Aki and Jones will hit it off exactly like any other type of partnership, insists Farrell

Irish Examiner

4 days ago

Andy Farrell selected a record nine Irishmen in his British & Irish Lions starting line-up for Saturday's second Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
No Lions Test side in the professional era has featured as many players from Ireland, though Farrell's predecessor Warren Gatland did select 10 Welshman for the final Test against the Wallabies on the 2013 tour, infamously jettisoning Brian O'Driscoll in the process.
There was not as much blood on the carpet as the 2025 head coach unveiled the team he hopes can get the job done on Saturday and secure the series victory at the earliest possibility in this three-Test set and Irish representation might well have been at 11 had Joe McCarthy, Mack Hansen and Garry Ringrose not failed to pass fit.
In a starting line-up showing three changes from last Saturday's 27-19 victory over Australia in Brisbane only the selection of Andrew Porter at loosehead prop over series-opening starter Ellis Genge was entirely unenforced.
Joe McCarthy failed to overcome the plantar fasciitis in a foot that caused him to come off after 42 minutes in Brisbane, with the Irishman replaced in the second row by Ollie Chessum, who had come off the bench at Suncorp Stadium and now partners Maro Itoje from the start.
Bundee Aki at inside centre could be considered unenforced in intent, yet Sione Tuipulotu would have missed the game in his hometown regardless due to a tight hamstring.
Farrell's intention had been to replace his all-Scottish centre pairing of Tuipulotu and Huw Jones with an Irish one but having shown his hand to his squad on Wednesday night, his plan unravelled at the end of training on Thursday morning as Ringrose withdrew himself from a Lions Test debut after reporting a recurrence of concussion symptoms to his head coach.
So a reprieve for first Test outside centre Jones in an Irish-Scottish combination alongside Aki. As one by now expects from Farrell, he was able to promote the upside, embracing the adversity that has made his Ireland tenure such a success.
"It's a good place to be sometimes,' the Lions boss said of the enforced change. 'These things happen in the warm-up of any game, the pressure is off and people tend to play freely because of that type of situation. Huw won't miss a beat in that regard."
Similarly, Aki, now reunited with his centre partner of 22 minutes at the tail end of last Saturday's win at Suncorp Stadium, and starting with Jones for only the second time having played the first 67 minutes together against the Queensland Reds.
'Sione has had a little bit of a tight hamstring going on there so we're nursing a little bit of that at the minute. I mean, Bundee's well able, isn't he? That type of combination is something we certainly would have trusted anyway," Farrell insisted.
'They'll be good. At this stage of the tour and well before this stage of the tour, actually, the combinations have been absolutely fine together. So Bundee and Huw will hit it off exactly like any other type of partnership.'
Porter's promotion from the bench last weekend means an all-Irish front row with hooker Dan Sheehan and tighthead Tadhg Furlong while the back row is unchanged following standout performances from Tadhg Beirne, fellow flanker Tom Curry and No.8 Jack Conan in Brisbane.
There will be joy in Wales with the selection of Jac Morgan as the back-row replacement, the Lions having last Saturday fielded a Test squad without a Welshman for the first time since 1896.
Morgan replaces Ben Earl on the bench while James Ryan fills the vacuum as the lock replacement following the promotion of Chessum to the starting side.
Farrell has been impressed by Morgan's reaction to his omission from the first Test 23.
'He hasn't missed a beat. No difference whatsoever. Now, I'm sure 100 per cent in himself, or what he talks to his family or whatever, but he was exactly the same last week, delighted for whoever was picked in his position, and was so good in helping the team prepare for that first Test.
"And his peers are doing exactly the same back. He's just been himself, very polite and very diligent in his work.'
The other changes to the bench are backs, with Owen Farrell replacing Marcus Smith and providing cover at 10 and 12, following an impressive 80-minute performance last Tuesday captaining the Lions to a narrow win over the First Nations & Pasifika XV.
The former England captain's selection means the 32-year-old, son of the head coach, is in line to appear in his fourth Lions Test series having debuted in 2013 against the Australians.
Scrum-half Alex Mitchell retains his place among the replacements but Aki's move into the number 12 jersey sees wing/full-back Blair Kinghorn named as the outside backs replacement.
It was a far from straightforward selection process given the wait and see approaches on the fitness of McCarthy and Mack Hansen, who has not recovered from the foot injury he sustained on July 12, and then the late moment of selflessness from Ringrose.
'They are all difficult and that is exactly how it should be,' Farrell said. 'They all matter because it is such a huge game, I honestly believe this is one of the biggest, if not the biggest game we have all been involved with so selection always matters in that regard… until we get to the next one.'
AUSTRALIA: Tom Wright; Max Jorgensen, Joseph Suaalii, Len Ikitau, Harry Potter; Tom Lynagh, Jake Gordon; James Slipper, David Porecki, Alan Alaalatoa; Nick Frost, Will Skelton; Rob Valetini, Fraser McReight, Harry Wilson – captain.
Replacements: Billy Pollard, Angus Bell, Tom Robertson, Jeremy Williams, Langi Gleeson, Carlo Tizzano, Tate McDermott, Ben Donaldson.
BRITISH & IRISH LIONS: H Keenan (Ireland); T Freeman (England), H Jones (Scotland), B Aki (Ireland), J Lowe (Ireland); F Russell (Scotland), Jamison Gibson-Park (Ireland); A Porter (Ireland), Dan Sheehan (Ireland), Tadhg Furlong (Ireland); M Itoje (England) – captain, O Chessum (England); T Beirne (Ireland), Tom Curry (England), J Conan (Ireland).
Replacements: R Kelleher (Ireland), E Genge (England), W Stuart (England), J Ryan (Ireland), J Morgan (Wales), A Mitchell (England), O Farrell (England), B Kinghorn (Scotland).