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Glasgow Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- Glasgow Times
Huw Jones: I was on an emotional rollercoaster ahead of Lions' series triumph
Andy Farrell's men have returned to Sydney intent on becoming the first Lions team to complete a Test whitewash since the 1927 visit to Argentina – an aspiration made possible by Saturday's gripping 29-26 triumph in Melbourne. Jones was destined to miss one of the greatest matches in the tourists' storied history after initially being left out of the starting XV, despite having impressed in the Suncorp Stadium opener. Jones played a key part in the Lions' comeback after showing his strength to power over just before half-time (David Davies/PA) But having been dropped for Garry Ringrose, he was reinstated at outside centre when the Ireland star self-reported a return of the concussion symptoms that had forced him to miss the first Test. 'It was a pretty mental week. I had the initial disappointment of not being in the squad on the Tuesday,' Jones said. 'I had a chat with Andy and I was gutted. I got over that and was ready to get behind the boys. 'And then on Thursday we trained and Garry – to be fair to him – said his head just wasn't right. I think he may have got a knock in the session and went to the doctor. 'That's brave. And pulling yourself out as well. It was at the end of training, I had no idea that he was struggling, 'I chatted to Garry afterwards and he was emotional. Its one of those….you think 'I'll be all right' but if it's bad, it's bad. 'But like people have said, it's just a game. Your head's very important, you only get one brain and all that. 'If he felt the need to say that he was struggling, then fair play to him. I just hope that he gets over it very quickly. The moment that clinched the Series…#Lions2025 — British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) July 26, 2025 'I was gutted for him because he deserved to play and I know he would have been unbelievable. Sometimes that's rugby and that's sport. 'So I got a nod after that session. I was ready to step in and luckily I'd run some of the plays on Tuesday, so I was ready to go and got the job done.' Jones played a key part in the Lions' comeback from 18 points down after showing his strength to power over just before half-time, but it was Hugo Keenan's dashing finish with 51 seconds left that ignited the celebrations. Remarkably, Keenan's try was the first time the Lions had led in the second Test. 'What a game. Unbelievable. We made it hard for ourselves, ill-discipline and all that, but came back at the end and Hugo….what a finish. It was a good feeling,' Jones said. Farrell is scheduled to name his starting XV and bench on Thursday (David Davies/PA) 'It's a cliche, but we never stopped believing, even at half-time. Even if we'd been further down, we still had the belief that we'd go on and win.' Farrell has given his squad two days off to celebrate Saturday's achievement with the players being joined by their friends and family. They resume training on Tuesday when the Lions will begin plotting the downfall of the Wallabies for a third-successive weekend. Farrell is scheduled to name his starting XV and bench on Thursday.
South Wales Argus
3 days ago
- Sport
- South Wales Argus
Finn Russell warns Lions want to ‘finish on a high' with a series whitewash
The rivals delivered an all-time classic in the second Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground but it was Andy Farrell's men who held their nerve to emerge 29-26 winners. Now they are chasing the 100 per cent record Down Under that Farrell set as a pre-tour target – an achievement that has not been managed since the 1927 visit to Argentina. Lions fly-half Finn Russell (second right) is tackled during the second Test win over Australia in Melbourne (David Davies/PA). Russell, who started the celebrations wearing a chocolate garland given to some of the players by Sione Tuipulotu, views the looming Sydney Olympic Park showdown as a must win occasion. 'Everyone here has been gunning for this for their whole career. To get to the Lions is one thing and then to get a series win is another,' the Scotland fly-half said. 'This is my third tour and I've not won one so it's special to get this, bringing four nations together to be a family for five, six weeks. 'So to get the series is amazing, but the job's still not done yet. We need to go and try and finish it off. Even though we've got the series, we want to finish on a high. Everyone wants to play in that game.' Russell has been a key figure in the Lions' first series triumph since 2013, forging an influential half-back partnership with Jamison Gibson Park that has been among the tourists' greatest strengths. On current form the best fly-half in the game, the 32-year-old is finally getting the accolades that his talent deserves after piloting Bath to Gallagher Premiership, Challenge Cup and Premier Cup success in the recent club season. 'I've learned another style of rugby at Bath. It's a different style that's about getting control back because of the backs that we have to launch,' he said. Hugo Keenan, scorer of the try that won the second Test and clinched a series win for the Lions over Australia, celebrates with team-mates at the MCG (David Davies/PA). 'It's changed the way I look at the game a little bit. On Saturday, we had a couple of calls on their 10 metre line and I'm looking at kick plays rather than launching straight away. 'I'm loving my rugby right now. Some of the boys might say it's the most confident I've been and it's my best rugby, which might be true, it might not. 'I've not won much in my career so to have won the titles at Bath and now this, it's amazing, it's so special.'
