This weekend represents a real start to the summer international calendar, with countless tours set to begin.
There will also be the third game of the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia, with Andy Farrell‘s team facing the NSW Waratahs in Sydney in what is expected to be their toughest game in Australia so far.
As a result, there is a lot to talk about, from new beginnings to unwanted records potentially being smashed, and here are some of the biggest talking points ahead of this weekend’s fixtures.
For exclusive stories and all the detailed rugby news you need, subscribe to The Rugby Paper website, digital edition, or newspaper from as little as 14p a day.
Rotated Lions
Given the nature of the midweek games in the Lions tour, it is somewhat unsurprising that so many changes have been made ahead of this weekend’s game against the Waratahs.
14 changes have been made in total following their win over Queensland Reds on Wednesday, with some interesting new faces added in.
Toulouse’s Blair Kinghorn starts on the wing following a Top 14 title win last week, with Hugo Keenan starting at 15. Those two players’ Test chances have been boosted by the unfortunate injury to Elliot Daly, who will now miss the rest of the tour.
The only other player playing in France is Ben White, who replaced Tomos Williams after the Wales star got injured against Western Force, and is set to make his first Lions appearance off the bench.
The Waratahs should give the Lions their toughest test yet and but with a lot of their Wallabies missing, aren’t as full strength as they’d perhaps like to be.
Huwipulotu get chance
A key selection is the centre pairing of Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones, with a good performance doing their chances of starting together in a Test a world of good.
‘Huwipulotu’, as the partnership is known, have played plenty of times together with Scotland and Glasgow Warriors with plenty of success.
Andy Farrell has now tried Jones and Bundee Aki as a partnership as well as Garry Ringrose and Tuipulotu, so now he is experimenting with a well-established duo.
Neither of the previously mentioned partnerships set the world alight, so the 12 and 13 shirts are very much still up for grabs.
You would expect Ringrose and Aki to get a runout together too, so it may be a straight shootout between Ireland and Scotland in the centres.
England begin summer tour
England will play their first game of their summer tour of the Americas, with the first of two tests against Argentina this weekend.
While a lot of players are away with the Lions, it will still be a strong lineup that Steve Borthwick will put out, and a lot of players selected in the squad have already made countless Test appearances.
There is an element of unknown with some of the players, with there also being a strong cohort of uncapped or low-capped players who will be looking to establish themselves as internationals.
It will be no easy feat, with Argentina 5th in the World Rankings and one place above England, but there is enough talent in the England squad to potentially cause an upset.
Los Pumas will be full of confidence after beating the Lions in Dublin only a couple of weeks ago, though.
George Ford 100th cap
Possibly the greatest player to never play for the Lions, George Ford may be wishing that these weren’t the circumstances in which he would make his 100th England cap, but it is a remarkable achievement nonetheless.
After being snubbed by Farrell, Ford has been a man on a mission and seems to be extremely motivated to prove that he is still a top player, after an impressive season for Sale Sharks.
The cultured fly-half was in top form in Sale’s run to the play-offs, where they eventually lost to Ford’s old club, Leicester Tigers, at Welford Road.
He is currently eighth in the all-time standings for England caps, and if he is to play in all three Tests this summer, he will move above Danny Care and into seventh.
It has been over ten years since he made his international debut at age 20 against Wales, with his career living up to the promise that it showed early on.
France look to exceed expectations
France have been given little chance in their series against the All Blacks, but will believe that they can pull off a huge shock.
Les Bleus are missing many of their key players for the tour, with their first lineup being effectively a B team.
While it will give some of the less-capped players a chance on the big stage, many are seeing it as disrespectful and setting themselves up for failure, no more so than the media in New Zealand.
France have been completely written off, so anything more than three defeats in their three Tests will be considered a success for Fabien Galthie.
Their team might not be the strongest, but it features a lot of Top 14 quality and players who, on their day, could do some serious damage.
Wales could end winless run
There may be light at the end of the tunnel for Wales. Currently on their worst losing run of all time, having lost the last 17 Tests that they have played, there is a real sense of optimism ahead of their first game against Japan.
Although it is away, so they have travel and climate issues to contend with, Matt Sherratt will be backing his team to beat the Cherry Blossoms.
Their end to the Six Nations was positive but still did not produce an elusive victory, which would have been a first Test win since October 2023.
Even in non-Test matches, their last win was in November 2023 against the Barbarians.
Wales are only one position above Japan in the World Rankings, sitting 12th at the moment, so it looks likely to be a close game against two similar teams.
This is the biggest chance that they have had in recent times to break their duck, though.
By Charlie Elliott
You must be logged in to post a comment Login