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The 42
4 days ago
- Sport
- The 42
LIVE: Australia v British & Irish Lions, second Test
Just under 10 minutes to go until kick-off at the 100,000-capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground. This is less the Lions' Everest, more a climb up the Sugar Loaf or something to that effect. But the Wallabies will surely give it socks here for as long as they can. Skelton and Valetini's returns, and a bit of do-or-die national pride, mean they can't be ruled out today. Billy Stickland / INPHO Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
The 42
5 days ago
- Sport
- The 42
Porter's pride, family in Oz, prop friend, and cut ears
ANDREW PORTER HAS just come from training and there are cuts on his ears gently weeping as he sits down for an interview. His ears are cut all year round now. This is the life of an international prop. In fact, he and his wife, Elaine, had to buy black bed linen. 'I can't have white pillowcases at home anymore because it looks like Texas Chainsaw Massacre after I wake up in the morning,' says Porter with a smile. 'I've been banned from the white linens anyway at home.' A massive part of Porter would love to be at home in Ireland right now. Elaine gave birth to their son in May and it's tough being away at this stage. 'I've learned that babies get very big when you're away from home,' says Porter when he's asked what this Lions tour has taught him. 'My wife is at home looking after the baby. He's nine weeks now. 'I could say it's not easy for me but I don't think my wife would like that too much. I wouldn't get much sympathy! Advertisement 'My wife is at home looking after our baby at the moment. She's the one in the trenches at home at the moment. I'm in the trenches over here. Well, I can't really say that. We're looked after here quite well. 'But it's a sacrifice on both ends. She's there with sleepless nights at home looking after him and I'm here representing my family, my country, and representing the Lions. It's two different kinds of sacrifices. But I'll definitely owe her for this for a long time anyway.' Ellis Genge with Andrew Porter. Billy Stickland / INPHO Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO Porter is doing them proud in Australia. He came off the bench for his Lions Test debut last weekend in Brisbane, a brilliant moment for him given that he was ruled out of the 2021 Lions tour due to injury. And on Saturday, Porter will make his first Lions Test start after head coach Andy Farrell named him in the number one shirt for the second Wallabies clash. He will have family watching in person in Melbourne. His father, Ernie, arrived for the first Test in Brisbane and will be there on Saturday too, enjoying a 'a nice old holiday,' according to his son. Ernie's two sisters, Becky and Vera, live in Australia, so Porter has had his aunties and cousins supporting him too. 'They're all around the place - Perth, Brisbane, most of them in Sydney. 'It's a good opportunity for him to go and meet up with all the family and everything. I mean, it's great for me as well. There's a lot of them I wouldn't have even met before. A few cousins and stuff, a lot of them I haven't seen in years and years. 'So, it's a great opportunity to reconnect with family as well as being down here.' Porter packs down with two familiar faces in the Lions' front row on Saturday. He's part of an all-Leinster, all-Irish front row along with Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong. Porter with a Lions fan. Billy Stickland / INPHO Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO 'It's incredible being in the squad with them and being able to pack down with them in a Lions Test is another step up again,' says Porter. 'I'm delighted to be able to do it alongside them. I just need to be on top of my game because they've had great tours so far, so I just need to be able to make them look good.' Porter takes over from Ellis Genge as the Lions' starting loosehead but they know they're a combination. When Genge was picked to start the first Test, Porter was the first man to congratulate him and that was reciprocated when Porter was named. 'He's an incredible guy, an incredible player, and it's been great to build a friendship as well as learn from him,' says Porter. 'He's one of the best in the business so it's great being able to become closer as mates and learn from each other along the way. 'But yeah, he was the first one to congratulate me yesterday and sure he handed out my cap to me last week instead of my dad. So he's the dad of the squad. He's a great fella and a great player.'
