Lions v AUNZ Invitational XV Live score updates and teams
The likes of Shannon Frizzell, Ngani Laumape, David Havili and Marika Koroibete all start in a side stacked with talent, even if it hasn't played together before.
The Lions starting side will see stars like Morgan, Hugo Keenan, Mack Hansen, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu and Henry Pollock all trying to stake realistic claims for Test spots.
The game kicks off at 11am and is only on Sky Sports. You can follow it live with our updates below.
Lions: Hugo Keenan, Mack Hansen, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu, Duhan van der Merwe, Fin Smith, Ben White, Pierre Schoeman, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Will Stuart, James Ryan, Tadhg Beirne (c), Henry Pollock, Jac Morgan, Ben Earl
Replacements: Ronan Kelleher, Andrew Porter, Finlay Bealham, Scott Cummings, Josh van der Flier, Alex Mitchell, Marcus Smith, Owen Farrell.
AUNZ XV: Shaun Stevenson, AJ Lam, Ngani Laumape, David Havili, Marika Koroibete, Tane Edmed, Folau Fakatava, Aidan Ross, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, Angus Blyth, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto (c), Shannon Frizell, Pete Samu, Hoskins Sotutu.
Replacements: Kurt Eklund, Joshua Fusitu'a, George Dyer, Matt Philip, Joe Brial, Kalani Thomas, Harry McLaughlin-Phillips, Jock Campbell.
The reality is Andy Farrell will have the majority of his first Test team inked in but there are some places up for grabs.
One area is the backrow and an outstanding performance from Jac Morgan today could see the Wales star nail down a Test place.
There is so much depth in the backrow with the likes of Tom Curry, Josh van der Flier and Morgan fighting for a place.
It looks as if the Lions will go for a big athletic six with the lineout in mind with Ollie Chessum favourite to start.
But the Lions have had problems at the breakdown and Morgan has arguably been the form openside on tour.
Join us for live upates of the British & Irish Lions' final warm-up game against the AUNZ XV in Adelaide
There is just one week until the first Test against the Wallabies in Brisbane which means this is the final chance for a number of players to force their way into the team.
Wales star Jac Morgan has been selected to start and could seal a starting spot with another standout performance today.
Kick-off is at 11am
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Irish Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Ronan O'Gara chooses his Lions XV - and there is no room for Sheehan and Furlong
Ronan O'Gara has chosen nine Irish players in his starting XV for the British and Irish Lions' opening test against Australia. The Lions are gearing up for their opening test next weekend when they will take on the Aussies in Brisbane. And La Rochelle head coach O'Gara has weighed in with his squad for the first Test, with perhaps the most surprising element the absence of Irish pair Tadhg Furlong and Dan Sheehan from the front row. "I suppose the first thing is, where's Tadhg Furlong and where's Dan Sheehan?" O'Gara said on Sky Sports. "For me, they're the two best in the world in their position so I'd like to finish the game with them just to have that security to know that a Test game is usually won in the last eight to 12 minutes, because a team is rarely two scores ahead. "In that regard, I went with that logic. "It can be picked apart, obviously, but I just think for me, I prefer to finish with the strongest 15 as opposed to starting with it. But maybe Sheehan and Furlong can go 80 minutes, there are tiny margins. "Andrew Porter is an exceptional loosehead, I think that's an area of massive strength. I've gone with familiarity in the back-row [Ireland trio Beirne, Van der Flier, Conan], because I think the bench impact of Ben Earl and Henry Pollock just adds an awful lot to it, with probably the benefit of them covering as centres as well. I like what they do as hybrids." O'Gara has opted for the centre pairing of Bundee Aki and Scotland's Huw Jones, while Hugo Keenan gets the nod at full-back. And he believes Owen Farrell deserves a place on the bench as a utility back. He said: "In the backs, it's pretty straightforward. There's obviously a big debate in terms of who do you play at 12 if you're going with Huw Jones at 13, as Garry Ringrose is ruled out through injury," he said. "Do you go Sione Tuipulotu? Do you go Bundee Aki? You could go either way. "Do you back yourself and just go: 'Go boy, go play. Show what you're good at.' I think Aki's the best in the world at winning gain-line. He gives front foot ball. "He makes the front-five get on the ball in the second phase with winning a gain-line. The game is so much easier when you win collisions." O'Gara's British and Irish Lions: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Ronan Kelleher, 3 Will Stuart, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 5 Joe McCarthy, 6 Tadhg Beirne, 7 Josh van der Flier, 8 Jack Conan. Replacements: 16 Dan Sheehan, 17 Andrew Porter, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 James Ryan, 20 Ben Earl, 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Alex Mitchell, 23 Owen Farrell.
