Indo Sport podcast: The Lions Tour review – What Andy Farrell got right and Joe Schmidt's mistake
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Irish Independent
a day ago
- Irish Independent
Indo Sport podcast: The Lions Tour review – What Andy Farrell got right and Joe Schmidt's mistake
Rúaidhrí O'Connor dials in from Sydney airport to give Will Slattery his overall review of the Lions Tour to Australia, where Andy Farrell's approach, Joe Schmidt's preparation and the future of the series leave us with plenty to talk about.
Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
Lions had special moments but lacked consistency needed to be ranked among greats
How best to describe the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour? Even before the final Test was interrupted by lightning, it was a strange old series. To the Lions the spoils but it was Australia who led for all but 60 seconds of the last two Tests. Just a solitary point divided the teams over three games and it was only courtesy of Will Stuart's late consolation that the visitors collected 10 tries compared to the Wallabies' nine. What would have happened had Joe Schmidt's side had an extra warm-up fixture or made a faster start in Brisbane? Had Will Skelton been fit for the pivotal opening game, or Rob Valetini and Taniela Tupou featured for more than 40 and 60 minutes in the series respectively? If Australia had not lost their first-choice outhalf on the eve of the series, or protected their 23-5 lead in Melbourne? Not forgetting, of course, the hairline margins in the final minute of the second Test as the match officials sought to establish whether or not Jac Morgan's clearout on Carlo Tizzano was permissible. As they sipped their winners' champagne on the long flight home the Lions will be aware their 2-1 series victory was way too close for comfort. At which point there are two schools of thought. The first is that winning is the only currency worth discussing, particularly on this kind of tour. This is only the second victorious Lions series since 1997, which makes it a pretty rare achievement. Losing a dead rubber at the end of another absurdly long season should not overshadow everything that has gone before. READ MORE The evidence of the past two months, however, has been rather less black and white. When you publicly set your stall out to smash your hosts by a whopping 3-0 margin it subsequently becomes difficult to claim sporting immortality if you scrape over the line against a team recently ranked eighth in the world. The Lions have still not won a series in South Africa or New Zealand this century. Will Skelton of the Wallabies runs as Tom Curry of the British and Irish Lions during the third Test in Sydney. Photograph:There can also be no glossing over one or two other uncomfortable facts. Remember the pre-departure Argentina game in Dublin when the Pumas fully deserved their 28-24 victory? Give or take the sheeting rain on Saturday night, there were similarities in the way the Wallabies expertly seized their opportunities and also looked the more energetic side. And how often, as Andy Farrell himself has acknowledged, did his squad really click into top gear, even against weakened Super Rugby opposition? The honest answer is not often enough given the resources, financial and personnel-wise, at their disposal. Aside from the estimable Morgan and Tadhg Beirne , how many Lions finished the tour visibly in better form than they started it? Part of that could simply be individuals easing off slightly with the series already decided. But Farrell and Maro Itoje had repeatedly stressed that their players remained highly motivated by the possibility of a clean sweep. More pertinent was the excessive amount of rugby played by several of these Lions this season and, consequently, the accumulated wear and tear. The Wallabies' sharp improvement also has to be taken into account. They are a particular threat with turnover ball in hand, never took a backward step and appear to be turning a corner under Schmidt. That said, the acid test of their resurrection still awaits. Their next two Tests against the world champions South Africa, in Johannesburg and Cape Town this month, will be instructive, particularly if they can get all their best players on the pitch at the same time. And maybe that caveat also sums up the slightly contradictory 2025 Lions? When Itoje, Dan Sheehan , Beirne, Jamison Gibson‑Park and the supreme Finn Russell were all out on the field together, with Tom Curry and Morgan riding shotgun, they looked a serious team. Beirne won the medal for player of the series and Russell picked up the prize awarded by the tour sponsor Howden. Ireland's Tadhg Beirne was named player of the series. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho In the final analysis, however, they perhaps needed a couple more world-class performers to elevate the squad to the pantheon. While Farrell's Lions had their special moments they did not ultimately show the consistency to demand inclusion among the truly great British and Irish squads of yesteryear. What was never in dispute, though, was the touring team's collective bond. Elliot Daly and Tomos Williams may have left early with injuries but both still loved the experience. Itoje was a respected leader while Farrell Sr's man-management continues to be a strength. The only sadness was that, media access-wise, the Lions comms strategy made the Kremlin press office look relaxed and open-minded. Such blinkered thinking grows even more self-defeating as rugby desperately seeks to market itself more effectively. The good news is that this tour should have helped to boost the sport's profile across Australia before the 2027 Rugby World Cup. As the tour manager Ieuan Evans rightly put it: 'If you weren't captured by the drama of that second Test at the MCG then, quite frankly, you haven't got a soul.' Plenty of good work is also going on behind the scenes at Rugby Australia, although Schmidt is still due to depart his post next year. It will be fascinating to see how the Wallabies fare when they go to Europe to play England, Italy, Ireland and France in November, by which time Farrell will be back in an Ireland tracksuit and Itoje will be wearing white again. Being part of a winning Lions series, however, remains a privilege and the shared dressingroom memories will live for ever. – Guardian
