Dan Sheehan says Lions can fire up travelling support if they ‘give them a win'
Fans will start streaming into Brisbane over the coming days and in the face of criticism in the Australian media that Andy Farrell's tourists have shown limited willingness to engage in community events, Sheehan declares winning is the only currency that matters.
'The best way to connect with supporters is to give them a win,' the Ireland hooker said.
'Performance is the way to do that. Yeah we can give them a cheer and a clap after the game but ultimately that's not what they came for – they came for a good game of rugby. If we do that, they'll feel part of it.
'A goal of ours is to make sure that if we have a big crowd on Saturday – which we probably will – we bring them into the game and make it feel almost like a 50/50 game that could be anywhere in the world.
'But I still think it's down to what we put out on the pitch, that's how you get the crowd in behind you.
'It would be a good story and a good legacy to have a winning series. We haven't delved too much into the wider picture.
'We did at the start when we were trying to frame the mindset, but this week has been all about Saturday.
'There's going to be no holding anything back, or waiting for the next two Tests. It's all about Saturday.
'We're in a good spot. The lads are hungry, and we're expecting the Wallabies to be hungry. There will be fireworks on Saturday.'
The Lions ruffled feathers in the wake of their 48-0 victory over Saturday's AUNZ Invitational XV when flanker Henry Pollock revealed their intention to whitewash Australia 3-0 and become the best team to have represented the elite of British and Irish rugby.
Captain Maro Itoje then doubled down on the desire to put the Wallabies to the sword – and Sheehan believes there is no reason why they should not aim high.
'I don't think that's anything too crazy. It's a massive goal of ours to make sure we reach our potential,' he said.
'If we do reach our potential we have the possibility to be one of the best teams. I think they're fair comments.'
Farrell names his team on Thursday with Tom Curry expected to be given the nod in the ferociously competitive openside position ahead of Jac Morgan and Josh van der Flier.
Tadhg Beirne appears to be winning his battle with Ollie Chessum at blindside flanker, while Sione Tuipulotu has now edged ahead of Bundee Aki in the race to start at inside centre.
With Blair Kinghorn losing his battle with a knee injury, Hugo Keenan is favourite to be picked at full-back with Marcus Smith potentially supplying cover from the bench.
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The Guardian
19 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Asian Cup: tough draw for Matildas, but chance to banish ghosts of India
As Tameka Yallop unfurled the purple scroll revealing the Matildas' final group-stage opponent for next year's Asian Cup, whispers rustled across the Sydney Town Hall crowd. South Korea. The same team that had knocked them out of the quarter-final of this tournament almost four years ago. The game that plunged Australian football fans and media into despair. Memories of India came rushing back. Furious calls for head coach sackings underlined widespread astonishment and growing concern over the direction of the team with a World Cup on the horizon. The Matildas were, after all, close to full-strength then. Sam Kerr and Caitlin Foord were reaching their attacking peaks, Mary Fowler was emerging as Australia's newest star, Ellie Carpenter and Steph Catley were at their flying wing-back best, Lydia Williams was still Australia's number one goalkeeper. They were expected to win the Asian Cup in 2022. Do we feel the same way now? Australia is a very different team to what they were the last time they competed for this trophy. Their fundamental core has shifted. Injuries and retirements have forced the side to figure out the next version of themselves, and nobody is quite sure what it looks like yet. Partly because the past 12 months under interim coach Tom Sermanni, the last coach to win this tournament for Australia back in 2010, was a year of stasis. With Football Australia taking far too long to appoint a predecessor to Tony Gustavsson, the team wasted several windows trotting out their tired senior players for friendlies when they should have been blooding the next generation instead. So who are the Matildas now? They've lost some older players, gained some newer ones. The form of some key figureheads – Kerr, Fowler, Katrina Gorry – remains uncertain. The team's recent performances haven't been convincing. Are they any better or any worse than they were four years ago? Just how quickly has Asia improved around them? Joe Montemurro, who took charge of his first camp earlier this month, now has just three windows left to figure it out. And they will have the hot spotlight of the nation upon them as they try to solve their past problems against the hardest group of the tournament. Their opening match against the Philippines in Perth on March 1 may seem like an easy one on paper. Australia have won all their previous matches, including an 8-0 drubbing in October 2023. But this is a nation with a plan: led by Australian Mark Torcaso, the Filipinas are full of international diaspora, particularly from the USA college system. Their gallant World Cup performances, an ever-improving youth pipeline, and a large fan community could prove trickier than anticipated. Iran, too – the lowest-ranked side in the group – are no push-overs. While the Matildas have met them just once, Iran defended brilliantly and kept them to just a 2-0 win. Their defeat of rising Asian nation, Jordan, in the final round of qualifiers shows a side steadily improving, and knowing Australia's age-old struggle to break down deep-lying defensive teams, could pose