
Nine Irish players to start for Lions but pair miss out after injuries
Kinghorn is stepping in for James Lowe on the left wing for Saturday's final match of the tour at Sydney's Accor Stadium, while Ryan will replace Ollie Chessum in the second row.
Chessum has been relegated to the bench where head coach Farrell has chosen a six-two split favouring forwards over backs, bringing back Ben Earl as back row cover after missing out on the second Test.
The starting line-up features nine players from Ireland, three Englishmen, and three Scots, with Maro Itoje leading the charge as captain, aiming to be the first Lions team to finish a tour unbeaten since 1974.
Having clinched the series with a 29-26 win in Melbourne last weekend, Farrell's squad is eager to deliver a final blow to the Wallabies.
"We have put ourselves in a great position to finish this Tour with our best performance to date and create our own piece of history," Farrell commented.
"The second Test was an incredible spectacle and illustrated how special Lions tours are and what they mean to both the players and the supporters.
"We are expecting another epic battle this weekend against a Wallaby side that showed their quality last week."
Kinghorn and Ryan previously entered the fray as second-half substitutes at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
A reshuffle on the wing was anticipated after Lowe's underwhelming performance in the first two Tests, while Kinghorn made a notable contribution during his 20-minute stint and will rejoin the back three alongside Hugo Keenan and Tommy Freeman.
Ryan also proved to be an effective substitute in Melbourne, outshining the less impactful Chessum.
The Lions had previously stated their intention to field their strongest XV rather than rotating deserving squad members, and they've stayed true to their word by going all out at Sydney Olympic Park.
This includes keeping the high-energy flankers Tadhg Beirne and Tom Curry, who gave their all at the MCG but have been outstanding throughout the series.
Joe McCarthy, Sione Tuipulotu and Mack Hansen were given the green light to participate after recovering from injuries that ruled them out of the second Test, but none of them are included.
Prop Tadhg Furlong is set to start his ninth consecutive Lions Test, becoming only the seventh player in history to achieve this feat.
Lions team: H Keenan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland); T Freeman (Northampton Saints/England), H Jones (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), B Aki (Connacht Rugby/Ireland), B Kinghorn (Toulouse/Scotland); F Russell (Bath Rugby/Scotland), J Gibson-Park (Leinster Rugby/Ireland); A Porter (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), D Sheehan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), T Furlong (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), M Itoje (Saracens/England, capt), J Ryan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), T Beirne (Munster Rugby/Ireland), T Curry (Sale Sharks/England), J Conan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland).
Substitutes: R Kelleher (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), E Genge (Bristol Bears/England), W Stuart (Bath Rugby/England), O Chessum (Leicester Tigers/England), J Morgan (Ospreys/Wales), B Earl (Saracens/England), A Mitchell (Northampton Saints/England), O Farrell (Saracens/England).

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Irish Times
21 minutes ago
- Irish Times
How will the Lions tour impact Ireland's rugby philosophy?
As Andy Farrell and his Irish coaches return to their day jobs with the IRFU , questions inevitably turn to what they might have learned with the Lions . Cynical views of the Irish-dominated tour focus on Farrell using the opportunity to both mine information and develop players in a way that benefits Ireland . Such a narrative is disrespectful, discounting as it does the importance of the Lions as a standalone entity. Still, there is no doubt that, in a number of areas, there is plenty of intellectual property returning to Irish shores. How Farrell and co have gone about their business, and what they learned from Australia's attempts to counteract them, offer an intriguing window into how his rugby philosophy, and with it Ireland's fortunes, might develop from here. Here are some of the main statistical takeaways from the tour. READ MORE S tyle s w i n f i ght s Much has been made in recent months of a shift in Ireland's style of play. The days of intricate phase-play attack, with carry after carry being used to break down a defence, aren't gone. But they are numbered. Ireland used to dominate attacking volume numbers; more carries, more passes than the opposition. That is no longer the case. The blueprint of successful knockout rugby has been adopted. South Africa won two World Cups offering minuscule attacking output, kicking plenty and relying on their defence. While not copying them to the nth degree, Leinster have tried a similar ploy in order to end their knockout hoodoo. It worked (to a point) as the United Rugby Championship crown was secured. Ireland are back at the World Cup. How will they fare? Listen | 23:53 What, then, of the Lions? There's no way Ireland would shift their attacking gameplan without Farrell's input, even if he wasn't around during the Six Nations as Simon Easterby held the fort. Sure enough, the Lions adopted a similar mantra. In all three Tests down under, Farrell's side were happy playing with less of the ball - Australia averaged 131 carries per game, the Lions 99. The tourists also had a lower kick-to-pass ratio, meaning they kicked more often than the Wallabies. When attacking volume diminishes in bigger games, it can be argued that efficiency then becomes rugby's most important stat. In the first two Tests, the Lions and Australia had virtually the same figure for points per 22 entry. In the final Test, which Australia won, they were comfortably more efficient, notching 2.7 points per entry vs 1.5. In big games, the side that attacks less, kicks more but is more efficient with the opportunities they do get tends to win. The third Test, which Australia won while being both more efficient and dominant in terms of attacking volume, is difficult to analyse. This is because the Lions had already won the series, while the lightning delay also played a part in Sydney. None of the above dispels the modern trend pioneered by the Springboks which is now seeping into Irish rugby. Expect Farrell, after using a similar pragmatic game plan with the best players in the home nations, to double down with Ireland. Australia were relived to have Will Skelton back for the second Test, even if in-game statistics point to them doing all right without him. