Andy Farrell has named nine Irish players, seven of them from Leinster, in the Lions team to face the Wallabies in the second Test at the MCG on Saturday.
And it transpired there would have been a tenth, and eighth from Leinster, had Garry Ringrose not effectively ruled himself out after initially being picked when revealing to Farrell and the Lions medics after training that he was showing symptoms of concussion again.
Bundee Aki and Andrew Porter are promoted from the replacements in the 27-19 victory in the First Test last Saturday, as is Ollie Chessum in place of the injured Joe McCarthy.
Is it do or die for Australia in the second test against the Lions?
The other seven Irish players retain their places from the starting XV in the First Test, namely Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong, Tadhg Beirne, Jack Conan, Jamison Gibson-Park, James Lowe and Hugo Keenan, as does captain Maro Itoje, Tom Curry, Finn Russell, Huw Jones and Tommy Freeman.
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James Ryan is also promoted to the bench in the match-day ‘23’, where he joins Ronan Kelleher, as is the sole Welsh player in the squad Jac Morgan.
As expected, Owen Farrell and Blair Kinghorn are also named among the replacements, with Marcus Smith missing out, as does Sione Tuipulotu, who has a slight hamstring issue in any case.
As well as McCarthy and Ringrose, the Irish representation might have been even stronger but for Mack Hansen’s foot injury ruling him out of consideration too.
However it is Ringrose, whose wife Ellen and baby son Freddy are among his extended family here in Melbourne, who suffered the cruellest cut of all in missing out on a Test debut having originally being picked, meaning Jones ultimately retains his place. Freddy turns one on Saturday too.
“Garry was actually selected and unfortunately, in training today, he’s had to pull out,” confirmed Andy Farrell moments after the squad’s session on a sun-kissed morning in the elevated Xavier College, with its magnificent view of the Melbourne skyline.
“That’s unfortunate for Garry. But we’ve always said it’s about the squad, and nothing but about the squad. And we’re delighted for Huw to come in and be ready to go for Saturday.”
“It’s head-related again,” confirmed the head coach, who did not know whether this would also rule Ringrose out of the mix for the Third Test on Saturday week in Sydney. The 30-year-old had to stand down for 12 days in the wake of a delayed concussion after the win over the Brumbies a fortnight ago, having also suffered concussion in Ireland’s Six Nations win over Scotland.
“I actually don’t know at this stage. It was literally as I was walking off the field, he came to me, and once it’s mentioned, that’s that. There was no incident. He was feeling good, well in advance of Tuesday, and fit and ready to play. No incident through the game at all, nothing yesterday and nothing this morning at all, but with these type of things, players are getting very good at telling the truth of how they feel, so it was a no-brainer to make the change straight away.”
It was put to Farrell than Ringrose’s actions had been incredibly unselfish.
“I thought exactly the same the minute that he mentioned it because it’s tough to do that,” said Farrell. “It’s very easy to keep it to yourself and lie and not be honest and open. It was very big of him and the right thing to do. For the team as well, not just for Garry.”
The Lions captain, Maro Itoje, recalled playing against Ringrose since their Under-20s days. “To play with him and get to know him over the last couple of months has been a real privilege and honour. I’m gutted for him that he’s in this position.
“But, also, it shows the measure of the man to be so selfless. All we ask of all of us is to be selfless and put the team first. When push comes to shove, you see who really does it. Garry is a man who really did it.”
As well as having last Tuesday’s match, Farrell said the Lions also changed up their week by having a full training session on Wednesday rather than Thursday.
“We’ve adapted pretty well to that, and everyone’s been out there today and ready for an abbreviated captain’s run tomorrow and ready for what is going to be a huge occasion on Saturday.”
Farrell knows the Wallabies will be a wounded animal and inspired by the 90,000 or so crowd expected for the Lions’ first Test in the iconic MCG.
“It’s what we expect coming our way, but it’s what we expect of ourselves more importantly. We thoroughly believe that we’re way better than what we showed, and we’ve got another chance to prove that.”
His counterpart, and predecessor as Irish coach, Joe Schmidt, has also made three changes to the Wallabies’ starting XV in recalling the fit-again hooker David Porecki, lock Will Skelton and Australia’s Player of the Year Rob Valetini, as well as Langi Gleeson to a reconfigured 6-2 bench.
“It’s obvious what they’re going to bring and why they’re selected, so I suppose they’re delighted with that, and the 6-2 bench just backs that up a little bit, doesn’t it? So it’s not unexpected,” said Farrell.
The Lions have the chance to seal the series on Saturday, and Farrell said: “Yes that’s been spoken about from day one when we met as a group. We’ve got the privileged ones that get the opportunity to do something special and hopefully create a bit of history. There’s a determined Australian side that’s in our way that’s going to try and stop us to do that, so it’s a hell of a test.”
Lions v Australia: Hugo Keenan (Ireland), Tommy Freeman (England), Huw Jones (Scotland), Bundee Aki (Ireland), James Lowe (Ireland), Finn Russell (Scotland), Jamison Gibson-Park (Ireland); Andrew Porter (Ireland), Dan Sheehan (Ireland), Tadhg Furlong (Ireland), Maro Itoje (England, capt), Ollie Chessum (England), Tadhg Beirne (Ireland), Tom Curry (England), Jack Conan (Ireland).
Replacements: Rónan Kelleher (Ireland), Ellis Genge (England), Will Stuart (England), James Ryan (Ireland), Jac Morgan (Wales), Alex Mitchell (England), Owen Farrell (England), Blair Kinghorn (Scotland).
Australia v Lions: Tom Wright; Max Jorgensen, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Len Ikitau, Harry Potter, Tom Lynagh, Jake Gordon; James Slipper, David Porecki, Allan Alaalatoa; Nick Frost, Will Skelton; Rob Valetini, Fraser McReight, Harry Wilson. Replacements: Billy Pollard, Angus Bell, Tom Robertson, Jeremy Williams, Langi Gleeson, Carlo Tizzano, Tate McDermott, Ben Donaldson.
