Wallabies bring back big guns for second Lions Test as Brisbane debutant axed
There were no major surprises in Schmidt's team for the second Test, with Porecki returning after missing the first Test due to a concussion suffered against Fiji.
Despite missing Australia's defeat in Brisbane last weekend, Skelton and Valetini have been named at No.5 and No.6 respectively.
Second-rower Jeremy Williams has been relegated to a 6-2 bench, while first Test debutant Nick Champion de Crespigny has been left out of the match-day 23 altogether.
Skelton and Valetini are two of Australia's most damaging ball-runners and their contributions loom as critical if the Wallabies are to avoid a straight-sets series defeat.
Fraser McReight (No.7) and captain Harry Wilson (No.8) round out the back row, while halves Jake Gordon and Tom Lyngah have been retained in an unchanged backline.
Langi Gleeson comes back into the team on the bench in place of Tom Hooper, while 40-Test utility back Andrew Kellaway has been left out of the side, with Schmidt preferring an extra forward on the bench for potentially wet conditions on Saturday. Tate McDermott and Ben Donaldson are Australia's two backs on the bench.
'The squad has recovered well after a very physical first Test and the week's preparation here in Melbourne has allowed us a bit more time together,' Schmidt said in a statement.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
5 hours ago
- News.com.au
England's Lionesses party in London after Euro 2025 triumph
England's victorious Lionesses were feted by thousands of ecstatic fans in London on Tuesday during an open-top bus parade to celebrate their dramatic Euro 2025 triumph. Sarina Wiegman's team successfully defended their European crown by beating world champions Spain on penalties in the Swiss city of Basel on Sunday, sparking an outpouring of national joy. They flew home on Monday and were immediately whisked to 10 Downing Street, the working home of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, for a reception. On Tuesday it was the turn of fans to celebrate the astonishing success of the Lionesses, who repeatedly defied the odds during their run to glory in Switzerland. Two buses emblazoned with the words "European Champions" set off from the bottom of The Mall, the road leading to Buckingham Palace, under grey skies shortly after midday. Captain Leah Williamson held the Euro 2025 trophy in the air and supporters responded with cheers and by waving their flags. The decibel count rouse as the bus crawled along the road, lined with Union flags and the St George's Cross, led by a military band. The huge crowds then swarmed down the road towards Buckingham Palace to party with the squad, with two large screens showing tournament highlights. - 'Still we rise' - An emotional Williamson was first to speak from a stage outside Buckingham Palace, saying she had been crying all the way down The Mall. "There's lots of ways to win a football match, and we repeatedly did it the hard way," she said. "But I think that you can see how much we care about playing for England, how much we love it. "(Victory in) 2022 was a fairytale, but this feels really hard-earned, and we're very proud of ourselves." The skipper said the team had overcome adversity, including defeat to France in their opening match: "Nasty things to deal with, and still we rise." She added: "Everything we do, obviously we do it for us and our team, but we do it for the country, and we do it for the young girls. "This job never existed 30 or 40 years ago, and we're making history every single step. Thank you so much, thank you so much for being with us. Stay with us, this story's not done yet." Wiegman told the cheering crowds that her players "showed up" when they had to before dancing on stage with Nigerian singer Burna Boy. "I had hoped for a little less chaos but they didn't keep their promise to finish things quicker," she said. "But as we always have a plan, and we try to execute that, and the players on the pitch, and we just kept having hope all the time, and belief, and they just showed up when it was really necessary and urgent." Victory in Switzerland was sweet revenge for Wiegman's team, who suffered bitter defeat against Spain in the World Cup final two years ago. The Lionesses were hosted at number 10 on Monday by Deputy Prime minister Angela Rayner and Sports Minister Stephanie Peacock while Starmer was in Scotland meeting US President Donald Trump. Rayner hailed the players as a "shining example of talent and excitement for women's football". jw/jwp/bsp
Sydney Morning Herald
5 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Mouthguard data reveals Tizzano copped ‘high magnitude' impact at MCG
Asked about the Gilpin comments later on Tuesday, in an interview with Stan Sport's Lions Central, Schmidt leapt to the defence of Tizzano, who has labelled a diver by sections of the British media and Lions fans. 'I just heard the end of it [Gilpin's press conference] then because we'd just finished training, but talking about the instrumental mouthguards, with Carlo when he was hit, I feel sorry for him because I think he's copping a lot of flak, but that impact was almost double what they determine as a high magnitude impact,' Schmidt said. 'So that's the degree of force that he had to wear I suppose, and that in itself is enough to force someone to recoil as he did. So those are some of the things that we get actual readings on. 'He's had a pretty sore neck for the last 24-48 hours, but he's back, he's resilient, and he's back looking forward to the weekend.' Instrumented mouthguards (IMGs) were funded and rolled out globally by World Rugby last year to all players in elite competitions, and data is captured when players' heads are subjected to forces that, if high enough, can alert game day doctors to assess a player for a potential concussion. Tizzano received treatment for his neck at the MCG but the reading did not trigger an HIA. 'Just in terms of protecting Carlo, I think it's just probably getting the information out there that that level of force causes a chain reaction. That's the equation,' Schmidt said. 