Queensland Reds v British & Irish Lions: rugby union tour match
Date: 2025-07-02T09:00:13.000Z
Title: Preamble
Content: The Lions have made their way across the great deserts of Australia and landed in Queensland.
They pasted the Western Force last week but I think the Reds will offer a sterner challenge.
The tourists should still have more than enough for a comfortable win and have named a formidable team (more on that in a bit).
But beyond the result, big Faz will be keeping a keen on eye on some combinations. These tune-ups only matter if a couple of cogs can turn together and everyone stays fit.
Of course, no one wants to lose a midweek game. A poor show here and a chance of a Test cap might fade away for a couple of players.
How will they get on today? Let's find out together!
Kick-off is at 11am UK time, 8pm in Queensland.
Teams and other updates to come.
Fancy writing in? I'd love to hear from you.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
43 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Alex Mitchell helps error-prone Lions edge past gritty NSW Waratahs
So much for the theory that the British & Irish Lions are building smoothly towards the start to the Test series against the Wallabies. Exactly how many members of this Lions team will feature in the first Test starting XV remains to be seen but here was a reminder that Australian opposition are not necessarily going to wave their visitors through when the bigger games come around. It took a 54th-minute try by the scrum-half, Alex Mitchell, to save his side's blushes in an encounter that will sit uneasily with the management at this delicate stage of the trip. Two first-half tries from the alert Huw Jones, some strong scrummaging and a typically energetic display from Ben Earl in the back row were among a rather short list of positives with the first match of the best-of-three Test series less than a fortnight away. Instead it was an evening mostly notable for fumbled balls, constant breaks in play and a gritty effort from the home pack. Few had been expecting much, given the last team from New South Wales to beat the Lions did so in 1959, but the Waratahs did an excellent job of dragging their guests down to earth. There is plenty to ponder for all concerned, including Owen Farrell, who was watching from the stands having officially joined the tour. Nobody involved could really blame the conditions. Clive James wrote poetically about the 'crushed diamond water' of Sydney harbour beneath 'a sky the texture of powdered sapphires' and both had been in glorious evidence earlier in the day. The light coating of dew on the pitch, though, contributed to enough handling errors to make the contest much scrappier than the touring team would have liked. Frustratingly for the Lions, too, there had been significant disruption to their hopeful advance plans. Henry Pollock had to withdraw with a tight calf before kick-off, prompting a reshuffle that meant Scott Cummings was promoted from the bench and Tadhg Beirne was switched to the blindside flank. Duhan van der Merwe was a late addition to the matchday squad, scuppering the intended 6-2 forward-dominated bench split. They did still have some cohesive partnerships, however, and the all-Scottish centre pairing of Sione Tuipulotu and Jones were soon combining sweetly, the former producing a cunning no-look offload to send his partner scampering over. There was to be a further illustration of Jones's skill set eight minutes before the interval when some nifty footwork close to the line brought him his second of the game and his third try in four days. NSW Waratahs Creighton; Kellaway, Foketi (O'Donnell 55). Walton, Lancaster; Bowen (Edmed 55), Wilson (Grant 70); Lambert (Barrett 70), Dobbins (Vailanu 49), Tupou (Botha 55), Lee-Warner (Amatosero 62), Amatosero (Philip 51), Leota, Gamble, Sinclair (capt; Adamson 55). Tries Lancaster, Dobbins. British & Irish Lions Keenan (Van der Merwe 50); Hansen, Jones, Tuipulotu, Kinghorn, F Smith (M Smith 59), Mitchell (White 70); Schoeman (Genge 50), Cowan-Dickie (Sheehan 50), Bealham (Furlong 50), Cummings, Ryan (McCarthy 50), Beirne (capt), Van der Flier (Morgan 59), Earl. Tries Jones 2, Mitchell. Cons F Smith 3. Referee Paul Williams (NZ). A desire to keep a close eye on the Wallabies' new star Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii may yet increase the case for Ireland's hard-tackling Garry Ringrose at 13 if the latter shows up well in Canberra on Wednesday. At least Jones can tell himself he could not done much more and has presented the management with a genuine dilemma. Sign up to The Breakdown The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewed after newsletter promotion The Waratahs, for their part, had a potential score for flanker Charlie Gamble ruled out for