Furious Farrell slams 'utter rubbish' claims over Lions' lightning break approach

Extra.ie​

a day ago

A wounded Andy Farrell hit back at the claim that his beaten Lions didn't handle an extraordinary lightning break in the third Test as well as the triumphant Wallabies, dismissing it as 'utter rubbish'.
With the series clinched in Melbourne a week earlier, Farrell brought his Lions to Sydney yesterday in search of a whitewash.
Instead, they were second to the hungry hosts from the first whistle, losing 22-12. Andy Farrell. Pic:The loss of Leinster lock James Ryan to a head injury after he appeared to be knocked out was a further blow from an Irish perspective, but there was one positive to emerge from a sodden night when Tadhg Beirne was named player of the series.
It was the 37-minute delay in the second half caused by lightning strikes in Sydney that provided the game's main talking point.
Footage from the dressing rooms after the teams were taken off the pitch showed contrasting approaches: whereas Joe Schmidt's Australian players kept active on bikes and throwing balls around to help them 'stay connected' according to Schmidt, Lions players relaxed, with some reclining on bean bags and others on their phones.
Never seen anything like it!
Lions third Test, and starters are having a nap on bean bags half way through! #LionsRugby pic.twitter.com/zOAz2Ue4Pf — Tight Five Rugby (@TightFive_Rugby) August 2, 2025
But Farrell bridled at the suggestion that this was a factor in their ultimate defeat. 'That's complete and utter rubbish, utter rubbish,' he said afterwards.
'We agreed on 10 minutes for the warm-up and through our advice from our experts in that field, we only made the call to come out five minutes before and stay out there so that we would be ready to go.'
Farrell also delivered positive news on Ryan, who was removed from the pitch early in the second half after his head collided with the knee of Will Skelton in an attempt to tackle the giant Australian second row. Joe Schmidt. Pic: Izhar Khan/'He was (knocked) out there for a good few minutes but he's back up and in good spirits. Hopefully he's going to be fine,' said Farrell, who also insisted his players should see past the short-term sting of defeat to appreciate their wider achievement.
'Although we're disappointed, we should be unbelievably proud of what we've achieved,' he said. 'Lions tours are tough, and to do what we've done last week and put the series in the bag, upon reflection after tonight, I'm sure we'll be superproud of the achievements.'
Beirne was deservedly named the outstanding player across the three Tests, after another phenomenal display on a night when most of his team-mates struggled. '
The medal is special, the win was special, and we got to celebrate that last week,' he said. 'Great credit to Australia, they came out and they took it to us in the weather.'