Former England captain Owen Farrell was selected in place of the British Irish Lions tour match against Australia-New Zealand Invitational XV in Adelaide on Saturday.
Ireland’s Tadhg Beirne will make the Lions captain twice for the second time as the captain of the victory against ACT Brumbies – rests on Wednesday.
The Lions also announced that Scottish fullback Blair Kinghorn had “received positive news” after receiving a knee injury scan early in his victory over Brumby on Wednesday.
Fear that the injury could be serious, head coach Andy Farrell caused the possibility of a fullback headache after suffering serious injuries that ended Elliot Daly’s tour and Ireland’s Hugo Keenan’s terrible form.
Jamie Osborne joins the Lions, providing additional training covers and leaving the Irish squad in Portugal.
Lions head coach Andy Farrell took his son, Owen, to the team last week following Daly’s broken arm.
Farrell, a 33-year-old playmaker, appeared after a season of injury-plagued by French club rugby without testing since 2023. The matchday team will be significantly changed from the lineup that won ACT Brunby 36-24 in Canberra on Wednesday, but a few players are retained.
Winger Mac Hansen and loose forward Henry Pollock each played the bench against Brumby, but were included in the starting 15. England back Marcus Smith is also held on the bench after replacing the Canberra Kinghorn.
Andy Farrell, who defended Owen’s inclusion last week, said Thursday that his son is no different from other teammates who need to catch up with the Lions playbook quickly.
“He’s just like everybody else who had to speed up pretty quickly,” Farrell said at a press conference in Adelaide on Thursday.
“Everyone had to do it first, so there have been a few people since. I think the art at this stage of the tour is as mentally turned on as possible. There’s not much training you can do.
Farrell’s team will face 14 Test players in the Auntz lineup coached by Leskis at the Adelaide Oval on July 19, prior to their first Test against Australia.
“As a unit, there’s a bit of an unknown in its way how they gel together,” Farrell said of the enemy. “That looks like a scary side, doesn’t it?
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