In keeping with his approach on this tour to date, Andy Farrell has named an entirely changed British & Irish Lions starting XV for Saturday’s game against an AUNZ Invitational XV liberally sprinkled with stardust at the Adelaide Oval.
Tadhg Beirne will captain the Lions for the second time on tour and will be partnered by James Ryan, while given how competitive the back three still looks in advance of the first Test against Australia on Saturday week, then opportunity certainly knocks for Hugo Keenan, in just his second start, and Mack Hansen.
At the time of the team announcement the Lions management were still awaiting news of the scan on the injured left knee which Blair Kinghorn suffered against Brumbies and which forced him off in the 25th minute.
Scotland and Toulon’s Ben White, a late replacement for the unlucky Tomos Williams, gets his first start on Tour while another late call-up, Owen Farrell, has been named on the bench and is set to make his 19th appearance for the Lions.
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There is an all-Irish front-row of Andrew Porter, Ronan Kelleher and Finlay Bealham on the bench, while Josh van der Flier is also among the replacements for the second game in a row.
For Beirne, the honour of leading the Lions a second time has been heightened by the presence of his three sisters, who all live in Australia now.
“My three sisters live over in Australia and it has been interesting. We have been to Brisbane, where my sister lives in the Gold Coast, Sydney where one of my sisters lives and actually my third sister lives in Adelaide. To get to all the destinations has been pretty cool and there will be plenty of them here on Saturday.”
Sitting alongside him, head coach Farrell joked: “He says it is pretty cool but he has been whingeing all the way in the car about the price of tickets that he has had to fork out for so he has got a hefty bill.”
Farrell and Beirne were holding court in one of the innumerable ornate buildings in the 90-acre St Peter’s College on the outskirts of Adelaide, first built in the 1880s and which the Lions are using as their training base.
Farrell denied that the players selected for this game are in the last chance saloon with regard to selection for the Tests.
“This is a three-game series. That takes a whole squad to compete and keep competing throughout up until the final whistle of the third Test.
“So, these guys who get to take the field on Saturday, we’ve literally just come out of a meeting and the message is that this is the most important game of the tour. It has to be. Not just because it’s a week out from the Test match but because it’s the next one. Whenever you put a Lions jersey on, that’s the respect you have to live up to.”
The Lions face an altogether different opposition in Adelaide given their mix of experienced Australian and New Zealand players. It also makes it more difficult to prepare for such a one-off side.
“Well, we know the coaches and we know the players individually and collectively from the Reds, Waratahs, or New Zealand. A lot of the lads have played against them before but as a unit, how they gel together there’s obvioiusly a little bit of unknown there. But the reality is that when you look at the side, it looks like a formidable side that’s going to be hard to stop.”
Les Kiss, the coach of this Invitational XV, has named eight All Blacks, including David Havili and Shannon Frizell, in the starting side to take on the Lions.
New Zealand prop Jeffery Toomaga-Allen and Aidan Ross, who is now eligible to play for the Wallabies, were named to start in the front-row alongside Test hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa.
An all Queensland and international second-row pairing sees Lukhan Salakaia-Loto alongside Angus Blyth, while the back-row looks particularly potent with All Blacks Hoskins Sotutu and Frizell named alongside Pete Samu, who has been brilliant for Bordeaux Begles this season ahead of is move to the Waratahs and who could well feature in the Test series.
An exciting back three features Shaun Stevenson, a regular source of danger against Irish sides, at fullback in between AJ Lam and out of favour Wallabies winger Marika Koroibete. The bench is also stacked with experience.
AUNZ Invitational XV: Shaun Stevenson, AJ Lam, Ngani Laumape, David Havili, Marika Koroiete; Tane Edmed, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto; Aidan Ross, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, Angus Blyth, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Shannon Frizell, Pete Samu, Hoskins Sotutu. Replacements: Kurt Eklund, Josh Fusitu’a, Greg Dyer, Matt Philip, Joe Brial, Kalani Thomas, Harry McLaughin-Phillips, Jock Campbell.
British & Irish Lions: Hugo Keenan (Leinster Rugby/ Ireland); Mack Hansen (Connacht Rugby/ Ireland), Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors/ Scotland), Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors/ Scotland), Duhan van Der Merwe (Edinburgh Rugby/Scotland); Fin Smith (Northampton Saints/ England), Ben White (Toulon/ Scotland); Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh Rugby/ Scotland), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks/ England), Will Stuart (Bath Rugby/England), James Ryan (Leinster Rugby/ Ireland), Tadhg Beirne (Munster Rugby/ Ireland) (capt), Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints/ England), Jac Morgan (Ospreys/ Wales), Ben Earl (Saracens/ England). Replacements: Ronan Kelleher (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), Andrew Porter (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), Finlay Bealham (Connacht Rugby/ Ireland), Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors/ Scotland), Josh van der Flier (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints/ England), Marcus Smith (Harlequins/ England), Owen Farrell (Saracens/England).