obstruction in the preceding maul, but enjoyed a touch more fortune when a vigorous clear-out in the buildup to their first try by Darby Lancaster was ruled as legal. Once again, though, protracted analysis of inconclusive slow-motion replays in a fast-paced contact sport remains a passion killer for live spectators and television viewers alike. Hugo Keenan will also not want endless replays of the tackle that temporarily floored, but did not stop, Lancaster's surge down the left. Less than two minutes after the restart, the home side scored again, the hooker, Ethan Dobbins, being propelled over by a well-organised driven maul. Suddenly it was 14-10 and the Lions were looking over their shoulders. They were also failing to take some clear chances. Josh van der Flier could not quite ground the ball in the left corner when a try looked all but certain and shortly afterwards Mack Hansen kicked ahead when he might have kept the ball in hand and taken on the cover. They were suitably grateful, therefore, to the quick-witted Mitchell for dummying the cover to reboot the contest and ease the tension, even if the visitors' overall performance did not match the setting. The new Allianz Stadium, next door to the evocative Sydney Cricket Ground, has been built on the same site as its predecessor and is an impressive state-of-the-art facility. All Australian rugby needs now is a national team to match the quality of their arenas – and preferably quickly. In addition to the Lions series, the pressure is on to improve their eighth position in the World Rugby rankings, with the draw for the next men's World Cup, to be staged here in 2027, due to take place in January. It would not be a great look if the Wallabies were to bow out prematurely at their own tournament as England did in 2015, which makes the rest of this year hugely significant.
Times
an hour ago
- Times
Scotland find a way to repel second-half Maori onslaught
Making life difficult for themselves has become something of an art form for Scotland down the years. Escaping from tight spots has been a harder habit to acquire — but that is precisely what they did to secure victory in the opening match of their Pacific Tour. While the Maori All Blacks came close to the winning score in a frantic seven minutes of time added on, Gregor Townsend's team deserved to hold out. They had led 24-12 at half-time at the Semenoff Stadium in Whangarei, then stretched their lead by a further five points early in the second half. Even after the Maori hit back and closed to within three points, the tourists looked like running the clock down in comfort. Instead, they conceded a penalty 30 seconds from the end of normal time, and had to withstand a furious onslaught before eventually turning over possession and kicking dead. 'The good thing is we found a way to win,' Townsend, the head coach, said. 'It was probably beyond expectations that we were so far ahead, knowing what the Maori did last week in Japan,' he continued, referring to the 53-20 win against a Japan XV in Tokyo. 'We knew that they would come back, and it looked like they had the momentum at the end. 'We decided to put a team out tonight that wasn't as experienced, knowing that it'll be a great development and learning experience for them. But we also wanted to win this game and we're so pleased that we did win the game and how we set that win up in the first half — how clinical we were. 'And then the pressure around set piece and our defensive effort at the end saw us through. So we're really pleased that the tour starts on a positive.' If that late penalty concession was an unnecessary complication, the real difficulty came earlier in the second 40, when Scotland could only score five points against opponents who had two men sent to the sin-bin within a minute of each other. That minor advantage was wiped out within a minute of the pair returning, swinging the momentum firmly back in favour of the Maori. However, notwithstanding such defects, the match has to go down as a major success for Scotland, with the only real downside being a late concussion which rules Gregor Brown out of Saturday's game against Fiji. Townsend had chosen to rest some key players with a view to keeping them fresh for the forthcoming full internationals against Fiji and Samoa, which count for world ranking points, unlike this non-cap match. So it was an inexperienced team that lined up to face the Maori for the first time since the 2000 tourists lost by three points. And perhaps that lack of experience showed in an uncertain start that saw the home side take the lead after only 49 seconds when Sam Nock scored an unconverted try off a counterattack. Scotland steadily got back into the game, however, and took the lead when Harry Paterson won the chase into in-goal after Ollie Smith had