Springbok Women vs Black Ferns XV
The Springbok Women are set to return to Athlone Stadium for their final two Rugby World Cup warm-up matches, taking on New Zealand's Black Ferns XV in what promises to be two thrilling encounters. The matches will take place on 26 July and 2 August. Tickets start at just R20. Sat, 26 Jul 2025 Sat, 2 Aug 2025
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Telegraph
25 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Beating Lions with this Australia side would be Joe Schmidt's greatest achievement
For a coach whose forensic attention to detail is baked into Irish rugby folklore, Joe Schmidt's unveiling of his Wallabies squad to face the Lions last week looked decidedly shambolic. The series-ending neck injury suffered by Noah Lolesio in the 21-18 win against Fiji last Sunday meant that Schmidt needed to call up another fly-half. It appeared obvious that replacement would be the veteran James O'Connor to counterbalance the inexperienced pair of Tom Lynagh and Ben Donaldson. Yet there was an apparent issue with obtaining insurance for the 35-year-old, which meant that Schmidt was, unsuccessfully, trying to contact O'Connor to tell him he was in on the morning the squad was being unveiled in Brisbane. It just so happened that O'Connor was in Brisbane coaching a female sevens side when he was spotted wandering past the team hotel. Crisis averted. Such is Schmidt's reputation as a coaching mastermind that this could all be a ruse to lull the Lions into an even greater sense of false security. The verdict in sections of the Australian press took a less kind interpretation. 'Sleepy Joe at the wheel' was the headline on the Roar website, referencing the derogatory nickname Donald Trump gave to Joe Biden. Certainly, if Schmidt is playing a form of 4D chess it is hard to discern the genius behind going into a Lions series with three fly-halves whose last starts in the gold No 10 shirt came in a 67-27 defeat to Argentina last year (Donaldson), 2022 against Argentina (O'Connor) and never (Lynagh). Lolesio's absence was unfortunate but hardly unforeseeable given his unfortunate track record of injuries. Schmidt has also declined to nominate a captain for the series. So no leader, no frontline 10 and, according to the bookmakers, not much hope against a Lions side that delivered its most impressive performance to date in the 48-0 win against the AUNZ invitational side. Not so fast says Ian Foster, who was a member of the coaching group for the AUNZ team. Schmidt was part of the All Blacks backroom team under Foster who knocked Andy Farrell's Ireland side out of the 2023 World Cup in a coaching masterclass. And while Foster plainly admits Australia are underdogs, if there is a single reason for optimism he says it lies in Schmidt's ability to concoct a plan. 'He'll (Schmidt) bring a lot of belief because I'm sure that the Wallabies team will know what they want to do and they'll believe in what they want to do, and that's his [Schmidt's] biggest strength,' Foster said. 'They're a quality team, good depth, but that brings complications sometimes at selection time, so you know, I think the test of the tour is how they deal with selection in the next week and keep the rest of the squad happy. 'They (the Lions) will be primed, but there's something about the Wallabies. I just think that if they can be tough enough at the ball carry to be able to get some front-foot ball against the Lions team. They'll be a challenge.' The decline of Australian rugby has been well documented, particularly in competition with Aussie Rules and rugby league. To provide a small snapshot, the Australian Football League (Aussie Rules) generated $1billion (£480 million) and the National Rugby League AUD $745 million (£362 million) last year; Rugby Australia turned over $120 million. Last Wednesday's State of Origin decider is still being dissected on television while the Lions' tour garners only passing mention. Now that we are in Test week, business should pick up. There are plenty of juicy subplots from Schmidt v Farrell, Sione Tuipulotu v Joseph Suaalii, Ellis Genge v Taniela Tupou for everyone to get stuck into. Still it is going to require every last drop of Schmidt's motivational and tactical abilities to down the Lions. Compare this group of players to the Australia sides who started the first Test of the 2001 and 2013 series and the precipitous drop-off in talent is painful to behold. The 2001 Wallabies might be their finest-ever team while even the 2013 vintage still had a world-class core of Israel Folau, Will Genia and Michael Hooper. With the possible exception of Angus Bell and the potential of Suaalii it is hard to make a case for many of the current crop gaining a place in those sides. Yet according to former second-row Justin Harrison, who helped the Wallabies to a 2-1 series victory in 2001, the one thing that Australians thrive off is being backed into a corner. 'Look at Australia, just about anything that moves in the wildlife can kill you,' Harrison said. 'Whether we are dealing with floods or droughts, we are an adverse frontier country. We are used to being hard against it. 'On a world stage, typically, every single one of our national teams does well from a resource share. We outperform expectations. That's a great position for us to be in. Culturally, we like to be under pressure. We like to prove our point and this Wallaby group will prove that point. 'The Lions squad is built upon a cohesiveness but the Wallabies have a healthy group of players who have got a shared experience in adversity and extreme adversity at the 2023 World Cup. A lot of those players have come out of the Super Rugby Pacific programmes who have won more than they have lost. They are beating Kiwi opposition and getting to a final series (Brumbies). That all means that they are moving into this series with a degree of positive shared experience but also problem-solving and resilience.' The Lions'; preparation has been far from perfect both in terms of performances and injuries but they seem to be in an exponentially stronger position unless Schmidt has the Wallabies playing possums. For all the silverware that he accumulated with Leinster and Ireland, a series victory would go down as Schmidt's greatest-ever achievement.