a problem. Sign up to Moving the Goalposts No topic is too small or too big for us to cover as we deliver a twice-weekly roundup of the wonderful world of women's football after newsletter promotion But it's South Korea that will cause the most concern. Never mind that the Matildas defeated them in two friendlies back in April; tournament football is a different fight, and South Korea, who reached the final in 2022 before losing to China, know how to grind through them. The shadow of India will stretch across this must-win group game. South Korea is also a nation that is moving on. Just three of their most recent call-ups have had over 100 caps, while half their current squad is aged below 25. That includes 21-year-old striker Jeon Yu-Gyeong, who stood alongside the 34-year-old Yallop on stage at last night's draw. Two players representing two very different moments for their national teams. Australia aren't without their glimpses of the future, though. Amy Sayer, Winonah Heatley, Teagan Micah, Charlie Grant, Jamilla Rankin and Holly McNamara have all begun to show their qualities in the vacuum of senior stars. And squad depth – as we've seen in the recent Women's Euro – could be critical to topping the group, thus avoiding some of Asia's biggest nations until World Cup qualification (which this tournament doubles as for the final time) is secured in the semi-finals. But with time slipping away and the Matildas' older core needing to reintegrate following a period of directionless wandering, is there enough time to do what needs to be done? Next year's Asian Cup will be a lot of things. A television spectacle, a commercial achievement, a moment in sporting history. It will also be a crucial litmus test; a chance to see just how far the Matildas have come – or, if the ghosts of their past still haunt them, how much further they have to go.
Telegraph
19 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Why Lions' top try-scorer Duhan van der Merwe is not getting a look-in under Andy Farrell
With just a Sydney dead-rubber left for the British and Irish Lions, those who simply study the data would be forgiven for thinking that Duhan van der Merwe has been among the stars of 2025. The 30-year-old has plundered five tries, bringing his tally to 10 across two tours. That puts him top of the tree among his squad mates. According to Stats Perform, he has amassed 336 metres with ball in hand. Huw Jones is next, with 287 metres despite seeing 46 minutes more game-time. Only Tommy Freeman and Sione Tuipulotu, with 17, have beaten more than the 16 defenders that Van der Merwe has brushed aside and the latter is also second for line-breaks (one behind Mack Hansen) with six. And yet, his prospects of repeating the three Test starts granted to him by Warren Gatland in South Africa four years ago have seemed remote since the outset. Ahead of a final meeting with Australia on Saturday, it would appear more likely for Blair Kinghorn to replace James Lowe on the left wing than it would to see Van der Merwe in action. Hansen is also back in contention after injury and likely above him in the pecking order. As a player leading Scotland's all-time scoring list with 32 tries in 49 Tests, he will be remembered with great fondness whatever else happens in his career. But the past few weeks will have been difficult. Unforgiving context Van der Merwe's chances of a fast start were compromised by ankle ligament damage that required surgery in April and meant that the Lions' opener against Argentina was his first outing in almost three months. He looked understandably rusty because of that lay-off. His next game against the Reds at Suncorp Stadium represented a blend of dangerous running and positional uncertainty. Then, four days later, Van der Merwe was drafted onto the bench for a disjointed win over the Waratahs. Henry Pollock's tight calf saw Scott Cummings come into the starting side as Tadhg Beirne shifted to blindside flanker. Van der Merwe joined the replacements and wore the No 20, a sure-fire sign of how late the decision was made and an indication that numbers 22 and 23 had been sized up for Marcus Smith and Ben White. After coming on for Hugo Keenan for the final half-hour, Van der Merwe could not impress himself on the match. On the last play, he took a looping pass from Kinghorn and was shepherded towards the touchline by several defenders before the ball squirted out of a messy ruck. The moment encapsulated both an unconvincing display from the Lions and how Van der Merwe's Test hopes were dwindling: Some have suggested that Van der Merwe was lucky to be selected for the initial squad on May 8 but his pedigree and Lions experience will have been hard to ignore. Andy Farrell evidently wanted size in the back three and Van der Merwe was particularly impressive in Scotland's 27-13 victory over the Wallabies last November. He scored a trademark try out wide… …and burst through Australia from a hidden inside pass move: This was something the Lions attempted themselves from a goal-line drop-out in the first Test, with the Wallabies snuffing it out: Good work from Nick Champion de Crespigny to get across to Hugo Keenan: — Charlie Morgan (@CharlieFelix) July 19, 2025 Indeed, with Finn Russell and Sione Tuipulotu certainties to tour, Farrell had scope to lean on the familiarity of a potent Scotland back line. Although modern wings men roam around the field, they tend to have a preferred side of the pitch that is dependent on factors such as their favoured foot to step off. Van der Merwe is a specialist left wing. Remarkably, according to All Rugby, he has only once worn a No 14 shirt in his professional career; in a Top 14 match for Montpellier against Racing 92 in 2017. In that respect, Van der Merwe was probably not competing against the unfortunate Darcy Graham for a place in