British and Irish Lions

Weekend Talking Points: Final audition for the British and Irish Lions

by
Charlie Elliott
11 July 2025

The dust has now settled on the summer’s first weekend of international rugby, and now teams get to do it all over again.

There were few surprises in the first round of fixtures, but now that visiting teams have had the opportunity to acclimatise and work out their opponents, things could change this week.

Wales are still on their record losing run and are now up to 18 Tests in a row lost, following defeat against Japan last week.

Meanwhile, the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia continues, and the touring side are set to play a historic game against an AU-NZ Invitational XV for the first time in 36 years.

Here are some of the major talking points to look out for ahead of this weekend’s fixtures.

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Lions Final Audition

The British and Irish Lions will face an AU-NZ Invitational XV in their final warm-up game before the Test series against the Wallabies.

Andy Farrell’s side have won every game so far in Australia but haven’t yet won over fans following some slow starts and plenty of mistakes from individuals.

Their opponents will represent the first time in 36 years that Australia and New Zealand have joined forces, having last put out a combined team to play the Lions in 1989.

Unlike in 1989, where only one capped All Black was chosen, their squad sees a strong contingent from both sides of the Tasman and features plenty of Wallabies and All Blacks.

Although the Invitational XV won’t have any experience in playing together, on paper, they are stronger than all of the club sides that the Lions have faced so far.

It will provide one last opportunity for Lions players to force their way into the 23 for the first test.

Northmore debut for England

Steve Borthwick has opted for an almost entirely unchanged lineup for England‘s second game against Argentina, following a convincing win over Los Pumas last week.

In fact, the only change is centre Luke Northmore coming in for the injured Henry Slade, who sustained a hand injury during the first Test but played the full 80 minutes.

It will be an England debut for Harlequin Northmore, who fought off competition from fellow uncapped centres Max Ojomoh and Oscar Beard, both of whom were also in contention for the 13 shirt.

Given Ojomoh’s form in the Premiership for Bath, selecting Northmore has been a bit of a surprise for fans, but Borthwick has clearly seen something in the 28-year-old.

Wales to end losing run

If not now, then when for Wales? Matt Sherratt’s side are currently on a run of 18 straight Test defeats, which is an unwanted record for a tier 1 side.

They lost 24-19 against Japan in Kitakyushu last week, after being 19-7 up at halftime.

With the second and final Test against the Brave Blossoms taking place this weekend in Kobe, it really feels like now or never in terms of breaking the duck.

If they are not able to get a result here, it is difficult to see a scenario in which their unwanted record doesn’t continue to stretch for a very long time, given some tough autumn and Six Nations fixtures are on the horizon.

France to keep improving

France may have lost their first Test against the All Blacks last week, but they surprised a lot of people with the performance that they put in under difficult circumstances.

Fabien Galthié effectively named a B-team for this tour, leading many to believe that Les Bleus would be comfortably beaten in all three games.

They went toe-to-toe with Scott Robertson’s full-strength team and only lost 31-27 in Dunedin.

Now with the wind in their sails, there is every chance that France could end up going one step further and getting a very surprising result.

Dan Edwards handed the keys for Wales

A slight surprise in Wales’ squad is the inclusion of young Ospreys fly-half Dan Edwards into the starting lineup.

It will be his first start in the red jersey and is the most high-profile of the four changes that Sherratt has made from the first test.

Sam Costelow has been benched in the position, with many seeing the lack of a consistent fly-half in the team as a bad thing; however, Sherratt justified the pick by saying that he was freshening the team up.

By Charlie Elliott