Andy Farrell: Lions need improvement for 'biggest game of our lives'

RTÉ News​

6 days ago

Andy Farrell says he will finalise his second Test selection on Wednesday, ahead of what he expects to be the "biggest game of our lives" against the Wallabies on Saturday.
The British and Irish Lions limped over the line against an inspired First Nations and Pasifika XV at Marvel Stadium, with two tries from Jamie Osborne helping his side maintain their 100% record since arriving in Australia, on a 24-19 scoreline.
The performance will have given the Lions coach food for thought ahead of the second Test at the MCG.
Garry Ringrose returned from a concussion layoff and impressed in the centre, although the fact that he had to play 67 minutes due to an injury for Darcy Graham wasn't ideal, if Farrell had plans to use him again this weekend.
Blair Kinghorn also played the full 80 minutes, having missed the last two games with a knee injury, and the full-back mixed the hot and cold, seeing two passes intercepted in the first half, before setting Osborne up for his second try.
A second-row slot could also be opened up if Joe McCarthy fails to recover from his foot injury. The Leinster lock is yet to train this week, and if his position does become available, Scotland's Scott Cummings did his cause no harm this evening.
Ahead of finalising his squad for could be a series-clinching clash against the Wallabies, Farrell is expecting to deliberate on some big calls in his final selection meeting.
"There's all sorts that goes into it, some performances [were good], there's no doubt about that," he said after the narrow win.
"But there's also what's right for this second game and what that presents and the make-up of the squad and how it feels. Are a few changes going to freshen it up or do we go with the same guys?
"All that comes into the pot and it's whatever's best for the team that we think we need on a game like that at the MCG with over 90,000 people. It should be like, that shouldn't it? It should be challenging."
Overall, it was a clunky performance from the Lions, who started brilliantly with tries from Osborne (below) and Darcy Graham helping them to race into a 14-0 advantage.
However, that lead quickly evaporated as they went in 14-14 at half time, and while the tourists scored two tries, through Osborne and Duhan van der Merwe, to go 24-14 ahead entering the final quarter, they were left clinging on against a First Nations and Pasifika selection who refused to quit.
Farrell was frustrated at how his side started to play the game like an "exhibition match" after that promising start.
"We weren't earning the right to play," he said. "There's an allure of space that we thought was there and it wasn't there because we found space nice and early.
"But we kept playing out the back and big wide passes and getting hit behind the gainline and making it tough for ourselves, especially when they were getting off the line and putting so many people through the rock. It's very hard to control the rock when you're going backwards.
"We just needed to keep playing the game that's in front of us. At times the space wasn't there so we needed to do the right thing and play in the right parts of the field. We were our own worst enemy once or twice there but I thought we recovered pretty well."
Attention now turns to wrapping up the Test series over at the MCG on Saturday (11am Irish time), the Lions looking to win with a game to spare for the first time in 28 years.
And Farrell says the review of their 27-19 win against the Wallabies in Brisbane last weekend has thrown up several areas of potential improvement.
"There will have to be plenty [of improvement] to get to the point where a win's on the cards because we know that Australia are going to be [improved].
"If you can't get up for what's coming, we're all in the wrong place. To me, this is the biggest game of our lives, every one of us that's part of our squad, so we'll make sure that we address the week like that."