Waratahs vs British and Irish Lions live: Latest score and updates as tourists back in action after shock Farrell call-up
Andy Farrell 's tourists have swapped Brisbane for Sydney with little time to take stock between games - and the Lions will soon have a rather significant new member of their squad. Owen Farrell has been called up after the tour-ending injury suffered by Saracens teammate Elliot Daly, a hardly like-for-like replacement positionally nonetheless ensuring no Lions experience is lost with the English fly half set to become a four-time tourist. If it is a selection that might ruffle a few feathers, Farrell's competitive spirit may well be valuable over the next few weeks.
He will not be involved here though the Lions head coach again shuffles his pack, with Tadhg Beirne skippering another intriguing selection with the possible Test side yet to really settle into place. The Waratahs will hope to provide a sterner test than that which the Reds and Western Force offered, with Taniela Tupou and Andrew Kellaway among the Wallabies bolstering the hosts' side.
Maro Itoje stamps authority on Lions in Reds thrashing - but another sloppy start will concern Andy Farrell
Let's start, though, by looking back at the midweek action, with the Lions overcoming a clunky start to blow away the Reds with skipper Maro Itoje to the fore.
Itoje stamps authority on Lions in Reds thrashing - but sloppy start concerning
Queensland Reds 12-52 British and Irish Lions: Making his first appearance in Australia as Lions captain, Itoje was at the heart of an eight-try rout
Harry Latham-Coyle5 July 2025 07:30
Waratahs vs Lions live
A very good morning. The British and Irish Lions are back in action as they continue their preparations for the three Tests against the Wallabies, with a tight turnaround between beating the Queensland Reds and facing the New South Wales Waratahs rather enlivened by the news that Owen Farrell will be joining the tour.
We'll get to that in a moment as we build up to today's kick off at 11am BST.
Harry Latham-Coyle4 July 2025 13:05
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Daily Mail
23 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Andy Farrell accuses British & Irish Lions opponents of OVER-WATERING the pitch - despite Sydney being hit by a 'weather bomb'
Lions coach Andy Farrell accused the Waratahs of over-watering the pitch to create slippery conditions after his team's scrappy victory in Sydney. The tourists were expected to run up a bigger scoreline against the Super Rugby team but they were turned-over 20 times by their dogged opponents. There has been three days of sunshine since Sydney was hit by a 'weather bomb' and Farrell has suspicions about the amount of water on the pitch. We have been here for two days now and it has been glorious,' said the Lions coach. 'For whatever reason, and I actually don't care, it's great for us, the pitch was very wet. I was asking Mike Catt [the Waratahs coach] after the game and he was laughing. I mean, that's good tactics from them, isn't it? That the ball's slippy, the breakdown's ferocious enough. We've seen that done plenty of times. 'I don't know whether the pitch needed watering. And we kept on trying to overplay at times, certainly around halfway and putting ourselves back under pressure and keeping them in the game really. So I believe that it could be wet on Wednesday anyway, so we'll take that.' The Lions have a day off on Sunday before they travel to Canberra to face the Brumbies. Farrell confirmed that his son, Owen, will not be ready for the fixture after landing into Australia on Friday night. He also revealed that young back-row Henry Pollock pulled out of Saturday's match due to a calf strain. 'We had a bit of an awareness on a calf strain that was tight enough this morning,' said Farrell. 'So knowing what we knew, there was no need to risk him.'