chipped ahead. Adam Hastings converted, then added a penalty as the visitors' domination grew. Next, George Horne got the first of his two tries, like Paterson winning a race to the line from a kick, this time supplied by Rory Hutchinson. Hastings' conversion made it 5-17. Scotland had given Fin Richardson a first appearance from the start, and, after Ben Muncaster was taken off with a dead leg, Alex Masibaka became the second debutant, to be joined later by a third, Fergus Burke. Masibaka had an inauspicious start, being sin-binned after collapsing the maul, but in the second half his meaty contribution proved crucial to the defensive effort. Isaia Walker-Leawere had touched down for the Maori just before Masibaka's dismissal, with Rivez Reihana converting. However, the tourists ended the half on top, and Arron Reed got their third try after another clever kick through from Smith. Hastings' conversion ended the half. The opening stages of the second half should have seen Scotland make the most of their momentum, as first Masibaka returned and then Te Kamaka Howden and Zarn Sullivan were carded for defensive offences. But a knock-on by Hastings ended one gilt-edged opportunity to score against the 13 men, and a lost lineout put paid to another chance. Still, after failing to score the easy way, Scotland succeeded in doing so in more difficult fashion, as Horne touched down at the end of a magnificent counterattack from deep. Hastings failed to convert, but at 12-29 the lead looked solid enough. Or at least it did until Kurt Eklund, the home captain, scored from a lineout maul, and Reihana's conversion made it a ten-point game. With around quarter of an hour still to play, that became three points. Gideon Wrampling touched down on the far left after the Scots defence had been stretched to breaking point, and Kaleb Trask, on for Reihana, added the two points. Scotland reasserted themselves after that setback, and had a lot of promising possession deep inside Maori territory. Had they scored a fifth try then, that would surely have been game over. Instead, in the end, they had to resort to that last-ditch defence. It may have been undisciplined enough, in terms of the laws, for the referee to send Cameron Henderson to the sin-bin. But in terms of structure and tenacity, it was spot on. Star player George Horne (Scotland). Scorers: Maori All Blacks: Tries Nock (1min), Walker-Leawere (31), Eklund (57), Wrampling (66). Cons Reihana 2, Trask. Scotland: Tries Paterson (11), Horne 2 (24, 53), Reed (39). Pen Hastings (16). Cons Hastings 3. Maori All Blacks Z Sullivan; C Forbes (C Evans 58), B Sullivan, G Wrampling, D Rona; R Reihana (K Trask 58), S Nock (K Hauiti-Parapara 70); J Proffit (P Rakete-Stones 54), K Eklund (capt; J Devery 64), K Sykes-Martin (B Kumeroa 54), A Shalfoon (L McWhannell 54), I Walker-Leawere, T Howden, J Brown, C Grace. Scotland O Smith; H Paterson, R Hutchinson, S McDowall (capt), A Reed; A Hastings (F Burke 61), G Horne (J Dobie 61); N McBeth (A Hepburn 50), P Harrison (G Turner 50), F Richardson (W Hurd 50), M Sykes (M Williamson 50), C Henderson, J Bayliss, A Onyeama-Christie (G Brown 70, Onyeama-Christie 78), B Muncaster (A Masibaka 29). Yellow cards: Maori All Blacks Howden (46-56), Sullivan (47-57). Scotland Masibaka (32-42), Henderson (85). Referee Nika Amashukeli (Georgia). Attendance 10,100.
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
O'Brien double helps youthful Ireland beat Georgia
Georgia (5) 5Tries: Jalagonia Ireland (14) 34Tries: T O'Brien 2, Casey, Timoney Cons: Prendergast 4 Pens: Prendergast 2 Tries from debutant Tommy O'Brien and first-time captain Craig Casey helped an inexperienced Ireland earn an ultimately comfortable Test victory over Georgia in Tbilisi. O'Brien crossed twice early to put the Irish in the ascendancy before back row Tornike Jalagonia's try brought Georgia back into the contest before Casey's tidy finish within a minute of the restart and Nick Timoney's try pushed Ireland beyond Georgia's reach and handed Paul O'Connell victory in his first game as interim head coach. Ireland finish off their two-Test summer tour against Portugal in Lisbon on 12 July. More to follow. Line-ups Georgia: D Niniashvili; A Tabutsadze, D Tapladze, G Kveseladze, A Todua; L Matkava, V Lobhanisze; G Akhaladze, V Karkadze, I Aptsiauri; M Babubashvili, L Chacanidze; L Ivanishvili, B Saghinadze (capt), T Jalagonia. Replacements: I Kvatadze, G Tetrashvili, B Gigashvili, G Ganiashvili, I Spanderashvili, T Abzhandadze, T KakhoidzeIreland: J O'Brien; T O'Brien; J Osborne, S McCloskey; J Stockdale; S Prendergast, C Casey (capt); J Boyle, G McCarthy, T Clarkson; C Izuchukwu, D Murray; R Baird, N Timoney, G T Stewart, M Milne, J Aungier, T Ahern, M Deegan, B Murphy, J Crowley, C McCloskey (77)Referee: A Piardi (Ita)
