With the test series won in a nail-biting last minute fashion in front of a record 90,307 fans in Melbourne, Andy Farrell’s Lions have their sights firmly set on a Southern Hemisphere clean sweep and should they win in Sydney this Saturday, they will be the second ever Lions Team to achieve this formidable task since the tour of Argentina nearly a century ago.
With only two changes to last week’s lineup, James Lowe being replaced by Blair Kinghorn and Ollie Chessum on the bench for James Ryan, Farrell is recognising and rewarding the players who last week clawed their way back from being 18 points down to winning dramatically with a try at the death, thanks to Leinster and Ireland‘s Hugo Keenan.
Mack Hansen, Sione Tuipulotu and Joe McCarthy miss out entirely for the third test. All three acquired injuries during their time on tour, and all three failed to train midweek, with Farrell reporting they were at 85% fitness.
Andy Farrell has shown there is no room for sentiment in selection, in particular with the absence of ever-reliable Josh van der Flier, who regularly starts for Farrell’s Ireland squad.
Tadhg Furlong
Tadhg Furlong, on the other hand, who, despite regular injuries during his season with Leinster and Ireland, seems to be back to his unstoppable form with the Lions and joins a very exclusive club along with Alun Wyn Jones for nine consecutive starts for the British & Irish Lions.
Speaking in the early hours, Andy Farrell praises Furlong for his record achievement along with all of his team for the hard work and overall performance of each man involved and hopes that in front of an 82,000 sell-out crowd, his British & Irish Lions can make history again on Saturday.
“It’s amazing and been well documented how much Tadhg loves playing for the Lions but also in the sense over the last year or 18 months the continuity of his game, fitness etc, it just so happens that when the Lions come around he can get himself in the right frame of mind to be able to do what he’s done.
“It hasn’t just been the performances that have been through the roof; it’s his manner as well.
“I’ve never seen him in such good spirits, and he’s ready to go again.”
Dream Come True
“When you start playing rugby as a kid, that’s all you want to do, you want to play. Training is so important for preparation, but these lads have been training all their lives for these moments.”
“We’ve all been in this from day one, every single one of us.
“There’s been no separation, we’ve all trained together, it doesn’t matter if you’ve played the day before, everyone always helped the next team that’s going out there.
“How much they care about the Lion’s dream and how much it means to them, when you package that together as a top-class outfit rugby team, then that’s at the heart of it.”
By Chris Collyer
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