Blair Kinghorn and James Ryan handed Lions starts in third Test

Blair Kinghorn and James Ryan will make their first starts of the British and Irish Lions’ series against Australia, but Andy Farrell has otherwise turned to his established Test starters to complete the whitewash.

Kinghorn replaces James Lowe on the left wing for Saturday’s climax to the tour at Sydney’s Accor Stadium, while Ryan comes in for Ollie Chessum in the second row.

Chessum drops to the bench where head coach Farrell has opted for a six-two split between forwards and backs, with Ben Earl returning as back row cover after being left out for the second Test.

The starting XV is made up nine players from Ireland, three Englishmen and three Scots with Maro Itoje captaining the bid to become the first Lions team to record an unbeaten record on tour since 1974.

A series triumph was sealed by last weekend’s 29-26 victory in Melbourne, but Farrell’s men are determined to rout the Wallabies.

Going for a Series Sweep

“We have put ourselves in a great position to finish this Tour with our best performance to date and create our own piece of history,” Farrell said.

“The second Test was an incredible spectacle and illustrated how special Lions tours are and what they mean to both the players and the supporters.

“We are expecting another epic battle this weekend against a Wallaby side that showed their quality last week.”

Kinghorn and Ryan made their first appearances of the series as second-half replacements at Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Team News

A change on the wing was expected after Lowe disappointed in the first and second Tests, while Kinghorn made an impact for the 20 minutes he was on the field and will resume in the back three alongside Hugo Keenan and Tommy Freeman.

Ryan was also an influential reinforcement in Melbourne, overshadowing the less effective Chessum.

The Lions made it clear they would field their strongest possible XV rather than rotating in deserving squad players and they have been true to their word by going for the jugular in Sydney Olympic Park.

That includes retaining full-throttle flankers Tadhg Beirne and Tom Curry, who emptied the tanks at the MCG but have been magnificent so far in the series.

Joe McCarthy, Sione Tuipulotu and Mack Hansen had been cleared to take part after recovering from injuries that forced them to miss the second Test, but none of them are involved.

Prop Tadhg Furlong will start his ninth successive Lions Test, becoming only the seventh player in history to reach that mark.

Lions team: 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).

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