The 42
19-07-2025
- Sport
- The 42
LIVE: Australia v British & Irish Lions, first Test
Good morning! Well, folks, after three years, it's that time again! The British & Irish Lions kick off their Test series against Australia at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, at 11am Irish time. It's Gavan Casey with you here, and I'll bring you live updates from the game if you're not lucky enough to be in the stadium or if you don't have access to Sky Sports. Andy Farrell's side are big favourites against Joe Schmidt's Wallabies. Brisbane is, by all accounts, a sea of red. Let's go! Billy Stickland / INPHO Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
Extra.ie
18-07-2025
- Sport
- Extra.ie
Joe Schmidt has placed a big target sign on one Irish Lions player
To say Joe Schmidt's Wallabies are being written off ahead of the first Test against Andy Farrell's Lions does not do justice to the dismissive nature of those predictions. When the prospect of an Australian victory is even tentatively raised, it is contemptuously discarded like a moth being brushed off a dinner jacket. Everyone is predicting a Lions victory in this first Test, and in the series overall. The Lions are widely expected to wipe the floor with Australia Pic: Sportsfile Some, including various Lions themselves, are saying it will be a 3-0 whitewash and claiming that anything less than that would constitute a failure. At best, this is over-arrogance, at worst it is incredibly insulting for a nation with an illustrious rugby history – including two World Cup titles (one more than the entire northern hemisphere banded together) – and hugely disrespectful to a head coach that has earned the right more than any other to be taken seriously. Nick Farr-Jones of the Wallabies passes the ball during their Rugby World Cup final win over England in 1991. The Aussies won again in 1999. Pic: Getty Images Yes, the Wallabies are missing a clutch of their frontline players. Yes, their performance in the narrow win over Fiji was way off the standard required and, yes, Australian rugby as a whole has been on the slide for more than a generation. But they have Schmidt… When will people learn not to write off this coach? He was written off after four games at Leinster when there were calls for his sacking, he went onto win back to back European Cups and establish a dynasty of success that exists to this day. Conor Murray celebrates Robbie Henshaw's try against New Zealand at Soldier Field in 2016. Pic: INPHO/Billy Stickland He was written off by the All Blacks in 2016, and made his history in Soldier's Field and he was written off at the 2023 World Cup after New Zealand had struggled in the build up, only to send Ireland plummeting to yet another quarter-final exit. Even Schmidt's detractors concede that the notoriously meticulous New Zealander will have a plan for the Lions – they just don't think it will make any difference. Well, think again. James Lowe in action for the Lions. Pic: INPHO/Billy Stickland There are two names on the Lions teamsheet that Schmidt will have been preparing for with special intent – James Lowe on the left wing and out-half Finn Russell. Lowe has many excellent qualities in attack and a hugely effective left boot but the Kiwi's defence has never been dependable and the problems that beset him when he first landed in from New Zealand to Leinster in 2017 have never properly gone away. Look back at that infamous Ireland quarter-final defeat in 2023 – New Zealand scored two crucial tries by Ardie Savea and Will Jordan that were straight out of the Schmidt playbook, and both times Lowe was exposed. Ireland vs New Zealand All Blacks Ireland's James Lowe is tackled by All Blacks Rieko Ioane. Pic: INPHO/Billy Stickland While recognising the dangers Lowe offers with his powerful, unpredictable attacks, Schmidt will see his left wing area as a door needing to be pushed open. Various pundits have described the team Schmidt has picked for the first Test as 'underwhelming' and, certainly, there are areas of the side (notably the front five) where the Lions look to have an advantage. But pace in the back three is not one of those areas. Tom Wright, Harry Potter and Lowe's direct opponent Max Jorgensen are lethally quick – carrying far greater velocity than Hugo Keenan, Tommy Freeman and Lowe. James Lowe is known for his strength more than speed. Pic: INPHO/Dan Sheridan The pundits who are saying the Wallabies are going to kick the shine off the ball to put the Lions under aerial pressure (based on their memory of Schmidt's latter years with Ireland) have not looked properly at the team he has picked. He has got pure racehorses out wide and will have a plan to set them free – a plan that will include a giant target sign on James Lowe. There will be another on Russell, who has been deified by the Lions media all tour without ever coming up against an opponent worthy of the name. Finn Russell in action for the Lions, a player Schmidt know well. Pic: INPHO Schmidt knows Russell well from his time in Europe and will have something in store for Scotland No10. It could well be something with the less than threatening title of Nick Champion de Crespigny – the major leftfield pick in this Australia side and a flanker made for man-hunting duties after his Top 14 time with Castres. We will know soon enough but, though quietly spoken and charming in his media dealings, there is a steel to Schmidt that will have noted all the derision thrust his way in the build up to this series. And, over the past number of years he cannot fail to have noticed how his Ireland legacy has been unfairly diminished by regular unfavourable comparisons with Farrell's 'kumbaya' methods of management. This will all have registered and the retribution could be truly savage.
