Schmidt factor gives Australia hope as Lions arrive Down Under
SYDNEY, June 25 (Reuters) - The British & Irish Lions have often set off on tour with confidence but it is rare that they arrive in the Southern Hemisphere as heavily favoured as they are to beat Australia in their test series in late July and August.
Australian rugby has been in varying stages of crisis for the last decade and the Wallabies, World Cup winners in 1991 and 1999, are currently ranked eighth in the world beneath three of the four nations that contribute to the Lions.
The band of Irish, English, Scottish and Welshmen who arrived in Perth with captain Maro Itoje and coach Andy Farrell at the weekend are therefore expected to emulate the tourists of 1989 and 2013 by triumphing Down Under.
The expectations of a one-sided series were so high last year that former England scrumhalf Ben Youngs questioned whether Australia still deserved its place in the quadrennial Lions touring cycle along with South Africa and New Zealand.
His comments came after Australia had been thumped 67-27 by Argentina in the Rugby Championship, but signs that progress was being made under wily coach Joe Schmidt came when the Wallabies beat England 42-37 at Twickenham in November.
When they followed that with a 52-20 win over Wales and got within three points of Ireland in Dublin, Australian hopes soared that the Wallabies would at least be competitive against the Lions.
Schmidt would never wittingly leave a hostage to fortune and has, at best, expressed qualified ambition for his team to be within a few points of the Lions towards the end of the tests.
"Then we're a chance," the New Zealander said in April. "But we've got to give ourselves that chance by being really good in our performance behaviours."
Many of the Lions squad are well aware of Schmidt's quality as a coach from his transformative time in charge of Ireland, when Farrell was his defence coach before becoming his successor.
Farrell was also assistant to Warren Gatland on the 2013 tour to Australia and the 2017 tour of New Zealand, when the test series was drawn 1-1, so is more than familiar with the challenges facing a Lions coach.
The former rugby league international has just a few weeks to forge players more used to knocking seven bells out of each other into a cohesive unit ready to play three matches at the highest level of the game.
The tour games, although far fewer than in the days when the Lions tramped around small provincial towns for three months or more, are key to that process.
Farrell got the ball rolling with less than a full squad against Argentina in Dublin last weekend and received the wake up call of a 28-24 defeat that swiftly ended his hopes that they would go through the 10-match tour undefeated.
"That's all part of the journey – to understand where we need to go next," the Englishman said on his arrival in Perth.
"We're here to build for what's going to be a fantastic test series. We want to play some good rugby along the way and we'll find out more about each other."
The Lions are unlikely to play a team as good as the Pumas until the first test in Brisbane on July 19 with four matches against Super Rugby teams and one against an Australia-New Zealand XV before that.
Farrell gets his second chance to put a team out on the park on Saturday at Perth Stadium against Western Force, a gritty team but the weakest of the four Australian Super Rugby sides.
Lions chief executive Ben Calveley has already fired a shot across the bows of Rugby Australia, insisting that Wallabies players should be released for tour games for fear that they will otherwise be uncompetitive.
Western Australia, and the Force since 2006, have never provided that stiff of an opposition, losing 44-0 to the Lions in 1989, 116-10 in 2001 and 69-17 in 2013.
