WORLD OF RUGBY: Alarm bells ring for Lions chiefs as Irish contingent fail their audition to leave plans up in the air with two weeks to go until Australia Test, writes CHRIS FOY
Given events in Sydney on Saturday, as the Lions stumbled to victory over the gallant Waratahs, it is fair to argue that more players have played themselves out of the first-choice XV than into it. It was a failed audition for many of the large Irish contingent, in particular.
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The Independent
22 minutes ago
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Huw Jones: I was on an emotional rollercoaster ahead of Lions' series triumph
Huw Jones admitted he had been riding an emotional rollercoaster, culminating in the British and Irish Lions clinching a series victory over Australia. Andy Farrell's men have returned to Sydney intent on becoming the first Lions team to complete a Test whitewash since the 1927 visit to Argentina – an aspiration made possible by Saturday's gripping 29-26 triumph in Melbourne. Jones was destined to miss one of the greatest matches in the tourists' storied history after initially being left out of the starting XV, despite having impressed in the Suncorp Stadium opener. But having been dropped for Garry Ringrose, he was reinstated at outside centre when the Ireland star self-reported a return of the concussion symptoms that had forced him to miss the first Test. 'It was a pretty mental week. I had the initial disappointment of not being in the squad on the Tuesday,' Jones said. 'I had a chat with Andy and I was gutted. I got over that and was ready to get behind the boys. 'And then on Thursday we trained and Garry – to be fair to him – said his head just wasn't right. I think he may have got a knock in the session and went to the doctor. 'That's brave. And pulling yourself out as well. It was at the end of training, I had no idea that he was struggling, 'I chatted to Garry afterwards and he was emotional. Its one of those….you think 'I'll be all right' but if it's bad, it's bad. 'But like people have said, it's just a game. Your head's very important, you only get one brain and all that. 'If he felt the need to say that he was struggling, then fair play to him. I just hope that he gets over it very quickly. 'I was gutted for him because he deserved to play and I know he would have been unbelievable. Sometimes that's rugby and that's sport. 'So I got a nod after that session. I was ready to step in and luckily I'd run some of the plays on Tuesday, so I was ready to go and got the job done.' Jones played a key part in the Lions' comeback from 18 points down after showing his strength to power over just before half-time, but it was Hugo Keenan's dashing finish with 51 seconds left that ignited the celebrations. Remarkably, Keenan's try was the first time the Lions had led in the second Test. 'What a game. Unbelievable. We made it hard for ourselves, ill-discipline and all that, but came back at the end and Hugo….what a finish. It was a good feeling,' Jones said. 'It's a cliche, but we never stopped believing, even at half-time. Even if we'd been further down, we still had the belief that we'd go on and win.' Farrell has given his squad two days off to celebrate Saturday's achievement with the players being joined by their friends and family. They resume training on Tuesday when the Lions will begin plotting the downfall of the Wallabies for a third-successive weekend. Farrell is scheduled to name his starting XV and bench on Thursday.
