'It's been well documented how much he loves playing for the Lions' - Andy Farrell hails Tadhg Furlong's 'amazing' Lions milestone

RTÉ News​

21 hours ago

By Saturday night, Tadhg Furlong will be among esteemed British and Irish Lions company.
The Wexford man is set to make his ninth consecutive start for the Lions in Test matches, a 100% record across his 2017, 2021 and 2025 tours.
With nine Test caps, he will be inside the Lions' top 10 appearance holders of all time, a number only three Irish players have ever surpassed, those being Willie John McBride, Mike Gibson and Tony O'Reilly.
Only Alun-Wyn Jones has made more Lions Test appearances in the professional era, while only four players have started more consecutive Tests across the 137-year history of Lions tours.
"It's amazing, and it's been well documented how much he loves playing for the Lions," head coach Andy Farrell said, as he reflected on the 32-year-old's legacy.
"It isn't just the performances that have been through the roof. It's also his manner on a Lions tour as well. I've never seen him in such good spirits, so he's ready to go again."
Across both the Ireland and Lions team, Farrell has worked with Furlong for just shy of 10 years.
And he says the prop's longevity hasn't occurred by accident, particularly in recent seasons when he has had to manage a series of calf and achilles injuries.
"He would tell you that, he's had to adapt his training and how he looks after himself and understanding his body a lot more over the last couple of years. But to be honest, he's unbelievably diligent in all of that now.
"But the nature of a tour like this works in somebody like Tadhg's favour because when you've not got a normal week, which is a seven-day process of warming up and warming down and having to do all sorts of stuff to tick boxes, you get out of your own way on a tour like this because you have to just roll with the punches of what's thrown in front of you. So I suppose that helps."
Farrell has made two changes to his side for Saturday's final Test match in Sydney against the Wallabies, with James Ryan (below) and Blair Kinghorn starting, replacing Ollie Chessum and James Lowe.
And the head coach says it was important to reward the pair after their impact off the bench in Saturday's series-clinching win in Melbourne.
"We think that James thoroughly deserves his start. I think he's grown through this tour.
"His physicality when he has come off the bench, when he has put the jersey on over the last three or four weeks has been there for all to see, so we think he's the right person to start the Test.
"We thought that Blair is obviously a great athlete, but the unpredictability of his game makes him very dangerous. The conditions that we're expecting as far as the aerial game is concerned will be at its premium, so I think this game suits him," he added.
In total, Farrell (below) has used just 27 players across these three Test matches, from a squad that at one stage had swelled to 45.
Among those to have missed out on a Test cap is Josh van der Flier, one of Farrell's most trusted starters at Ireland.
And the head coach says while players may be disappointed to have missed out on selection against the Wallabies, they've shown no signs of downing tools.
"[I've learned] just how much they care. How much they care about the Lions, the Lions dream. How much it means to them.
"When you package all that together of what it takes to come together as a top-class outfit as far as a rugby team, that's at the heart of it.
"It actually touches you. It does. It touches you in the sense of how much it means to them.
"For example, you come in after such a big victory on Saturday night, and I just left them to it because I couldn't get a word in.
"The ones that were celebrating most were the ones who hadn't put the shirt on. It says it all, to be honest.
"When we met back up on Tuesday and announced the team on Wednesday morning, and you see the same again – people reacting and congratulating each other. You get the type of training session we got yesterday afternoon, it says a lot about the squad."
With the series already secure, Saturday's squad selection is a clear sign that Farrell (above) will not be content with a 2-1 victory, as the Lions look to complete a clean sweep over Australia for the first time in a three-game series since 1904.
And while the summer did start with a defeat to Argentina in Dublin, the head coach says they're hugely motivated to finish their Australian tour unbeaten.
"As you can imagine, it would mean the world to us. It's something that we promised ourselves that we was going to chase after and try our best to represent the group as best as we possibly can do.
"Obviously, what goes along with that is representing the jersey and the brand of the British and Irish Lions, so we have a big responsibility this week.