The match will, though, give Australia a first glimpse of the army of up to 40,000 red-shirted British and Irish rugby enthusiasts who will descend on the country to cheer on the Lions.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Aki successfully campaigns for fines role
The latest episode of the Lions' in-house behind-the-scenes documentary has dropped on YouTube,, external taking in the warm-up defeat by Argentina in are some interesting tidbits to Maro Itoje, who said his team had played too much 'tippy-tappy' rugby after defeat by the Pumas, was banging that same drum in training beforehand."We were looking to force the pass a bit and in forcing the pass we turned the ball over and invited more pressure on ourselves," he said after a session before the game. "In the moments when things don't go our way, let be more direct, let's back our physicality."Elsewhere, there is insight into the make-up of the various tour committees with Scotland prop Pierre Schoeman being given responsibility for 'joke of the day' on the bus and Ireland centre Bundee Aki in charge of fines."Bundee was desperate to be on the fines committee," said Itoje. "I had a few people tell me he shouldn't be allowed - that the power goes to his head - but he was so hungry for it I said he could have it."England's Ellis Genge is one of the early stars. The England prop is noticeably vocal in the dressing room before and at half-time in the game against Argentina. There is also a nice moment as he praises Tadhg Beirne's scrum technique to assistant coach John Fogarty in training.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
'Like Outlander' - Schoeman all in with Scotland & Lions
The television show Outlander, writer and artist Kahlil Gibran and Perth's mining heritage don't often all get mentioned in the same media Schoeman certainly comes across as one of the more philosophical interviewees in the British and Irish Lions camp touring South Africa-born Scotland prop, 31, is one of eight players born outside the British Isles and Ireland in Andy Farrell's squad."If you're good enough to play for your country and then you're good enough to play for the Lions and you're selected, obviously you're going to do that," said Schoeman, who has 42 Scotland caps after qualifying through residency."Scotland is home for us, my wife and myself and other players as well. You embrace that, you fully take that on."It's like Outlander. You move to a different country and now that's your house. You live there. You buy into the culture and now to represent the British and Irish Lions, you fully buy into that, you fully submerge into that."Nothing else matters, not your past, not the future, it's about the now."Kahlil Gibran says it in one of his books quite well and that is, 'Yesterday's gone forever, tomorrow might never come, now is the time to live'."That's what you do as Lions. It's about the now, this tour that's what really matters." Saturday's second warm-up match for the Lions has a Scottish connection of its own, taking place in Perth."It was massive for gold mining so we know all about Perth now," added Schoeman."We love Perth. Perth is actually from the Scottish Perth town. We know some great stats about it. It's the most isolated city in the world."We respect the Western Force, we know they're going to up the ante. It's a once in a lifetime for most of those blokes. They're going want to prove they're good enough to go against the British and Irish Lions, so we have to go beyond and prove why we're the British and Irish Lions."It's going to be a brilliant spectacle. It's going to be enjoyable."Schoeman featured for the final 21 minutes as the Lions lost 28-24 to Argentina in Dublin on the focus turns to tour matches in Australia and, alluding to Gibran's philosophy again, Schoeman is giving no thought to the first Test on 19 July."It's not focusing on what's ahead, it's about now," he said."You have to feel the responsibility of, what's it like, 50,000 fans or more coming to Australia, so you have a massive obligation, a responsibility."And if you're not pulling together, there's no space for dead weight on this team. Everybody needs to push in the same direction."
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE British & Irish Lions and Barbarians legend John Spencer casts urgent warning to rugby bosses amid fear historic aspect of the game will 'die'
As he sat in the foyer of a luxurious, five-star hotel in Cape Town's Camps Bay on Wednesday morning, John Spencer had to break bad news to some of world rugby's biggest names. 'There is a big storm coming here. Table Mountain is closed. We've had a couple of players who wanted to go hand gliding off there,' Spencer, a Barbarians and British & Irish Lions icon, told Mail Sport from South Africa. 'The winery tour is off too and so is the boat trip - that would have been highly dangerous with the waves that are coming into the shore here.' So much for best-laid plans. While the best of the best from Britain and Ireland are with the Lions in Australia and the four home nations are also on their way to tours in foreign climes, the Barbarians are in South Africa for a one-off match against the double world champion Springboks. All Blacks Sam Cane, Mark Telea and Shannon Frizell, former Ireland internationals Peter O'Mahony and Cian Healy and England's David Ribbans and Joe Marchant are all part of the legendary touring side's party. Robbie Deans is coach, assisted by another New Zealand great in Sam Whitelock. And while there might not have been any hand gliding or wine tours, the honour of pulling on the famous black and white shirt remains as big as ever. In an increasingly-packed rugby schedule, the Lions and Barbarians find themselves being squeezed and squeezed again. The long, traditional tours that have been staples of international rugby for so long, are now coming under threat. Spencer, now 77, admits as much. He has represented the Lions and Barbarians as both a player and administrator. 