Jones seizes chance & Farrell's return - how are Lions shaping up for first Test?

BBC News

2 days ago

And so, after six games and five wins, after 235 points scored and 81 points conceded, after 35 tries for and 12 against, we've arrived at the so-called business end of the tour.The Lions are heading back to Brisbane on Sunday for the first Test against the Wallabies the following Saturday. The preamble is now complete, mercifully. The phony war is officially over. Hallelujah. It's been pretty dull.Saturday's match against an AUNZ Invitational XV was a little different. Things happened. Garry Ringrose's injury became known and the possible spin-off consequences are intriguing.Luke Cowan-Dickie suffered a sickening blow to the head and had to be carried off. Jamie George has been called up. Owen Farrell entered the fray. And the Lions routed their opponents 48-0, with some Test contenders delivering a message to their coaches.
Garry Ringrose and the butterfly effect
The news of Ringrose's head knock and the fact that he will miss the first Test came mid-match in Adelaide. Huw Jones, the other outside centre in the squad, was conveniently tearing it up at the time."Garry unfortunately had a delayed reaction," head coach Andy Farrell confirmed after the rout of the AUNZ Invitational side. "He had headaches for a day and it carried on the next day. So he went through concussion protocols and failed those, unfortunately."A day that started with Ringrose and Bundee Aki looking very much like the Test match midfield (with the Scottish counterparts Jones and Sione Tuipulotu not making the squad) looks to have completely turned on its head.Jones, gaining form after recovering from injury and outstanding in Adelaide, will start at 13 against the Wallabies. Farrell talks a lot about cohesion, so it would make sense for Tuipulotu to join him. It was always going to be the two Irish centres or the two Scottish centres, despite all the mixing and matching in earlier games.If it's Jones and Tuipulotu, then what happens to Aki, a bit of a force of nature in the red jersey? The bench? Well, not really. You fancy that Owen Farrell will cover 12, as well as 10, so maybe Aki misses out altogether. Ringrose misses the game and there's a butterfly effect."I actually don't know a lot about it," Jones said after the game of the news about Ringrose. "No-one told me, which I think was probably a good thing because then it didn't mess with my head. "He played really well on Wednesday [against the Brumbies]. He's great, one of the best guys I've met. We shared a room in Perth and I really got on with him. We've been working together loads, the four of us, Sione and Bundee as well, to try and get all of our connections, so I'm gutted for him."But if that means that I get an opportunity next week then I'll be very happy with that and then try and grab it with both hands."A Scottish 10-12-13 looks likely. And it's a Scottish 10-12-13 with recent memories of putting the Wallabies to sleep - Finn Russell and Tuipulotu each scored a try in their November win last year.
Battle for the number seven jersey goes to the wire
When Andy Farrell was asked in the post-match press conference about his back-row and whether the identity of the guy who's going to wear the number seven jersey has become clearer, he took out his straight bat and knocked the question out of the park, Don Bradman style."We've got great options there, so we're delighted with that."Anyway... Jac Morgan was very impressive again on Saturday. The game turned into a hammering, but when it was still a contest, Morgan was intense and influential.Ian Foster was in charge of the AUNZ team, and as a former All Blacks coach he's not a bad sounding board on this whole Lions back-row. Asked which of the Lions impressed him the most, he was pretty direct."You can't help but be impressed with Morgan at the moment," he said. "He's going good as a loosie [loose forward]. There'll be a lot of consideration about that loose forward trio, but they're mobile, they're skilful and he [Morgan] is a tough player."Look, he just works hard. You could see that we were a bit short in some of our connections at the breakdown on early phases a couple of times and he made a bit of a meal of that. He's good in that space, but he had great support too."The physical dominance of Tom Curry, the athleticism and hard-running of Josh van der Flier, or the groundhog in Morgan? It's one of the few remaining spots up for grabs.
Owen Farrell makes an impressive return
The pantomime baddie came on for the last 30 minutes, which is 30 minutes more than he's had since early May. There was a little booing.You'd imagine that, for Farrell, the only thing more disconcerting than fans booing him is fans not booing him. It's expected these days - as much a part of his rugby existence as anything else."He did OK, he did OK, as did many others," said his father, later. No danger of going over the top there. "There were some great individual performances, wasn't there? But I suppose those individual performances gelled together as a collective."It felt like Farrell Sr couldn't wait to get away from talking about his son, but it was a fine cameo - a nice link with the excellent Ben White in the build-up to Scott Cummings' try and a clever chip through to Henry Pollock later on, among other things.The caveat is that, by the time he arrived, the game was done and the AUNZ side were a busted flush.Farrell will almost certainly be on the bench in Brisbane. It'll be his first involvement in a Test match since autumn 2023.
Hugo Keenan stands up to the greatest pressure
The Leinster and Ireland full-back was under significant pressure going into Saturday. Still not totally free of illness, and with the memory of his poor performance against the Waratahs still fresh in the mind, Keenan couldn't afford to fail.With Blair Kinghorn out of the first Test, he was the only out-and-out full-back left standing. And his coaches needed him to come good. He did. Right from the off, he looked himself again. He was full energy and intent."I thought he was excellent," said Farrell. "There were some great, tough, gritty performances."You had to admire Keenan, not just for his footballing ability but for the mental strength to park the illness and the poor night against the Waratahs and go again. At this level, it's not all about talent, it's about resilience, and Keenan showed it on Saturday.
What next for the tourists?
The Lions head for Brisbane at about midday on Sunday, about 03:00 BST in the UK. "We've got a normal week coming up," said Farrell, after battling through so many abnormal ones featuring games and flights and training ground walk-throughs at a devastatingly rapid pace."When we get to Brisbane, we'll have a coaches' meeting like we always do and discuss how the week is going to unfold," he said."We train Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. We'll get to a performance day on Wednesday and everyone will know where they're at. "I just said to the players that selection is going to be unbelievably difficult. That's how it should be. I know that we've got a group that's as cohesive as it gets and they're all rowing together no matter what because, like I said during the week, it takes a squad to win a series."The lads who get picked in the first Test, they'll be the lucky ones to represent the group, but they've also got to earn the right to keep that jersey for the second Test as well."So who are the lucky ones? Another punt at picking Farrell's brains… Keenan, Freeman (Hansen), Jones, Tuipulotu (Farrell), Lowe, Russell, Gibson-Park (Mitchell); Genge (Porter), Sheehan (Kelleher), Furlong (Bealham), Itoje, McCarthy (Beirne), Chessum, Morgan, Conan (Pollock)Bench players in brackets.