Joe Schmidt takes cheeky swipe at Lions centre pairing ahead of Australia test series
The former Leinster and Ireland boss called
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Wallabies head coach Joe Schmidt aimed a cheeky dig at the Lions centres
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Joe Schmidt did go on to praise Bundee Aki ahead of the test series later this month
Both Aki and Tuipulotu were born in New Zealand and Australia respectively, lined out in midfield for the
And speaking ahead of last night's clash, Schmidt appeared to use the moment to highlight the pair's adopted international allegiances.
Connacht ace
Tuipulotu, meanwhile, represents Scotland through his grandmother who hails from Greenock.
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Wallabies boss said: "A southern-hemisphere centre partnership that will be pretty formidable.
'I coached Bundee for several years and know him really well and respect him massively as a player. He's a great contributor to the team environment.
'I've only had glancing conversations with Sione but again, by all accounts a champion bloke.
'You don't get to be captain of a national team without being a great bloke and really professional in those high-performance environments.
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"They are real athletes, those two together, so that'll be really interesting.'
Debate around the number of overseas-born players in Andy Farrell's Lions squad has intensified in the build-up to the 2025 tour.
'Big weekend' - Peter O'Mahony embarking on hectic gardening project as he aims to add '300 plants'
Ireland's Jamison Gibson-Park and James Lowe, along with Scotland's Duhan van der Merwe and Pierre Schoeman, all qualified through residency.
Finlay Bealham and Mack Hansen are eligible through family heritage.
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24 minutes ago
- RTÉ News
Andy Farrell and Joe Schmidt both expect better for second Test
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"It shouldn't be [hard] because that's all here, in the head," the Lions head coach said on Thursday, after naming his side for the second Test in Melbourne. "I suppose everyone is a human being. But if you look at it from an Australian point of view, they played the same 80 minutes, the same contest. "It cannot be the case that they're more up for this game because they're in the exact same scenario. "I honestly believe this is one of the biggest, if not the biggest game we have all been involved with so selection always matters in that regard until we get to the next one." On paper, Saturday's Test at the MCG looks far more evenly balanced, with the Wallabies pack considerably bolstered by the return to fitness of Rob Valetini, Will Skelton and Dave Porecki. And while the Wallabies are likely to be better with another week of rugby in their legs, Farrell is demanding improvement from his own team, who he admits had "a dip in focus" during the second half, after they had cruised out to a 24-5 lead. "It wasn't just one thing, it was a number of things and a dip in focus is probably what goes with that, the intent drops off a little bit and what that looks like to us might look something different to another team. "During victory you get an opportunity to be unbelievably honest and show each other just how much you can improve and there has been nothing but that this week as far as honesty is concerned, about where we can get to. "We certainly feel we left a few things out there, most aspects of our game will need to better but it is proving to ourselves it can be better as well. "Doing things properly, that is what we have talked about all week, what it looks like for us and the expectation that it has to happen the majority of the time. 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The 42
2 hours ago
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2 hours ago
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