'We can't allow traditional touring to die,' Spencer, now Barbarians tour manager, says, matter-of-factly. 'We are a rebel society, the Barbarians. We make rules on our tours and don't abide by any of them! 'We don't want to lose that. It does feel like we're being squeezed and it can be difficult. You do get clubs who won't release their players, mainly out of fear of injury. 'But what would you rather watch? The Lions or the Barbarians or another club game? 'It is more difficult now, but that's part of the challenge. We embrace that.' The Barbarians, like the Lions, are one of rugby's most famous and historic sides After retiring as a player, two-time World Cup winner Whitelock is coaching with the Barbarians in South Africa this week. 'It's a very special club,' he says. 'It is one of the coolest things in sport. It has an important place in rugby. It needs to be a priority in the game.' The Barbarians, funded by Steven Berrick, is an invitational side founded in 1890. The Lions, now a huge commercial entity, were established two years before that. But with a new Nations Championship at international level coming in biennially from 2026 and talk of R360 – a proposed rebel league – upsetting the club game's established order, it is clear there is change afoot in rugby. Asked if the bad weather meant more time for Barbarians training, Spencer said with a smile: 'I wouldn't go that far! We've had two sessions of 50 minutes already. The boys are being very generous to us! 'It's been a fantastic privilege for me to be involved so heavily in both the Lions and Barbarians. At my age now, I'm fortunate to have such great memories. 'The Barbarians and Lions are similar institutions – neither has a clubhouse nor a pitch. They rely on invitations and you play where you're accepted to play. 'Both are teams full of different nations. Rugby creates memories, friendships and enjoyment. Those are the core values we try and impress on our players. In our first team meeting this week, we all had to introduce ourselves. 'Sam Whitelock was sitting quietly at the back. He introduced himself as the water boy. It takes a certain humility to do that. 'Like the Lions, these tours are an opportunity to form lifelong friendships. Being a Barbarian is a way of life. We play for enjoyment and allow the players to express themselves on the field. People think we tell our players not to kick the ball and to play expansively. 'We never do that. We just let the players put the jersey on and trust them to play, relying on each other's ability. At least we don't have the world championships of box kicking in our matches. They're never boring. Spencer believes the Lions and Barbarians have 'a very important role to play in modern rugby' (Lions star Henry Pollock pictured) Barbarians squad to face South Africa Forwards: Cian Healy (Leinster), Will Collier (Castres), Hassane Kolingar (Racing 92), Paul Alo-Emile (Stade Francais), Camille Chat (Lyon), John Ricky Riccitelli (Auckland Blues), David Ribbans (Toulon), Ruben van Herdeen (Stormers), Josh Beehre (Auckland Blues), Hoskins Sotutu (Auckland Blues), Peter O'Mahony (Munster), Sam Cane (Tokyo Sungoliath), Shannon Frizell (Toshiba), Lachlan Boshier (Wild Knights) Backs: Tawera Kerr Barlow (La Rochelle), Santiago Arata Perrone (Castres), Melvyn Jaminet (Toulon), Josh Jacomb (Waikato Chiefs), Peter Umaga-Jensen (Wellington Hurricanes) Leicester Faingaʻanuku (Toulon), Mark Telea (Auckland Blues), Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens (Highlanders), Joe Marchant (Stade Francais) 'Players come to me regularly and say the Barbarians is the greatest experience of their rugby lives. This week I've been talking to players like Sam Cane, Peter and Cian. 'They've said they've had their interest in rugby rejuvenated and been reminded of the reason why they first took up the game. 'That's incredibly special.' Those invited to play for the Barbarians are paid well for their time. But most would do it for free, such is the honour of receiving the call. The same applies for the Lions. Spencer was Lions tour manager on the 2017 tour of New Zealand when the Test series was shared. Then, he was on the opposite side to Whitelock and Cane. Now, they are part of the Barbarians brotherhood. And that is the beauty of rugby, a sport like no other. While the game moves forward at pace and monetary realities bite, it is clear those in rugby's corridors of power have big decisions to make. But it is also equally obvious the game would be worse off without the Lions or the Barbarians. Rugby must continue to balance the new with the old. Spencer has led the Barbarians in charity work with the Atlas Foundation in Cape Town this week. Saturday's game with South Africa is their opposition's first of the season. 'When the players here in South Africa this week see each other in future years, they'll only have to nod at each other and they'll remember playing together for the Barbarians,' Spencer says. 'There is a strength in the handshake of Barbarians players that will last a lifetime. I have great memories of the Lions and the Barbarians. 'But I also have sad ones too as, unfortunately, a lot of my colleagues have now sadly passed away like Ian 'Mighty Mouse' McLauchlan.
