Lions plan: take control — then let Finn Russell weave magic

Times

18-07-2025

Andy Farrell took Wednesday night off. A chance for some downtime before the biggest game of his coaching career. An opportunity to escape the team hotel and to sample some of the atmosphere in Brisbane. It was still early days — the city would be flooded with British & Irish Lions jerseys by Friday — but there were enough supporters around to feel that a significant day was looming.
Farrell's wife, Colleen, had arrived and they went to a pub to watch Sonny Bill Williams step into the boxing ring for a pay-per-view grudge match against Paul Gallen, one of the toughest, dirtiest and most uncompromising men to play rugby league. Farrell never played against Gallen but he coached against Williams, a fellow dual-code international, on the 2017 Lions tour to New Zealand.
Gallen was shorter in terms of height and reach. To trouble Williams he would have to walk through some punches. When Williams landed a flurry of blows in the second round, Gallen looked gone. But he survived until the bell, his face already marked, and then came off his stool to win the third round.
It was an emphatic riposte. Gallen kept coming forwards for the remainder of the bout, prepared to suffer more than Williams in pursuit of victory. And he won it on a split points decision.
'It's that old saying, 'When you get punched on the nose, you see how people react,' ' Farrell said. That was as true in the boxing ring on Wednesday night as it will be at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday, when the Lions face Australia in the first Test of the series.
This day has been 12 months in the planning for Farrell and the Lions but eight years in the waiting for the travelling hordes, after they were locked out of South Africa 2021 because of Covid. Without that backdrop of colour and song, there was nothing to counterbalance the toxicity of a forgettable Test series.
Half of the 55,000-capacity stadium could be wearing red on Saturday. It is fitting that they can gather first in Brisbane, for it was here in 2001 that the phenomenon of Lions travelling support really took off. Martin Johnson was blown away by what he saw at the Gabba when he went out for the coin toss. The Lions captain returned to the changing room and said, 'Lads, you have no idea what's out there.' What followed at the Gabba was one of the great Lions Test wins.
Only Maro Itoje and Tadhg Furlong have experienced an occasion like it. They are the only survivors in this team from the 2017 tour and will be playing their seventh consecutive Lions Tests. 'It's different to a Test match at Twickenham. It's different to a Test match in any other part of the world. It's different from a World Cup,' Itoje said.
As Ian McGeechan so famously put it in 1997, the Lions jersey asks different things of a player. Johnny Sexton, now a Lions assistant coach, played in 2013 when they won the first Test in Brisbane. 'It either brings the best out of you or you wilt under the pressure,' he said. 'Andy's challenged us around that, making sure we try to bring the best version of ourselves. The boys are ready. This is what we came for. This is the week we waited for.'
The Lions may be heavier favourites for the first Test than Williams was when he stepped into the ring but Farrell wants his team to be more like Gallen. Not dirty, but relentlessly tough and physical; primed to deliver a performance 'that is going to walk forward to the challenge', that is resilient enough to ride any punches and to 'stamp our authority on the game'.
The Lions pack is the most combative it could be, with Tom Curry, a man with no regard for his own welfare, Jack Conan and Tadhg Beirne forging a direct and abrasive loose-forward unit. Joining Itoje in the second row is Joe McCarthy, the Leinster lock who can be wound up and unleashed to cause mayhem, much like Ellis Genge in the front row.
McCarthy served notice of that potential with a destructive performance when Ireland ransacked Marseille's Stade Vélodrome on the opening day of the 2024 Six Nations. 'I've never really seen him take a backward step,' Farrell said. 'Even when he came on to the scene as a youngster. He always wanted to master the dark arts of the tight-head lock position.'
Those Lions selections felt even more significant after it emerged that Australia had been sorely weakened by injuries, with the absences of Will Skelton and Rob Valetini robbing them of important power, dynamism and experience.
With Noah Lolesio out of the series, Tom Lynagh will make his first Test start at fly half, 36 years after his father, Michael, wore the same No10 jersey in the 1989 series against the Lions. The Wallabies conceded the timing for Lynagh's introduction was 'not ideal', although those who know the 22-year-old back him to cope.
The 1989, 2001 and 2013 Lions series in Australia all went to a deciding Test. Farrell's squad have talked openly about chasing a 3-0 whitewash and becoming the greatest Lions ever. Even if they achieve that, such status would be debatable given the Wallabies are ranked sixth in the world.
But Australia still have some remarkable athletes. Fraser McReight bagged five jackal turnovers against Ireland in November. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii demonstrated in Australia's victory over England that month that he has the aerial skills and creative ability to damage the Lions. Plus they have a scheming head coach in Joe Schmidt, whom Farrell knows inside-out from their time working with Ireland.
Farrell bumped into Gordon Tallis on Thursday, a legend of Queensland rugby league. 'Everyone used to talk about Queensland being underdogs in State of Origin. He said, 'We never, ever saw it that way,' and Australia will be exactly the same,' Farrell said. 'They'll be fighting tooth and nail.'
What plans has Schmidt concocted? We can be sure that Australia will compete hard on the floor. Without the same carrying power, they will surely go to the air and send Suaalii on the chase with the aim of regaining any loose ball and striking against a disorganised defence. There was a thunderstorm and a downpour over Brisbane on Friday night, which could mean some greasy conditions.
The Lions have won their five tour matches in Australia with ease and say they have been keeping plenty back for the Test series. We have seen flashes of attacking excellence. While Lynagh is learning the ropes at Test level, the Lions have, in Finn Russell, a fly half at the peak of his powers, capable of playing the game any which way.
Whatever ego there used to be in his rugby — perceived or otherwise — has gone since he joined Bath. His passing range, his vision and his timing are sublime. Outside him, Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones have a lovely chemistry in midfield, honed on the fields of Scotland.
Their battle for supremacy with Suaalii and Len Ikitau will be pivotal. The Australian pair combined beautifully to carve open England at Twickenham. And there is some spice to throw into that mix too, with Suaalii and Tuipulotu meeting for the first time since a fractious incident at Murrayfield last November.
The opposing midfielders exchanged words after Suaalii had injured his shoulder putting in a big hit on the Scotland centre. 'See you next time,' the Wallabies centre said, referring to this first Lions Test. Players store up these things. That first collision will be tasty.
How will the Lions deal with a (figurative) punch in the face, if and when it comes? Genge, Tuipulotu, Curry, Russell and Dan Sheehan all have Test captaincy experience, while Beirne has led the Lions on this tour.
Farrell will expect them to respond as Gallen did in that third round: to get off their stool, start scrapping and get back on the front foot, where Russell can weave his magic.
'You don't want regrets when you come off the pitch. You don't want to come off the pitch and think, 'I wish I had another chance.' You've got to make it happen when it matters,' Farrell said.
'You have to back up the belief. I get a sense that there's a determined bunch that's looking forward to what we came over here for, and that's to perform and win a Test series against Australia.'
First Test, BrisbaneSaturday, 11amLive on Sky Sports Main Event