The Guardian
29 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Lions ‘must do better' is Andy Farrell's verdict as Waratahs deny watering pitch
A 'disappointed' Andy Farrell has acknowledged his British & Irish Lions 'need to be better than that' following a frustrating and error-strewn 21-10 win over the NSW Waratahs. The touring side lacked rhythm and composure and are unlikely to be able to select the head coach's son, Owen, for their keynote game against the Brumbies in Canberra on Wednesday. The Lions, meanwhile, have been told they are wrong to suggest that the Waratahs deliberately watered the pitch at the Allianz Stadium to make life trickier for the visitors. Despite heavy rain having fallen in Sydney earlier in the week and some evening dew on the grass, Farrell suggested after the game that the Waratahs may have also played a part. 'The pitch was very wet,' said Farrell. While the Lions did manage to hold on for their third successive win in Australia, they coughed up 20 turnovers and registered just one try in the second half against a side who finished eighth in this year's Super Rugby standings. 'There's a bit of frustration there,' admitted Farrell. 'We're disappointed enough given the amount of possession and territory we had and how we dealt with certain situations. 'When you have 70% territory, 60% possession and 20 turnovers, that's by far not clinical enough. We have to put our hands up and say that amount of turnover ball is credit to them but not good enough for us.' Farrell was also critical of the Lions' relative lack of impact at the breakdown, a potential worry with the Test series against the Wallabies looming. 'We know that all Australian sides put pressure on the ball. Not just this year but across the history of the game that's what it's always been about. We need to be better than that. [And]when the ball is slow because of the pressure at the breakdown you can't keep shovelling ball out wide and expecting to get on the front foot.' The Lions, meanwhile, do not anticipate Owen Farrell being available for the squad's final midweek fixture before the first Test on 19 July. The former England captain only arrived in Australia on Friday, is still recovering from jetlag and has not played any rugby for two months. 'I don't honestly know but I would think Wednesday's too soon,' said Andy Farrell. If that is the case then Farrell Jr, jokingly boo ed by his own Lions teammates when his face appeared on the big screen during the Waratahs match, will have only one potential game – against a combined AUS/NZ Invitational side in Adelaide next Saturday – in which to stake any kind of claim prior to the first Test in Brisbane. Of the state of the pitch, Farrell said: 'I was asking [Waratahs backs coach] Mike Catt after the game and he was laughing. We've seen that [watering the pitch] done plenty of times. I mean, that's good tactics from them, isn't it? The ball's slippy, the breakdown's ferocious and the line speed from them is high-octane stuff as well. And we kept on trying to overplay at times, certainly around halfway and putting ourselves back under pressure and keeping them in the game really.' Sign up to The Breakdown The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewed after newsletter promotion The Waratahs head coach, Dan McKellar, however, flatly denied responsibility, suggesting Farrell was not factoring in the significant amount of rain that fell in Sydney on Tuesday. 'He was probably sunning himself in Brisbane on Tuesday,' replied McKellar crisply. 'I'd too much to think about to be worried about watering the pitch.' A slippery ball may also be a factor against the Brumbies in Canberra in midweek, but Farrell acknowledged the tourists needed to adjust to all conditions. 'It looks like there could be a bit of rain which is good for us. We need to play in that as well but we also know they are the top side in the Australian division [of Super Rugby]. We also know what happened to the Lions there in 2013 (the tourists lost 14-12). So we know it's a big day on Wednesday for us all.'
BBC News
39 minutes ago
- BBC News
Jones shines as seven Scots feature in latest Lions win
Huw Jones was the pick of the Scotland players in the British & Irish Lions win over New South Wales Waratahs in outside centre touched down two tries in the 21-10 victory, but the overall performance of the side was somewhat of Jones' scores came in the first half, the opener set up by Glasgow Warriors team-mate Sione Tuipulotu, giving the Lions a 14-0 now has three tries on tour and his partnership with Tuipulotu was one of the few positives for head coach Andy Kinghorn made his first appearance after his late arrival from Top14 champions Toulouse and was largely peripheral on the left wing before a switch to full-back early in the second-half allowed him to get more Schoeman impressed in the scrummage at loose-head prop and was solid in defence, while lock Scott Cummings started strongly but faded after being promoted from the bench following the late withdrawal of Henry Kinghorn, Jones and Tuipulotu all played the full 80 Van der Merwe, added to the squad in place of the injured Pollock, took over from Kinghorn on the wing and scrum-half Ben White got his first taste of the action for the final 10 minutes after being called up as injury cover earlier this week.