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho B i g b o pper s Simple narratives are sometimes dispelled by the data. Occasionally, they are backed up by the numbers. As the Test series progressed, analysis focused on the impact of Will Skelton and Rob Valetini in Test number two, and later Taniela Tupou in the final game. Once Australia got back their power athletes, they presented a greater threat. In some ways, the numbers don't really back this up. Skelton carried for 12 metres in the 47 minutes of rugby his body allowed in Test one, and then 16 the week after. In Tupou's lone Test, he made 19 metres. 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Mack Hansen did not feature in the Tests but reminded Andy Farrell of just how effective he is during the Lions' tour matches in Australia. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho Return o f the Mack Of all the Ireland players first called into the Lions squad by Farrell, Mack Hansen may have been the most relieved. While many weren't surprised that the Connacht wing made the cut due to the respect he has earned from the Ireland and Lions coach, some questioned if he had the requisite game time to build up form. Injuries have been a problem in the last 18 months. A dislocated shoulder meant he missed the 2024 Six Nations. This year, he played in three of Ireland's five championship matches, while his last Connacht appearance of the campaign came in April. If there were questions on Hansen's form and fitness heading into the tour, he resolutely answered them once he reached Australia. 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Hugo Keenan's scores the try that clinched a series victory for the Lions in Australia. Photograph:Across the three Test matches of this tour the Lions scored 68 points and the Wallabies scored 67. Hardly an avalanche of difference. Of the six halves of Test match rugby played, the Lions won only two and, perhaps more importantly, the Wallabies won four. The numbers don't lie. To account for the unexpectedly successful response from the Wallabies the loud and aggressive have turned on their own and are twisting the truth, trying to claim this Lions team was below standard. All utter rubbish. Apart from the opening 25 minutes of the first Test, the obvious key factor across the three Tests was the remarkable improvement in the Wallabies. Their journey from the awful display against Fiji to winning the third Test was remarkable. The only grave error that the Lions organisation and their supporters made is that they forgot that the tour was as much for Australia as it was for the Lions. 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On the field, the fear of being humiliated by the Lions triggered the players wearing that famous gold jersey to find something inside themselves that they did not know they possessed and to play like none of us thought they could. Which is the essence of why we encourage our youth to play rugby. It teaches every player, including those in Test matches, that they have more potential inside them than they can ever imagine. As a collective the power of what a Lions tour means drove the Wallabies to lift themselves to almost snatch the series. After the unmitigated disaster that was the Lions in South Africa 2021, Andy Farrell and his team have re-established the on-field standards demanded by the great traditions of the Lions. Andy Farrell and Joe Schmidt could each be satisfied with their teams' efforts during the Lions tour of Australia. Photograph: Dan Sheridan/Inpho The Lions played a high tempo, attractive and entertaining style of running rugby that Australians enjoyed and appreciated. For which the Lions deserve great credit and respect. If the Lions had continued with the negative and self-destructive tactics from 2021, the Australian public, who demand running rugby, would have walked away and the game in Oz may not have survived. In their post-tour review, I would respectfully ask the Lions' management to change one crucial aspect of their off-field processes. In the future, the Lions players must not be shut away from the local rugby community, with the shallow aim of producing huge swathes of social media content to send back to the north to generate money. On the field, the Lions were inspirational. Off the field, they did not interact with any real effect with the Australian rugby community. In a country where the game is on its knees, that was a heartbreaking error. From day one of this tour, a false narrative has been pushed from the north that ignores facts. It attempted to create the perception that Australian rugby was so far beneath the standards of the combined strength of the north that they are not worthy of a full Lions tour. They never let the truth get in the way of some good old-fashioned Aussie bashing and the Wallabies have proved them all wrong. The Lions won the series and, counter-intuitively, ignited a Wallaby resurgence. Financially, the game has been saved in Oz and the four home unions have cash bulging from their pockets. A Lions tour doesn't get much better than that. Here is one truth that you can bank on. The Lions will be back in Australia in 2037.