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Irish Times
Bundee Aki reveals wife gave birth in a car hours before he played for Lions in first Test against Australia
Bundee Aki has revealed his wife Kayla gave birth to their fifth child on the day of the Lions ' first Test in Brisbane on July 11th, before the Ireland centre came on as a replacement in the tourists' 27-19 victory. In the aftermath of rain-sodden series finale in Sydney, the 35-year-old was asked if returning to Australia in two years' time for the 2027 World Cup was a goal, at which point he divulged he had more pressing matters on his mind. 'We'll see, we'll see. I want to enjoy my break, my family time. I haven't seen my family for eight weeks. I have a newborn child who I haven't met yet,' he told stunned reporters in the mixed zone of the Accor Stadium after the Wallabies' 22-12 win on Saturday. 'Yep, a girl,' he confirmed happily. 'She was born when we were playing in Brisbane, so I haven't met her. Her name is Áine, so I'm looking forward to going and meeting my newborn child and we'll go from there.' READ MORE The story has echoes of a bygone era, when Lions squads travelled to the southern hemisphere by boat for marathon tours of several months and missing the birth of a child was not uncommon for players. 'Credit to my wife. She's a powerful woman, a strong woman. I have to say it to her. If you only knew the story of what happened, it's a funny story in itself. 'It was a good day,' he began, hesitantly, before revealing some of the details as Kayla communicated to him from New Zealand, where she and the rest of the Aki family were on the day. 'I was in the hotel. I knew we were overdue. The missus calls me and she's like: 'Water hasn't broke but I'm going to the hospital, I'm feeling contractions.' I go: 'Yeah, fair enough.' Bundee Aki celebrates with team-mates in the dressingroom after the Lions' second Test victory over the Wallabies at Melbourne Cricket Ground. Photograph: Dan Sheridan/Inpho 'She goes to the hospital, we're getting ready for the team meeting prematch, and then she calls me and says she's on the way to the hospital. So I said: 'Fine, be safe.' Five minutes later, she sends a photo, her water broke. 'I was like: 'Cool, OK, are you almost there?' This is like 30 or 40 minutes away from the hospital. So I said: 'You'll be all right, Mum is there.' Ten minutes later, she video calls me and I was like: 'Shit, what's going on?' I saw a baby on the video call, so she had it in the car on the way to the hospital. 'They're both strong and healthy, so happy days,' he added, grinning broadly throughout. As for refocusing on his other task at hand, namely that first Test at Suncorp Stadium, Aki maintained: 'I knew it was good Juju, so I knew we were going to have a good day.' It certainly constitutes one of the most memorable days of his life. They chose a good Irish name too. 'All my kids' (names) start with A, so my wife loved the name Áine. That's five As in the family,' he said, their newest arrival joining older siblings Armani-Jad, Adrianna, Andronicus and Ailbhe. The birth put the matter of a rugby match into perspective, particularly one as daft and farcical as the weather-interrupted third Test. 'There's no excuse,' admitted Aki, of an error-strewn Lions performance which dipped from previous standards. 'We were just behind the eight-ball. I wasn't great myself. Today was a poor game, but you have those days, you've just got to live with it. 'We'll take the positive out of it. We won the series and that's all we came here for. We'd have loved a clean sweep but it didn't happen.' Bundee Aki (centre) with Lions, Ireland and Connacht team-mates Finlay Bealham (left) and Mack Hansen (right) after the third Test in Sydney. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho Aki was one of the players, along with Tadhg Furlong , who could be seen lounging on bean bags during the storm-induced stoppage, which lasted 37 minutes before play resumed. He admitted they were caught a little off-guard when given notice that the game would be resuming in 10 minutes. 'They said 45 minutes, they would let us know. We were all just sort of relaxed and then we got told, 'Oh we've got 10 minutes before we get out'. Oh shit! Everyone had to get on their feet and start moving again.' No doubt helped by the prospect of soon seeing his family and newborn daughter, Aki could also frame Saturday's defeat in the context of completing his second Lions tour and a series win. 'Only so many people can say they've been on two tours or have won a series. Honestly, I can't say anything high enough of this bunch of boys, the team, the staff. It's been one of the most enjoyable tours I've ever been on. It's so good. We're going to enjoy tonight as a group of players together, and we'll see them again in the new year,' he said, in reference to meeting as opposing players in the Six Nations . Aki has been a serial winner throughout his career, be it the Ranfury Shield with Counties Manakau, the Super Rugby title with the Chiefs, the Pro12 with Connacht , or three Six Nations titles, including two Grand Slams, and a series win in New Zealand with Ireland, and now adds a series win with the Lions. 'Obviously, there's quite a few up there; Six Nations at home, Grand Slam, the New Zealand tour. The Lions is every four years, coming to Australia, being the first team to go back-to-back to win the series against Australia, it's up there.'