The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Finn Russell warns Lions want to ‘finish on a high' with a series whitewash
Now they are chasing the 100 per cent record Down Under that Farrell set as a pre-tour target – an achievement that has not been managed since the 1927 visit to Argentina. Lions fly-half Finn Russell (second right) is tackled during the second Test win over Australia in Melbourne (David Davies/PA). Russell, who started the celebrations wearing a chocolate garland given to some of the players by Sione Tuipulotu, views the looming Sydney Olympic Park showdown as a must win occasion. 'Everyone here has been gunning for this for their whole career. To get to the Lions is one thing and then to get a series win is another,' the Scotland fly-half said. 'This is my third tour and I've not won one so it's special to get this, bringing four nations together to be a family for five, six weeks. 'So to get the series is amazing, but the job's still not done yet. We need to go and try and finish it off. Even though we've got the series, we want to finish on a high. Everyone wants to play in that game.' Russell has been a key figure in the Lions' first series triumph since 2013, forging an influential half-back partnership with Jamison Gibson Park that has been among the tourists' greatest strengths. On current form the best fly-half in the game, the 32-year-old is finally getting the accolades that his talent deserves after piloting Bath to Gallagher Premiership, Challenge Cup and Premier Cup success in the recent club season. 'I've learned another style of rugby at Bath. It's a different style that's about getting control back because of the backs that we have to launch,' he said. Hugo Keenan, scorer of the try that won the second Test and clinched a series win for the Lions over Australia, celebrates with team-mates at the MCG (David Davies/PA). 'It's changed the way I look at the game a little bit. On Saturday, we had a couple of calls on their 10 metre line and I'm looking at kick plays rather than launching straight away. 'I'm loving my rugby right now. Some of the boys might say it's the most confident I've been and it's my best rugby, which might be true, it might not. 'I've not won much in my career so to have won the titles at Bath and now this, it's amazing, it's so special.'
Glasgow Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- Glasgow Times
Finn Russell warns Lions want to ‘finish on a high' with a series whitewash
The rivals delivered an all-time classic in the second Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground but it was Andy Farrell's men who held their nerve to emerge 29-26 winners. Now they are chasing the 100 per cent record Down Under that Farrell set as a pre-tour target – an achievement that has not been managed since the 1927 visit to Argentina. Lions fly-half Finn Russell (second right) is tackled during the second Test win over Australia in Melbourne (David Davies/PA). Russell, who started the celebrations wearing a chocolate garland given to some of the players by Sione Tuipulotu, views the looming Sydney Olympic Park showdown as a must win occasion. 'Everyone here has been gunning for this for their whole career. To get to the Lions is one thing and then to get a series win is another,' the Scotland fly-half said. 'This is my third tour and I've not won one so it's special to get this, bringing four nations together to be a family for five, six weeks. 'So to get the series is amazing, but the job's still not done yet. We need to go and try and finish it off. Even though we've got the series, we want to finish on a high. Everyone wants to play in that game.' Russell has been a key figure in the Lions' first series triumph since 2013, forging an influential half-back partnership with Jamison Gibson Park that has been among the tourists' greatest strengths. On current form the best fly-half in the game, the 32-year-old is finally getting the accolades that his talent deserves after piloting Bath to Gallagher Premiership, Challenge Cup and Premier Cup success in the recent club season. 'I've learned another style of rugby at Bath. It's a different style that's about getting control back because of the backs that we have to launch,' he said. Hugo Keenan, scorer of the try that won the second Test and clinched a series win for the Lions over Australia, celebrates with team-mates at the MCG (David Davies/PA). 'It's changed the way I look at the game a little bit. On Saturday, we had a couple of calls on their 10 metre line and I'm looking at kick plays rather than launching straight away. 'I'm loving my rugby right now. Some of the boys might say it's the most confident I've been and it's my best rugby, which might be true, it might not. 'I've not won much in my career so to have won the titles at Bath and now this, it's amazing, it's so special.'
