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Scotsman
31-07-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
Rating the Lions - they deserve place in the record books but it might need an asterisk
Sign up to our Rugby Union newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Comparing teams from different eras is a tricky business but if the British and Irish Lions defeat the Wallabies for the third week in a row they will deserve their place in the pantheon. A victory in Sydney on Saturday would not only seal a 3-0 Test series triumph but would also mean the visitors had won nine from nine on Australian soil. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad They would be the first Lions side to pull off such a feat in modern times and you have to go back almost 100 years for a precedent. In 1927, a British Isles team formed of Scottish and English players and captained by David MacMyn, a surgeon from Kirkcudbright, played nine matches in Argentina and won them all, including four Test matches in Buenos Aires. Bundee Aki and Finn Russell celebrate the British & Irish Lions' win over Australia in the second Test which clinched the series. | Getty Images It is an interesting parallel because Argentina are the one team who have got the better of the 2025 Lions. It seems a long time ago now, but the Pumas beat Andy Farrell's side 28-24 in Dublin on June 20 in the send-off game. Only the third time in the pro era The defeat means an asterisk may need to be applied to the entry in the record books when this latest chapter of Lions history is written. What it won't change, however, is the fact that they have won the Test series and it is only the third time in the professional era that this has been achieved. Farrell's side join Ian McGeechan's victors in South Africa in 1997 and Warren Gatland's side of 2013 in Australia as successful Lions tourists. Series defeats are more commonplace. The Lions lost three in a row in 2001 (Australia), 2005 (New Zealand) and 2009 (South Africa). They tied with the All Blacks in 2017 then lost to the Sprigboks four years ago before the current crop sealed the series with the thrilling 29-26 win over the Wallabies at the MCG last week. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad But how should we rate Farrell's side? History tells us that Australia is the easiest of the three traditional southern hemisphere destinations on the Lions' tour rota. They have now played 25 Test matches against the Wallabies, winning 19 and losing six since touring began in the late 19th century. The win rate of 76 per cent far exceeds anything achieved against South Africa or New Zealand. The Lions' Test record against the Boks reads: played 49, won 18, lost 25, with six drawn. New Zealand has proved an even tougher mission, with the Lions having won only six of 38 Tests against the All Blacks, losing 29 and drawing three. Question marks about the quality of this Australia team There have also been serious question marks about the quality of this Australia team. Under the auspices of Eddie Jones, the Wallabies were eliminated in the pool stage at the 2023 Rugby World Cup following defeats by Fiji and Wales. They also finished bottom of the Rugby Championship in 2023 and 2024, winning only one match out of nine. Joe Schmidt replaced Jones before the '24 tournament and has brought about improvement. During last year's European tour they beat England and Wales, lost narrowly to Ireland but were well beaten by Scotland. Huw Jones scores for the British & Irish Lions during the second Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. | Getty Images They were huge underdogs going into the Lions Test series and lived up to the billing with a pallid performance in the first Test in Brisbane where a late flourish by the hosts gave the final scoreline of 27-19 a closeness it never merited. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Would a tour to Argentina have been a stiffer test for the Lions? Unlikely, if England's July tour there is any gauge. Steve Borthwick's side won the two-Test series without their Lions contingent and although the Pumas impressed in Dublin, they were up against a Lions side who had just come together and had yet to gel. Farrell batted away any debate over Australia's future as a British and Irish Lions tour destination, describing such talk as 'insulting' when he named his team on Thursday. Accused of diving And to be fair to the Wallabies, they displayed far more bite in the second Test in Melbourne where the return from injury of Will Skelton and Rob Valetini allowed them to compete up front. It was by far the toughest match of the tour for the Lions as Australia led from the fourth minute until the 79th before being undone by Hugo Keenan's late, controversial try. Hugo Keenan celebrates scoring the winning try for the Lions against the Wallabies in Melbourne. | Getty Images Schmidt's fury about the award of the score seemed genuine enough and the debate about the legality or otherwise of Jac Morgan's clearout on Carlo Tizzano will continue to rage. Tizzano has been accused of diving by the likes of Sam Warburton and James Haskell and that seems extremely harsh given the force of the impact. But that's not to say what Morgan did should have been punished. For this observer at least, the Welshman could not have gone in any lower. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Removed from firing line after online abuse Either way, Tizzano has been removed from the firing line and will not be involved in the match-day 23 this weekend after receiving abuse online. A sad coda to an enthralling contest. Australia will also be without Valetini who has succumbed again to the ongoing calf issue which caused him to miss the first Test and play only the first half of the second. His place at blindside flanker goes to Tom Hooper. There is a change too in the front row where prop Taniela Tupou will make his first appearance for Australia of 2025 as a replacement for the injured Allan Alaalatoa. Tupou was highly effective for the First Nations & Pasifika XV against the Lions last week in the only other match the tourists have really seemed troubled. Nic White will start at scrum-half against the Lions in what will be his final match for the Wallabies. | Getty Images Nic White starts at scrum-half in what will be his last outing for the Wallabies after announcing on Thursday morning that he would be calling time on his pro rugby career at the end of the year. He replaces Jake Gordon at nine, with Tate McDermott retaining his place on the bench. Dylan Pietsch comes in for the injured Harry Potter on the left wing. The Lions have again kept changes to a minimum. Scotland's Blair Kinghorn will start on the wing in place of the dropped James Lowe and James Ryan is preferred to Ollie Chessum in the second row, with the latter on the bench. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Eleven players have started all three Tests against the Wallabies, including Scottish duo Finn Russell and Huw Jones, and history now beckons for Farrell's pride of Lions. Australia v British and Irish Lions, teams for third Test Accor Stadium, Sydney, Saturday. KO: 11:00 BST Australia: Tom Wright; Max Jorgensen, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Len Ikitau, Dylan Pietsch; Tom Lynagh, Nic White; James Slipper, David Porecki, Taniela Tupou, Nick Frost, Will Skelton, Tom Hooper, Fraser McReight, Harry Wilson (capt). Replacements: Billy Pollard, Angus Bell, Zane Nonggorr, Jeremy Williams, Langi Gleeson, Tate McDermott, Ben Donaldson, Andrew Kellaway. Lions: H Keenan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland); T Freeman (Northampton Saints/England), H Jones (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), B Aki (Connacht Rugby/Ireland), B Kinghorn (Toulouse/Scotland); F Russell (Bath Rugby/Scotland), J Gibson-Park (Leinster Rugby/Ireland); A Porter (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), D Sheehan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), T Furlong (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), M Itoje (Saracens/England, capt), J Ryan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), T Beirne (Munster Rugby/Ireland), T Curry (Sale Sharks/England), J Conan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland). Replacements: R Kelleher (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), E Genge (Bristol Bears/England), W Stuart (Bath Rugby/England), O Chessum (Leicester Tigers/England), J Morgan (Ospreys/Wales), B Earl (Saracens/England), A Mitchell (Northampton Saints/England), O Farrell (Saracens/England).
Yahoo
28-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
The last Lions whitewash?
The Lions have not won a series whitewash for almost a century. Victory over Australia in the third Test on Saturday will deliver a first clean sweep since their tour of Argentina in 1927. The Lions, made up of English and Scottish players, won all four Test matches in somewhat humble beginnings for the Pumas. According to the Lions website, the River Plate Rugby Union – now Union Argentina de Rugby – recognised those four matches as the first official games of the Argentina national team. Can Maro Itoje become the first Lions captain since Scottish lock David MacMyn to lead the tourists to a series whitewash? Listen: Sport's Strangest Crimes - Bloodgate Listen to the latest Rugby Union Weekly podcast