the initial Lions squad. Graham, normally a right wing, could have been edged out by Hansen. Once the group assembled, Van der Merwe was up against James Lowe, a favourite of Farrell's from their time together with Ireland. Having started the past two Top 14 finals on the left wing for Toulouse, Kinghorn became another potential candidate for the 11 shirt. Van der Merwe needed to be at his most devastating. Pros and cons As early as the sixth minute against Argentina, there was a reminder of Van der Merwe's athleticism as he stepped off his left foot and carved through the Pumas: He flipped an overhead offload to Tommy Freeman a little later and slipped off a tackle early in the second half before linking with Bundee Aki: It is interesting to note that Van der Merwe has registered all five of his tries in Australia on the Lions left. Here against the Australia and New Zealand (AUNZ) invitational outfit, for instance, he is on hand to capitalise on the attack sparked by Hugo Keenan's quick line-out: Later in the same game, Van der Merwe caps his hat-trick on the end of a slick first-phase move that outflanks the defence: This try, against the Reds, was probably the most difficult finish and requires him to dot down in a tight space amid the attention of opposing full-back Jock Campbell: While it might be tempting to downplay this propensity for apparently easy tries, it is worth remembering that Lowe missed a similar chance against the Brumbies. As an outlet capable of surging into space, few are better than Van der Merwe. Scotland feed width readily to tap into that asset. Recent weeks have also showcased less assured areas of Van der Merwe's game. The Reds clearly targeted his back-field positioning. This Hunter Paisami cross-kick caused problems before Van der Merwe rescued himself… …and Kalani Thomas set up a try for Josh Flook with a grubber towards the same wing: Les Kiss, the Reds boss, also coached AUNZ in Adelaide. Forcing Van der Merwe to turn was a pillar of his strategy again, as suggested by Tane Edmed probing in behind from this early line-out: Van der Merwe loses his composure here and was fortunate that the ball bobbles into touch to give the Lions a line-out – the kick did not qualify for a 50:22 – because his actions would otherwise have conceded a five-metre scrum. As for kicking itself, a necessary skill for back three players, Van der Merwe is not a natural. Whereas Lowe's left boot has been predictably prominent, accounting for 416 metres from 11 kicks, Van der Merwe has hit a solitary strike all tour – after AUNZ had again found space in behind him: This tour, during which Andy Farrell has implemented systems reminiscent of those that characterise his Ireland team, has reinforced how coaches will back trusted individuals – and those who suit their methods – to deliver. Van der Merwe always faced a tricky task. Farrell's preferences Wings under Andy Farrell are granted licence to fizz around the field. While this table using data from Stats Perform is not bulletproof, because it is taken from multiple games and possession shares will have varied, it can broadly show us how much four Lions wings – Hansen, Tommy Freeman, James Lowe and Van der Merwe – have been around the ball. Hansen has been around the ball most, either carrying or hitting a ruck once every 2.8 minutes he has been on the field. Van der Merwe is fourth of the four: Freeman (15 defensive rucks across 390 minutes) and Hansen (13 defensive rucks in 270 minutes) have also grafted at the breakdown on the other side of the ball. This is not to say Van der Merwe has not come off his wing. The Lions have asked him to swing around from strike plays such as this one against the First Nations and Pasifika XV: However, with the best will in the world, it would be a surprise to see Van der Merwe set up a try like Beirne's in the second Test from first-receiver as Lowe did. The fact that Jamison Gibson-Park feeds Lowe rather than Keenan in the first place underscores their relationship: Kinghorn was off his wing and into the opposite 15-metre channel as soon as he had replaced Lowe. This cut-out pass to Keenan punctuated the first phase of the winning attack: Freeman, like Lowe adept at contesting high-balls, has continuously roamed. As pointed out by Kevin Millar, he burrowed into rucks on opposite touchlines in the build-up to Keenan's last-gasp try. It is not that Van der Merwe is incapable of this, just that others seem to do so more impulsively. Much earlier in the second Test, just beyond the half-hour mark with the Lions trailing 23-5, Lowe and Freeman contributed to a key moment. From a left-hand scrum, Bundee Aki attempts to launch Huw Jones but a flat tip-pass ricochets off Len Ikitau. Lowe reacts brilliantly and keeps the attack moving with a pass to Keenan, who sends Freeman charging into contact: A strong carry, with the help of Keenan's latch, ends up metres from the try-line and foreshadows Tom Curry's crucial finish. No doubt Lowe's awareness will have been heralded by the Lions coaches this week. What next? Van der Merwe's response to this tour will be intriguing. Graham and Kinghorn, one suspects, would be shoo-ins for any Scotland side. There is fierce competition developing for back-three spots, though. Kyle Steyn, exceptional in the air, is a reliable operator. Kyle Rowe, Harry Paterson and Arron Reed all had bright moments on the summer tour. Besides Rowe and Ollie Smith, Tom Jordan and Fergus Burke could be considered as potential full-backs that shift Kinghorn to the wing. Van der Merwe will be eager to begin the 2025-26 campaign strongly for Edinburgh to assure himself of action over autumn fixtures against USA, New Zealand, Argentina and Tonga. As with other Lions colleagues, how he moves on from the tour may be more significant than what has happened in Australia.