The 42
3 hours ago
- The 42
Lions set up camp in Brissie as Clarkson gets the call
AS SOON AS you step off the plane in Brisbane Airport, you instantly feel the difference. Canberra and Adelaide weren't as cold as we'd been warned they would be but the temperature never tipped over 20°C during the Lions' pitstops there this week. So the sun in Brisbane is welcome. Stroll across to South Bank and you get a sense of the energy of this big city. Tourists mill about taking photos with the multi-coloured Brisbane Sign. A ferris wheel offers elevated views of the river, on which a massive party boat is gliding along with tunes pumping at 2pm. They love a Sunday session in Australia. A couple of jet skis speed past. Runners, bikers, and walkers take advantage of the clean, wide riverside tracks that go on for miles. It's another thing they do well Down Under. The skyscrapers loom high on the far bank, light bouncing back off their polished glass surfaces. Sitting in the warm sun, it is good to finally be in 'Brissie' for the Lions' first Test against the Wallabies. There's still six days to go but everyone is happy to have reached this point. The build-up has been going on for years now but the last few weeks have provided the usual test of physical and mental durability for Andy Farrell's tourists. They were relieved to land in Brisbane today with the chance to actually unpack their bags, sleep in the same bed for a week, and find their favourite coffee spot. The Wallabies have been here since earlier this week, with Joe Schmidt gathering his 36-man squad together following a few days off to freshen up after their narrow win over Fiji last weekend. The Wallabies' squad photo in Brisbane. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo The Lions have been criticised by some of the Australian media in recent days for not getting out into local communities enough. The Wallabies did that with their visit to the Queensland Children's Hospital School today. It looked like being a low-key first evening in Brisbane for the travelling media until it became clear that there was something afoot in Lions camp again. Advertisement It transpired that Andy Farrell had called up an 18th Irish player to his squad in Thomas Clarkson, who will join the group in Brisbane this week to provide another option at tighthead prop. The Lions say that none of Tadhg Furlong, Finlay Bealham, or Will Stuart – their three tightheads – are injured, but rather that Farrell feels extra cover in this specialist position would be wise. The feeling is that Farrell won't want to risk playing either of his two frontline Test tightheads in the midweek game against the First Nations & Pasifika XV between the first and second Wallabies clashes. Clarkson has been in excellent form recently, starting all three knock-out games as Leinster won the URC, as well as making major progress with Ireland this season in winning his first eight caps. The 25-year-old is a fine player who has shown his ablity against some good teams but his call-up has unsurprisingly caused grumbles of disapproval, particularly beyond Irish shores. Having 18 Irish players, 14 of them from Leinster, involved in this Lions tour seems unjust in some people's eyes, given that those teams haven't been winning all before them. There even appears to be a suspicion in some quarters that Farrell might be using this Lions tour as something of a practice run for Ireland's World Cup campaign in Australia in 2027, giving lots of his players and staff exposure to rugby Down Under. Thomas Clarkson scores against Portugal on Saturday. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO But the reality is that Farrell is ultra-focused on winning this series against the Wallabies. We know that Farrell doesn't waste time thinking about what people might say about him or what they do say about him. He just thinks about winning and backs his decision-making even if it results in disapproval on the outside. Other coaches might have chosen someone other than Clarkson purely because of the concern about how his call-up would be perceived. Farrell doesn't think like other coaches. Farrell would argue that he has picked the next best tighthead prop. Joe Heyes must have been close. He featured off the bench in all five Six Nations games this year, started for Leicester in the Premiership final, and was in the number three shirt for England's back-to-back wins over Argentina over the past two weekends. Heyes is 10 months older than Clarkson and has six more Test caps. Their CVs are similar. The other name that has been mentioned widely is Asher Opoku-Fordjour, who trained with the Lions before they left for Australia. But that was when the likes of Clarkson and Heyes were tied up with club finals. Opoku-Fordjour is still only 20 and has three England caps. He hasn't yet done what the likes of Clarkson and Heyes have. Scotland's Zander Fagerson was ruled out of this tour due to injury, while Wales have been on a dire run for a few years now and their tightheads haven't been able to shine. So when Farrell decided he wanted an extra body at tighthead, it probably wasn't that tough a decision, particularly given that he doesn't care if people think he is showing favouritism. The plain truth is that this was a toss-up between Clarkson and Heyes. It is not scandalous that Farrell opted for Clarkson. Farrell backs his decision-making regardless of outside noise. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo The Lions boss has turned to what he knows best in a few instances both in his squad and behind the scenes. That isn't too difficult to understand. Clarkson will be able to get up to speed quickly given that he knows how Farrell operates. Yet there is a concern that with extra Ireland players being called in and such a strong Irish influence in the squad, knives are being sharpened, ready for the possibility that this series goes wrong for the Lions. Farrell must be feeling some pressure with the Lions' favouritism. The Lions have rarely, if ever, faced one of the traditional three Southern Hemisphere giants when they're emerging from such a low ebb. Farrell respects Joe Schmidt's side and they deserve that respect. Yet he must also be acutely aware that this opportunity is ripe. The Wallabies have clearly improved under Schmidt but they haven't been the force we've seen during former glories. Some people would love to see him fail but Farrell will keep making decisions he believes give him the best chance of succeeding.
Extra.ie
7 hours ago
- Extra.ie
Soulless British and Irish Lions now just a marketing exercise
Whatever happens in the looming Test series against the Wallabies, this British and Irish Lions has been a massive success. Well, commercially anyway. A record number of lucrative tour packages were snapped up by the travelling supporters ahead of this tour. The 'Red Army' has never had so many recruits. Plenty of big-money sponsors, including commercial airlines and insurance giants, have been on board for quite some time. Indeed, the 'official' title of this campaign is the Qatar Airways Lions Men's Tour to Australia 2025. The three Tests at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, the MCG in Melbourne and Accor Stadium in Sydney have long been sold out. Those tickets came at a premium, too. A record number of lucrative tour packages were snapped up by the travelling supporters ahead of this tour. Pic:The Lions is big money, for the hosts and the four unions which provide the coaches, players and support staff. All the people in the boardroom will be delighted with how this Lions series played out. Has it gone too far? The misty-eyed days of the amateur era are long past, and rugby is now a business. Funding a fully professional rugby tour spanning the best part of six weeks isn't cheap either. That's the reality of the modern game. But is it just us, or does the whole Lions concept now feel a tad corporate? Whatever happens in the looming Test series against the Wallabies, this British and Irish Lions has been a massive success. Well, commercially anyway. Pic:We keep hearing about how 'epic' these tours are and how it is the 'pinnacle' for every coach and player to be a part of them, how these tours are 'unmissable' for the fans. Really? This series hasn't exactly stirred the soul in recent weeks. Maybe it's the tourists struggling to hit top gear, the mediocre midweek opposition or the suspicion that the Wallabies – despite having Joe Schmidt on board – are no great shakes at present, but this whole series has felt a bit flat. As long as the Lions remain profitable, it is here to stay. As long as the Lions remain profitable, it is here to stay. Pic: Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images You would wonder how the players genuinely feel about the whole concept, however. Being a pro is a bit of a grind these days. Between club and country commitments, the modern player doesn't get much of a breather. It's a big reason why the Lions tours are now so condensed. Gone are the days when the visitors would spend a proper stint in the country they're touring, taking in plenty of games against local opposition, mixing with the locals, making memories and getting a real sense of the place. The entire Lions squad sound a bit weary at the moment, given their exhaustive travel schedule, taking in stops in Perth, Brisbane, Sydney and Canberra and Adelaide in the space of 15 days. Judging from the dispatches from Australia in recent days, Farrell, his coaches and the players all sound a bit weary. And it's showing on the pitch. Yesterday was better, but it was against a thrown-together side. Yes, the Lions have never been more lucrative, but they have sold their souls in the process. The money is flying in, but the sense of wonder drained away long ago.