'That impact was almost double what they determine as a high magnitude impact.' Joe Schmidt on the Carlo Tizzano clear-out World Rugby will deliver the findings of the referee review to the teams, but not make it public, Gilpin said. Part of the reasoning, Gilpin said, is to protect Piardi and the match officials, given online abuse has in recent years had mental health consequences for referees, and even seen their families threatened. Schmidt would not face consequences for his post-match comments, Gilpin said. 'There's a lot of emotion, understandably,' Gilpin said. 'Joe's comments have continued to respect the fact that the match officials have got a tough job to do. He might disagree with the decisions that were made, but I don't think he's called the integrity of our match officials into question.' Robinson said match officials go through an extensive review process, and like players, and can face consequences for future appointments. 'Our team will have looked at the match and looked at, you know, there are always going to be things that don't work properly and there are going to be things that do,' he said. 'Ultimately, the referees are accountable. So I think there's a sort of a sense that they're not. You know, on the basis of performance over time, referees move up the rankings and they move down. They get picked for Test matches or they don't.' But Robinson also emphasised the need for WR to support whistleblowers, citing Nic Berry being slammed publicly by Rassie Erasmus in the 2021 Lions tour of South Africa. 'Nic got absolutely hammered, and hammered publicly. And you talk to Nic today and that's something he's still recovering from,' he said. 'So I take a real responsibility for protecting referees.' Loading Revealing the ticketing program for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, RA and World Rugby – the joint organisers – revealed there would be one million tickets available for $100, as part of a drive to make the tournament as affordable and accessible as possible. With an extra four teams in the tournament, a record 2.5 million tickets will be sold, with adults starting at $40 and children at $20. A limited number of new Superfan passes will also be sold next month, which guarantee four tickets to any match including the final.
News.com.au
6 hours ago
- News.com.au
Wighton cops four-game ban in a huge blow for the Rabbitohs
Wayne Bennett's hopes of avoiding his first wooden spoon have taken a massive hit with veteran playmaker Jack Wighton slapped with a whopping four-match ban after he was found guilty of a grade two shoulder charge at the NRL judiciary on Tuesday night. The Rabbitohs have lost eight in a row and head into round 22 in last spot behind the Knights and Titans on points differential, but their hopes of causing a gigantic boilover against the Broncos have copped a devastating blow with their five-eighth sidelined. He joins a host of stars who are missing for the club including Cam Murray, Latrell Mitchell and Cody Walker. Wighton could have accepted a three-match ban for the grade two charge that saw him sent to the sin bin for a tackle that knocked out Cronulla's Toby Rudolf on Saturday night but rolled the dice after he pleaded not guilty. The panel of Greg McCallum and Bob Lindner listened to the 75-minute hearing and deliberated for just 15 minutes before they unanimously found him guilty. 'It was a fair hearing,' Wighton said afterwards. 'We came here thinking we had a good case. We didn't get the result we wanted. 'I'll turn my attention to preparing my teammates and really helping everyone at my club the best way I can.' It was a reunion of sorts between Wighton and judiciary counsel Patrick Knowles, with the five-eighth asking him 'how many games of rugby league have you played?' during a fiery hearing in 2023 when he was banned for three matches for biting. Wighton didn't give evidence on this occasion, a point not lost on Knowles who suggested he could have explained why there were no other options available to him to make a different type of tackle. However, judiciary chairman Geoff Bellew reminded the panel that Wighton had no obligation to justify. Knowles described the contact as a 'textbook example of a shoulder charge' and that he twisted his body, the right shoulder led the forceful contact and that his left arm raised in a bracing motion but didn't attempt to wrap. 'The amount of force generated in a tackle that used no arms carries a significant risk of injury,' he said. 'The shoulder was the first impact and carried the primary degree of force.' Prominent Sydney lawyer Nick Ghabar represented Wighton and argued it was 'quite wrong' to suggest he propped and drove with the shoulder and that he did his best to avoid a head on collision. Ghabar argued that the right arm wrapped around Rudolf's left arm before contact and that the Cronulla forward generated the force by leading with his head and arms. 'Rudolf stepped 'violently' off his left foot,' he said, arguing that it was inevitable that there'd be a more violent collision if Wighton hadn't dipped his body. 'Wighton drops his body height to avoid the risk of a head clash. He's got a split second decision to make. He's attempting to tackle with his left arm but his right arm doesn't have the ability to swing around the back of Rudolf.' The referee's report from Belinda Sharpe included a quote from Wighton that said 'I couldn't get my arm out', while the medical report said the injury was caused by a 'head clash from opponent'. Ghabar suggested that the first contact was shoulder on shoulder, but that played into the argument it was an actual shoulder charge. Knowles refuted a number of those arguments and pointed out Wighton's right fist was clenched so it couldn't have been a conventional wrapping tackle and that he could've twisted the other way and made a conventional left shoulder tackle. Ghabar sought a downgrade that would have seen Wighton miss two matches, but it was dismissed after Knowles argued the force was moderate, it was careless and the risk of injury was moderate and that the risk came to fruition. Wighton will miss matches against the Broncos, Titans, Eels and Dragons and will return in the final round against the Roosters, with Lewis Dodd likely to start in the halves.
