentially tricky fixture against the First Nations and Pasifika XV with the greater need of Saturday's second Test. By increasing the size of his squad to 45 players, he is attempting to prevent as few players as possible from backing up on Tuesday and Saturday while also ensuring his Test team are given an uninterrupted build up to the MCG showdown. The Lions have won all six of their games Down Under so far and are determined to see their 100 per cent record maintained in Melbourne, but being confronted with a match at such a critical juncture of the tour presents all manner of headaches. Farrell is embracing a fixture that was organised when original opponents Melbourne Rebels went into administration and even now refuses to separate his touring party into 'dirt trackers' and the Test team. 'We care about the squad and nothing but the squad. That's how it's been the whole time. We've never separated once. We've been all in everything together,' Farrell said. 'We'll name a side internally just before dinner on Sunday and then everyone will roll in on Monday to make sure that team, in an extended captain's run like we've been doing over the past four of five weeks, has as good a preparation as we've had all tour. It matters to us on Tuesday night as a group.' Finn Russell left the field early in the dominant victory at Suncorp Stadium but was suffering with cramp only. Garry Ringrose (concussion), Mack Hansen (foot), Blair Kinghorn (knee) and Luke Cowan-Dickie (concussion) face fitness checks as they look to be involved in the penultimate week of the tour.
The Independent
19 minutes ago
- The Independent
How the Lions' half backs seized control of Test series against Australia
There was a perhaps telling line uttered by Andy Farrell about eight minutes into his post-match press conference after the British and Irish Lions ' first Test win in Brisbane. The Lions boss had bounded through the bowels of Suncorp Stadium, scribbling a few thoughts in a notebook as he emerged to face the assembled media and then scolding those who had questioned the selection of Tadhg Beirne and Tom Curry. 'I'd read all of that,' he said, with an air of a parent chiding a naïve child accompanied with an 'I told you so' grin. 'It was quite interesting, wasn't it?' Certainly, in that selection, Farrell had been vindicated but there were to be no hubristic declarations otherwise. Part of the reason that he has excelled as a leader in both codes is the manner in which he measures his utterings both public and private. While talking up the Lions' first-half performance, Farrell underscored how unacceptable their second-half drop-off had been; while making clear that his side would celebrate first Test victory, already there were plenty of forward-looking hints to next week. They will need to be better with the Wallabies likely to lift their level at the MCG. But the aforementioned quote in question came when the Lions head coach had been given licence to gush. All and sundry have already extolled the virtues of Finn Russell on this tour and the fly half had been close to faultless on Saturday night, continuing to take ownership of a trip upon which he may yet emerge as the lead character. Russell had got the Lions' attack to hum, been immaculate from the tee and laid a try on a plate for roommate Sione Tuipulotu with a pass that the Scottish centre would later compare to the one carved to Huw Jones against England in 2018 – albeit without quite as much daring. Yet it was not any moments of flash that Farrell sought to spotlight. Bracketing both Russell and the equally effective Jamison Gibson-Park, it was the art of abstention that he wished to praise. 'They didn't get bored of doing the right thing,' Farrell explained of his half-backs. 'I thought the combination of the two of them together, Jamison and Finn, really controlled the game.' There had been debate about most positions in the Lions side but the starting nine and 10 never felt a matter for discussion. Now, clearly, this is no vintage Australian side that Gibson-Park and Russell dragged this way and that, but the manner in which they exuded calm and control was nonetheless impressive. Too often on this trip the tourists had been scatty and scratchy, but in the heat of first Test battle, their half-backs had cool heads. 'You could see the difference in our game,' Farrell explained. 'The hardest part about any team coming together is gelling in attack because it takes a lot of cohesion for that to happen. We are trying to find out about ourselves in that regard, but as far as the game control and how you play Test matches that's something we've always been working on in the background and conscious of. That's a given, really, for Test match rugby.' Despite the presence of 144-cap prop James Slipper, there was a vast difference in cap count and experience within each side, and there were times where it showed. Gibson-Park box kicking superbly to give his chasers the chance to win contestables, while the Wallabies conversely struggled to create opportunities to use their own aerial acumen – even if Max Jorgensen's opportunistic try came from exactly that sort of situation. Tom Lynagh – who will be better for the experience and did not look overawed – could not really swing the territorial battle, while his line kicking looked shallow, preventing Australia from taking chunks of ground when the Lions infringed. It helped both of the Lions halfbacks that they were playing behind a pack decisively winning the physical battle, but their playing of the percentages meant that it never felt like Australia had a route back into the game even when the visitors squandered their attacking opportunities. Kick metres have, traditionally, been an indicator of Test success over the past few years – while some analysts question causation given teams protecting a lead will naturally put boot to ball more often, the Lions were able to pin Australia in. It took until into the second half for Tom Wright, a livewire counter-attacking mind, to even have a chance to venture one of his trademark raids from deep – and even then the Wallabies full-back was quickly corralled. Off the back of their territorial dominance, Gibson-Park, Russell and the rest could go to work in the first 60 minutes. As Farrell effused: 'When they were able to show the best of themselves, and we know what they've got in their locker as far as their points of difference, it came out every now and then. That's the brilliance of the two.' Of concern for the Lions boss will be that second half drop-off. Maro Itoje, the Lions captain, felt his side lost their discipline rather than grew at all complacent but there felt to be a collective easing in intensity, as can occur in a game where a lead has been swollen. The departure of Russell, cramping, 15 minutes from the end saw the Lions lose structure slightly; Marcus Smith sparked briefly in attack but has had so little time at 10 on tour. There will be a temptation to look at Fin Smith or, perhaps more likely, Owen Farrell in the 22 shirt in the second Test if Blair Kinghorn or Mack Hansen are back to provide full-back cover. While Russell will be good to go next week, the departure of a limping Joe McCarthy after an attack of plantar fasciitis may be a greater worry. 'It was niggling away at him there. Hopefully we got him off in time,' Farrell said without total confidence. It is one of a few nagging concerns for the Lions boss but his side are now in control of the series.