Daily Mirror
19 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Anthony Joshua vs Jake Paul fight purse predicted as heavyweight showdown edges closer
Anthony Joshua could take on Jake Paul in a stunning boxing match next year with a reported purse predicted - and the potential figure is quite simply staggering A sports finance expert has predicted a whopping $40million (£30m) payday from a possible clash between Anthony Joshua and Jake Paul. Paul has been vocal in recent months about stepping into the ring with the two-time heavyweight champ. After his victory over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, the 'Problem Child' once again called for a fight with the Brit, and he was spotted ringside at Daniel Dubois ' recent heavyweight clash with Oleksandr Usyk. "Yeah 100 per cent it's going to happen. We're going to do the unthinkable and create one of the biggest fights in the history of boxing," Paul said ahead of Usyk's fight with Dubois. "It's not even about it being realistic or not, it's going to happen so fasten your seatbelts. And when I knock him out I'll go down in the history books forever." With the fight seemingly in the pipeline, fans across the globe are buzzing with anticipation over how the clash would unfold. Sports finance expert Rob Wilson has chimed in, predicting that Joshua and Paul could pocket a cool $40m (£30m) should the fight go ahead. In an interview with OLBG, Wilson said: "Anthony Joshua is very contemporary, but not as historically relevant as Mike Tyson, so I think that will go against him. He's obviously not had the best performances either over the last couple of years, so that fan engagement has probably waned to a certain extent. But then you bring in a whole new audience of people with Jake Paul," reports All Out Fighting. "He is, to be fair, showing himself as a technically decent fighter. He's not in the kind of upper echelons of world heavyweight boxing, he knows how to handle himself in the ring. So it would be a decent spectacle. He's a contemporary boxer and the fact that he's been fighting these kinds of these older generational athletes and winning is one thing, whether he can mix it up with somebody like AJ is a completely different thing. I think the pay-per-view stuff will be really interesting. If the pay-per-view sells well then you could be talking upwards of $40million. So you could double what they took on the Tyson fight, probably do it at Wembley. "So gate revenue will be good, the global exposure, marketing media rights, that will be good. So yeah, we could, I don't think it'd be beyond the realm of possibility for each fighter to generate 40ish million dollars from that fight. The access that Paul has to that 16 to 24 year old age bracket, the social media influencer side of things is really interesting. So it would be a massive fight in terms of British boxing." Eddie Hearn has shockingly revealed that a bout between Paul and Joshua could be on the cards for next year, despite initial scepticism, after the internet sensation agreed to a shocking one per cent of the fight purse. "Don't ask me how. Don't ask me why," Hearn remarked. "But if people want Anthony Joshua to evaporate the career of Jake Paul in one night, maybe we make it happen." Hearn continued: "You know, obviously it'll be up to AJ and myself what AJ does, and [Most Valuable Promotions CEO] Nakisa [Bidarian] and Jake, what they do – but also the power of Turki Alalshikh bringing it together, making it a mega-event. We're up for it. You know, it's not a fight we targeted. It's not a fight we anticipated. But as I said, if it's there and it's open and it's a running-up fight before Tyson Fury, why not? It probably breaks the internet. It breaks the platform. It probably delivers the biggest numbers of any fight we've ever seen, and that's the crazy world we live in. For me, I don't expect it to be competitive, but do you want to see Jake Paul flattened? There you go. It's on a plate right in front of you." When is Anthony Joshua's next fight? Joshua is expected to return to the ring later this year. Hearn has recently indicated that 'AJ' is eager to move forward with his career after a prolonged chase for a clash with Tyson Fury, yet he still harbours hopes of a definitive showdown with the 'Gypsy King' before retiring. Hearn has shared an update on Anthony Joshua's condition with Sky Sports, confirming: "Yeah, good, he had that operation recently... that elbow surgery, which went very well. You will see him return in October, November or December."
