The British and Ireland Lions hum well in Australia, only having four consecutive victories and a date with Aunz Invitational XV before getting their first crack at Wallby.
This makes for an interesting matchup. It’s a shame that Richie Moga isn’t on the field due to his broken hands, but the Lions can’t overlook the side coached by Les Kiss and Ian Foster.
With the almost full strength side playing on Wednesday, the Lions fed a very altered XV into this, but Aunz Squad has 17 internationally capped players and an impressive back row.
This is everything you need to know.
When is the game?
when: Saturday, July 12th, 8pm (Wednesday, 11am BST)
where: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
Match Official: Andrea Piardi
How to see
The match will be shown live at Sky Sports in the UK and Stan Sports in Australia. For radio, Talksport will provide live comments, while BBC Radio Weles will provide commentary on Welsh.
You can also follow ESPN’s live blogs and follow the extensive news and feature coverage.
Lineup
Former British captain Owen Farrell has been named the replacement, but Ireland’s Tadog Baerne will captain the Lions for the second time as victory skipper Malo Itoge earlier this week.
Lions head coach Andy Farrell took his son, Owen, to the team last week following Elliot Daly’s broken arm.
The 33-year-old playmaker is taking on the slot despite not playing Tests since 2023, as he is away from an injury-plagued season in French club rugby.
The matchday team has undergone major changes from the lineup that passed Brumby.
Winger Mac Hansen and loose forward Henry Pollock are each on the starting side, playing the bench against Brumby.
Meanwhile, the Kiss was named the starting side of the impressive Auntz Invitation XV, which includes a trio of ominous back rows of Shannon Frisel, Pete Sam and Hoskins Sotz.
The team will be co-captured by Australia’s Lukhan Salakaia-Loto and title-winning crusade skipper David Havili.
“After talking to all the players, I thought that co-captency models with natural leaders like David and Lucan would really fit this team and what we represent,” Kiss said.
Kiss announced his side Thursday afternoon. Tein Eddem nodded at No. 10 as One Test Wallabies would be one of the final opportunities to impress Joe Schmidt.
Schmidt will name the Wallabies squad to face the Lions on Friday, but Eddem was able to make a solid performance in Adelaide this weekend, allowing him to return to the Matchday 23 spot competition for his first Test in Brisbane.
Aunz Matchday 23 includes 17 internationally capped players.
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