Rugby-Schmidt, Farrell mull options with Lions series on the line

The Star

6 days ago

FILE PHOTO: Rugby Union - Autumn Internationals - England v Australia - Allianz Stadium Twickenham, London, Britain - November 9, 2024 Australia head coach Joe Schmidt before the match Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers/File Photo
MELBOURNE (Reuters) -Joe Schmidt will unveil his team for the second test against the British & Irish Lions in Melbourne on Thursday, a lineup that could go a long way to defining his time as coach of Australia.
Australia must find a response to the physical dominance the tourists exerted in the opening hour of the first test defeat in Brisbane or risk becoming the first Wallabies team to fail to take a Lions series to a decider.
Rob Valetini, Australia's best test player of the last two years, has recovered from a calf injury and will take his place in the back row at the expense of rookie Nick Champion de Crespigny.
Lock Will Skelton has also recovered from a similar injury and while his inclusion would certainly beef up the pack, his limitations at the lineout might require a tweak of the back row to add another jumper.
Schmidt has had no shortage of helpful suggestions from media pundits this week with most concurring that the hard-running Angus Bell should be promoted to start at loosehead prop instead of 36-year-old James Slipper.
Dave Porecki should be available after sustaining a concussion against Fiji two weeks ago and his lineout throwing would help shore up an area of the game where the Wallabies struggled in the first test.
Behind the scrum, Tom Lynagh showed enough in his first test start to get another shot, although many would like him to do so in tandem with his Queensland Reds teammate Tate McDermott, who had a fine game off the bench in Brisbane.
There have also been calls to shift Joseph Suaalii from centre into the back three after he struggled to make an impact in Brisbane until it was too late.
That would also allow Len Ikitau to move to his more favoured outside centre spot with Hunter Paisami, another Queenland Red, slotting into the midfield outside Lynagh.
Lions coach Andy Farrell's job is a little easier after the early dominance the tourists showed in Brisbane, although he looks likely to be forced to make a change to his second row.
Irish lock Joe McCarthy limped off with a foot injury early in the second half at Lang Park and has not trained this week, leaving the door open for Ollie Chessum to move up from the bench.
The head knock suffered by Marcus Smith against the First Nations & Pasikifa XV on Tuesday could open up a spot on the bench for Farrell's playmaker son Owen, who was called up as an injury replacement for his fourth Lions tour.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney in Sydney, editing by Peter Rutherford)