BBC News
23 minutes ago
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Morgan produced 'perfect' clearout
Former World Cup final referee Nigel Owens says Wales flanker Jac Morgan performed the perfect clearout in the build-up to the British and Irish Lions series winning try against Australia. The Lions clinched a 29-26 victory in the second Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground but there was high drama in the closing seconds in the build-up to Hugo Keenan's late score as the match officials examined a clearout by Morgan earlier in the Harry Wilson and Maro Itoje attempted to influence referee Andrea Piardi during the decision-making process, before it was eventually judged Morgan's contact with Carlo Tizzano was legal. If Keenan's try had been chalked off, the series would have gone to a decider in Sydney next Saturday. Instead, the Lions have taken an unassailable 2-0 Andy Farrell and Joe Schmidt afterwards took opposing views of the refereeing boss Schmidt stated it brought player safety into question but Owens believes Morgan's action were legal."It was the perfect clearout," Owens told BBC Radio Wales. Quoting the law Law 9.20 states: "A player must not charge into a ruck or maul without binding onto another player."It also states that "making contact above the line of the shoulders with an opponent is a dangerous play and is prohibited"."I know some people in Australia are quoting the law and saying he is going in low," said Owens."But if you are quoting the law you have to recognise both players were low coming into the ruck."Welshman Owens retired from international duties in 2020 after officiating in 100 Test matches, including the 2015 World Cup final between New Zealand and Australia at incident has divided opinion with Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh demanded World Rugby explain the controversial decision."There are a couple of things you need to judge here," said Owens."First of all, are Jac Morgan's actions legal? Is he coming in low and are the arms out ready to wrap and clear out? "If he wasn't doing that and leading with his shoulder then you have foul play and a penalty."His actions are perfect in the way you would expect a player to clean out."The incident was more dramatic as Tizzano fell backwards holding his head after Morgan's action."There is a chance the Australia player who has come into the ruck has not come through the gate but that's irrelevant in the outcome because if there was foul play it would trump that," said Owens."The Australia player gets in and he is very low. This happens throughout the game and you see many of these incidents."Jac goes in and tries to get in very low or underneath him to clear him out. So it's textbook clearing out for me."The only time this would be illegal is if the Australian player was in that position and Jac was a couple of seconds later arriving and he had time to readjust, then there would be conversations about foul play."Because it is relatively dynamic, as the referee has explained, both of them are pretty much there simultaneously."The Australian player gets there a split second before, but Jac is already coming in with a legal clearout, so there is no foul play."
Leader Live
40 minutes ago
- Leader Live
Huw Jones: I was on an emotional rollercoaster ahead of Lions' series triumph
Andy Farrell's men have returned to Sydney intent on becoming the first Lions team to complete a Test whitewash since the 1927 visit to Argentina – an aspiration made possible by Saturday's gripping 29-26 triumph in Melbourne. Jones was destined to miss one of the greatest matches in the tourists' storied history after initially being left out of the starting XV, despite having impressed in the Suncorp Stadium opener. But having been dropped for Garry Ringrose, he was reinstated at outside centre when the Ireland star self-reported a return of the concussion symptoms that had forced him to miss the first Test. 'It was a pretty mental week. I had the initial disappointment of not being in the squad on the Tuesday,' Jones said. 'I had a chat with Andy and I was gutted. I got over that and was ready to get behind the boys. 'And then on Thursday we trained and Garry – to be fair to him – said his head just wasn't right. I think he may have got a knock in the session and went to the doctor. 'That's brave. And pulling yourself out as well. It was at the end of training, I had no idea that he was struggling, 'I chatted to Garry afterwards and he was emotional. Its one of those….you think 'I'll be all right' but if it's bad, it's bad. 'But like people have said, it's just a game. Your head's very important, you only get one brain and all that. 'If he felt the need to say that he was struggling, then fair play to him. I just hope that he gets over it very quickly. The moment that clinched the Series…#Lions2025 — British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) July 26, 2025 'I was gutted for him because he deserved to play and I know he would have been unbelievable. Sometimes that's rugby and that's sport. 'So I got a nod after that session. I was ready to step in and luckily I'd run some of the plays on Tuesday, so I was ready to go and got the job done.' Jones played a key part in the Lions' comeback from 18 points down after showing his strength to power over just before half-time, but it was Hugo Keenan's dashing finish with 51 seconds left that ignited the celebrations. Remarkably, Keenan's try was the first time the Lions had led in the second Test. 'What a game. Unbelievable. We made it hard for ourselves, ill-discipline and all that, but came back at the end and Hugo….what a finish. It was a good feeling,' Jones said. 'It's a cliche, but we never stopped believing, even at half-time. Even if we'd been further down, we still had the belief that we'd go on and win.' Farrell has given his squad two days off to celebrate Saturday's achievement with the players being joined by their friends and family. They resume training on Tuesday when the Lions will begin plotting the downfall of the Wallabies for a third-successive weekend. Farrell is scheduled to name his starting XV and bench on Thursday.
