Itoje returns as Lions make 14 changes for clash with Queensland Reds
Queensland Reds v British and Irish Lions Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane Date: Saturday, 5 June Kick-off: 11.00 BSTCoverage: Live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and appMaro Itoje will return as captain in the British and Irish Lions team to face the Queensland Reds at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Saturday.The Englishman did not feature in the squad that beat the Western Force but he's back as the leader of Andy Farrell's much-changed squad. There are 14 changes to the starting line-up from Perth, Finn Russell being the only man who has retained his place. Ireland's Hugo Keenan and Jamison Gibson-Park will make their first appearance on tour at full-back and scrum-half. Gibson-Park is in for the luckless Tomos Williams who is now out of the squad through injury.Scotland's Ben White is on his way to Brisbane from New Zealand, where Gregor Townsend's squad are based right now. There will be a first tour start not just for the two Irishmen but also for Huw Jones who forms a new midfield partnership with Bundee Aki.Andrew Porter, Ronan Kelleher and Will Stuart will also start for the first time in the front-row as will Ollie Chessum at lock and Jack Conan at No 8.Ireland's James Ryan is set to make his Lions debut off the bench against the Reds.
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He travels some 70 metres to shepherd Williams to the whitewash in a subtle example of his game intelligence: From one end to another in NO TIME! ⚡️ Tomos Williams finishes off a flowing Lions counterattack! 😍 — Sky Sports (@SkySports) June 28, 2025 Weighing around 124kg, McCarthy is not the springiest jumper and has tended to be joined by rangy back-rowers such as Ryan Baird or Peter O'Mahony with Leinster and Ireland. Farrell attempted a similar balance by picking Beirne at blindside flanker last weekend. Here, McCarthy is targeted at the front of the line-out. Though the Lions do win back possession, competition from Carter causes the platform to be scruffy: Scott Cummings bore the brunt of a shambolic restart operation, but McCarthy was not immune. The Force sent a goal-line drop-out towards the latter in the second period, and a spill resulted under pressure from the superb Dylan Pietsch: Chessum undoubtedly increased his stock in Perth upon replacing Cummings. Force tired, but the Lions line-out seemed to become more precise. Watch this five-man set-up. McCarthy, Conan and Chessum are book-ended by Andrew Porter and Will Stuart with Josh van der Flier in the receiver slot and Pollock out in midfield: Conan steps out with McCarthy moving back to lift Chessum with the support of Stuart at the tail. A maul is established quickly and the Lions rumble some 10 metres up the pitch: Chessum is evidently a shrewd line-out caller and works space for McCarthy here. The Lions run a 'seven plus one' with Alex Mitchell at the front and Van der Flier again in the receiver role. Pollock, McCarthy, Chessum and Conan are in the middle: Pollock steps around Chessum, who seems like the jumper: But instead it is McCarthy who jumps with a lift from Pollock and Conan: The blindside flanker position is often the key to balancing a back five and it always looked as though Farrell would need to make use of Beirne, Chessum or even Itoje there. Yet the Force game was Beirne's fourth in the number six shirt this season. Chessum has worn it once, for Leicester Tigers' 80-12 loss in Toulouse, and you must go back to Eddie Jones' last autumn with England, in 2022, for Itoje's last start in the back row. Steve Borthwick is one head coach to have explicitly moved away from starting lock-flanker hybrids in favour of more mobile back-row trios. Tom Curry started all five matches of this year's Six Nations at blindside flanker, the last three behind a second-row partnership of Chessum and Itoje. Should Farrell follow suit in ditching hybrids, and if he feels that McCarthy must play, there is one starting lock spot remaining for Itoje, Chessum, Beirne, Ryan and Cummings to scrap over. None of them would expect to be shoo-ins. The company is just too illustrious. Itoje and McCarthy, of course, is a perfectly viable pairing. 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In that game, Farrell began with this back-five arrangement. Note that Itoje scrummaged on the tighthead side, a responsibility usually reserved for the strongest lock because the prop in front of them is opposite the rival looshead and hooker: Itoje deserves praise for the scrummaging results in Dublin. The line-out, his remit, was scrappy, though, and it was unusual to see him replaced late on – and more jarring because the Lions were striving to overhaul the Pumas. Beirne was kept on, and stayed on the loosehead side of the scrum as Cummings became the tighthead lock and Pollock replaced Morgan: On Saturday, McCarthy was the Lions' tighthead lock throughout the 80 minutes: However, the Force scrum was probably in the ascendancy until the tourists' tight five was refreshed by the introduction of Porter, Stuart and Chessum. Conan slipped to blindside flanker, too: Conan will begin at the base of the Lions scrum on Wednesday in Brisbane between Curry and Morgan, yet his capacity to slip to six is something that Farrell could lean on to keep his pack pacey and punchy while also retaining line-out prowess. Back at the start of February against England, Conan was crucial in shoring up the Ireland line-out as a replacement. Against the Force, he took this throw from Ronan Kelleher in the middle after Chessum offered himself at the front: In theory, fielding Conan at blindside flanker would allow Farrell to have either Earl or Pollock at eight and therefore to assemble a speedy set of forwards. Van der Flier, understated and classy, and Pollock dovetailed well on both sides of the ball at Optus Stadium. Williams' first try was fashioned by a tactical theme we will continue to see from the Lions' attack; bouncing back to the short side. Note the starting positions of Van der Flier, who is part of the previous ruck, and Pollock as Tadhg Furlong carries: They re-set and Williams zigzags. Pollock lifts a deft tip-pass to Van der Flier to put his colleague through a half-gap. This, in turn, lets Van der Flier free his arms to find a looping Pollock with an offload. Athleticism and skills allow the Lions to navigate heavy traffic: The challenge of picking a Test side at the thorny end of a Lions tour – particularly in the back five – is about recognising how and where chemistry has developed between new team-mates. Those unleashed against the Reds will be eager to state their cases and the meeting with Brumbies on July 9 looks like it may end up as a dry run for Test combinations. But McCarthy's performance against the Force has laid down a gauntlet, both as far as his own prospects and how his inclusion could impact the rest of the Lions team.