The 42
02-07-2025
- Sport
- The 42
4 Lions players who enhanced their Test chances in victory over the Reds
*Maro Itoje, Jamison Gibson-Park and Finn Russell have been omitted from this list as they are virtually guaranteed Test starters. Their excellent individual performances against the Reds reinforced the consensus expectation as opposed to moving the dial in their respective positions. 1. Jac Morgan (Ospreys/Wales) Player of the Match Jac Morgan. Billy Stickland / INPHO Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO IT'S BEEN 122 years since there were only two Welsh players in a touring Lions squad and, with Tomos Williams having been cruelly struck down by injury, national-team skipper Jac Morgan has been left to carry the flag alone for Cymru in 2025. After a reasonably quiet outing against Argentina in Dublin, the highlight of which was a borderline illegal poach, Morgan's tour roared into life with a man-of-the-match performance against the Reds. While Itoje would have been this writer's choice, Morgan was at worst a close second: the Ospreys talisman bookended a superb all-round performance with jackal penalties, winning a match-leading three turnover pens in all. He led the Lions with 21 tackles and led the forwards for metres gained, averaging almost five metres per his 10 carries. Openside Morgan capped a fine outing with a well-taken try, with the only blot on his copybook being a joint missed tackle with Tom Curry as Hunter Paisama powered through the Lions for Jeffrey Toomaga-Allen to open the scoring. The 25-year-old Morgan, who also excels at blindside, overshadowed his back-row partner Curry against the Queenslanders. Jack Conan (Leinster/Ireland) Jack Conan impressed on both sides of the ball for the tourists. Billy Stickland / INPHO Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO Conan increasingly feels like the most likely Test starter at eight and he did those chances no harm with a dynamic display at Suncorp Stadium. The Lions' top carrier overall with 13, the Leinster and Ireland back row beat four defenders and was a near-constant source of go-forward possession despite routinely being double-teamed by Les Kiss' Reds. Conan also showed plenty of his all-round footballing ability, his neat tee-up for Duhan van der Merwe's first-half try (after an equally perfectly-timed pass to the Irish back row by Ollie Chessum) just one of several examples of his subtlety in the loose. Having slipped off a couple early, Conan was also just shy of Morgan in tackles made by the endgame, putting dents in Reds attackers throughout. Rather handily, too, his only real competitor for the Test eight jersey, Ben Earl, was forced to fill in at the centre when he came off the bench, with Elliot Daly's unfortunate injury forcing a reshuffle. As such, the Englishman didn't get the chance to steal ground on Conan, at least this time around. Advertisement Bundee Aki (Connacht/Ireland) The Reds try to get to grips with Bundee Aki. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO Early in the game, when it more closely resembled a basketball match, Aki was among the Lions guilty of forcing a pass where he didn't quite have the adequate chemistry with the teammate on his shoulder. But after an inconsistent opening quarter, the Connacht and Ireland centre, 35, appeared to make a conscious decision to revert to his bread and butter: 'Bundee — smash.' This had devastating consequences for the Reds, who were confronted by something resembling a vintage Aki performance. His powerful second-half carry from the Reds' 22′ left the hosts' defence in shambles and led almost immediately to Maro Itoje's try, as Jamison Gibson-Park tiptoed through the wreckage left by Aki in his wake. As his bread-and-butter ball-carrying became more effective, Aki added some nice flourishes of distribution to his game against a tiring defence. He capped an old-school Bundee Aki performance with a hard-earned jackal penalty just short of the hour mark. With Sione Tuipulotu still getting up to speed after a lengthy injury absence — and demonstrably so based on his middling first two performances at 13 and 12 respectively — Aki may feel he stole a march on the sublime Scot in Brisbane. Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints/England) Tommy Freeman celebrates his first try. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO The England right wing responded perfectly to Mack Hansen's exemplary second half against the Western Force with a polished, potent outing. Freeman has had more exhilarating games for club and country but he took his two tries with aplomb. While the first was a short-range run-in, the second was the kind of powerful, close-range score which distinguishes him from Hansen as a finisher, albeit the Irish wing equally has strings to his bow that Freeman hasn't yet developed. Ultimately, though, Freeman has produced a seven-out-of-10 and an eight-out-of-10 against Argentina and the Reds respectively to take pole position in the race for the 14 jersey. Against Wednesday's opposition, he excelled too where Hansen stood out in the second half against Western Force. The Northampton back kept a tight leash on Reds left wing Tim Ryan, whose only real sniff came after an error by Gibson-Park and Conan on a restart. An underrated defender, Freeman made all five of his tackles and was one of the few Lions listed as having missed none, which will have pleased Andy Farrell who clearly feels the Englishman can fit his mould as a roving but responsible wide option.