Glasgow Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- Glasgow Times
Lions set up shot at history as Itoje leads way again – 5 things we learned
Here, the PA news agency looks at five things learned from one of the great matches in Lions history. Lions show their teeth Keenan scored a last-gasp try to seal victory (David Davies/PA) By overturning a 23-5 deficit, the Lions produced their greatest comeback of all time, which had previously stood at toppling South Africa when 10 points behind in 1938. A tour that for the most part has been a procession, finally produced its moment of truth for Andy Farrell's men – and they responded by showing they have the character to match their quality with Hugo Keenan rising to the occasion when it mattered most. Winning Lions tours are the exception, not the rule, and 2025 will be rightfully celebrated. History awaits A series whitewash beckons in Sydney and with Australia surely having punched themselves out at the great gladiatorial arena that is the MCG, history is there for the taking. Even the immortals of 1971 and 1974 were unable to produce 100 per cent records, achievements that also eluded the 1997 and 2013 vintages from the professional era. Becoming the greatest Lions team of all time was the aspiration when arriving Down Under and, while the strength of the Wallabies may mitigate against that being a realistic aim, 2025 will at least be in the conversation. Itoje turns the tide Maro Itoje led the way for his side (David Davies/PA) Staring down the barrel of a heavy defeat, Farrell needed one of his Lions to light the way and his captain duly obliged. Maro Itoje was the standard bearer of his team's defiance by dominating the Wallabies with a towering physical display and, after nine successive Tests in the red jersey, the last eight coming as starts, he takes his place in the pantheon alongside the likes of Willie John McBride and Martin Johnson. As skipper, the England second row exudes calm authority but he also brought force when it was needed by squaring off with Will Skelton and interrupting Harry Wilson when the Australia captain attempted to influence a crucial late decision by referee Andrea Piardi. Curry and Beirne shine again Tom Curry starred again (David Davies/PA) A disappointing feature of the Lions tour ending next weekend is that Tom Curry and Tadhg Beirne will never again be seen in the same back row. The all-action flankers backed up their towering displays in the first Test with more colossal feats at the MCG in an emphatic endorsement of Farrell's selection given their ordinary pre-series form made them contentious picks. Described by Farrell as a 'machine', Curry's work-rate and relentless physicality are unrivalled, while Beirne produces big moment after big moment. Both forwards touched down with fine finishes and ran themselves into the ground. Curry, in particular, is a bona fide Lions great. Wallabies not dead yet It hurts but your support means everything 💛💚 We can't wait to play for you again in Sydney.#Wallabies #ACheerAndAHalf #LionsTour2025 — Wallabies (@wallabies) July 27, 2025 As Australia stormed ahead in Melbourne, the poor preparation that led to their obliteration in the first-half at Suncorp Stadium was shown to be an even greater blunder than initially feared. What would the Wallabies have been like had they been given more than a warm-up against Fiji to sharpen the blade ahead of their biggest match since the 2015 World Cup final? Returning forward Rob Valetini and Will Skelton, both back from calf injuries, were magnificent and lifted everyone around them, but their team was clearly undercooked for the first Test.