Daily Mail
31 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Henry Pollock reveals Andy Farrell's team have set historic target as they look to become greatest Lions side ever
The Lions' youngest player has revealed their mission to achieve immortality in the next three weeks, as Henry Pollock outlined the tourists' target is an historic Test series whitewash. Andy Farrell and his squad landed here in the capital of Queensland on Sunday, buoyed by a 48-0 win in their final pre-series fixture in Adelaide and setting their sights on an achievement which would go down in British and Irish rugby folklore. The Lions have only even claimed a clean sweep of three Tests or more on three previous occasions; in 1891 in South Africa, in 1904 in Australia and in 1927 in Argentina. Even the legendary 'Invincibles' of 1974 didn't win every Test; drawing the last one against the Springboks for a 3-1 result. Since that epic tour, the Lions have only even won three out of 12 series they have played, let alone whitewashing any of their southern-hemisphere rivals. But that is what the class of 2025 are hell-bent on achieving against the Wallabies. 'We want to come here and be the best Lions team ever,' said Pollock, the Northampton and England back-row sensation, aged 20. 'We've been talking about that loads and 3-0 is definitely on the table, hopefully. 'I guess we're all trying to work towards the same thing. We're all trying to be the best team we can be and get that 3-0 win.' Fellow back-rower Ben Earl also emphasised the Lions' desire to take their place in history, adding: 'There's a big thing that we've been speaking about; about being one of the best Lions teams ever.' Asked for his reflections on the demolition of an Australia-New Zealand Invitational XV on Saturday, Pollock added: 'Yeah, massively pleased. We nilled them, which was amazing. Credit to our defence. We've been working hard on that over the couple of weeks and we're just pleased that we got the whitewash. Now we can build into a strong opening first Test.' Andy Farrell's team secured an emphatic 48-0 victory in their final pre-season fixture While the trans-Tasman side were unable to halt the Lions juggernaut in Adelaide, former All Blacks head coach Ian Foster – who was part of the vanquished management team – claimed that Andy Farrell will still have some awkward challenges to overcome in the weeks ahead. Asked to rate the tourists, he paused and said: 'Yeah… they're good… I think they've got a lot of work to do next week. 'They're a quality team, good depth, but that brings complications sometimes at selection time, so I think the test of the tour is how they deal with selection in the next week and keep the rest of the squad happy. 'The Lions will be happy with all the wins to date, they'll be happy with a lot of players and they'll probably be happy that they haven't actually put a performance together yet that they really, really want. They don't want to do that before next week, so they'll be primed. But if the Wallabies can be tough enough at the ball-carry to be able to get some front-foot ball, they'll be a challenge.' Meanwhile, the Lions have called up Ireland prop Tom Clarkson as cover, despite no indication of any injuries to the three tightheads already in the squad. The 25-year-old – a Test novice – is flying to Brisbane from Lisbon, after scoring a try in Ireland's record-breaking 106-7 victory over Portugal.
Telegraph
41 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Bullish Henry Pollock taunts Australia: The Lions can win 3-0
Henry Pollock has said the British and Irish Lions are targeting a series whitewash over Australia as head coach Andy Farrell begins the process of weighing up Test selection. The Lions have never managed to pull off a clean sweep in a Test series in the post-War era, although they have twice emerged unbeaten in 1971 and 1974. Despite losing to 28-24 to Argentina in Dublin, the Lions have made no secret of their desire to etch their names into the history books. 'There's a big thing that we've been speaking about, about being one of the best Lions teams ever,' back-rower Ben Earl said last week. England flanker Pollock, who rounded off the tries in a 48-0 win against an AUNZ Invitational team in the Lions' final warm-up game on Saturday, went a step further stating they want to come away with a 3-0 series triumph. 'Yeah, 100 per cent,' Pollock said. 'We want to come here and be the best Lions team ever. We've been talking about that loads and yeah, 3-0 is definitely on the table, hopefully. 'I guess we're all just trying to work towards the same thing. So whether you're playing or you're not playing, we're all just trying to strive to be the best team we can be and get that 3-0 win. So if that's playing or not playing, then I'll adjust and be the best team-mate I can be.' The Lions travelled from Adelaide to Brisbane on Sunday as Farrell and his coaching staff reviewed the footage of the eight-try win against an underwhelming AUNZ team. Having already called up Jamie George late on Saturday night following hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie's concussion, Farrell sent for further front-row reinforcements in the form of tighthead prop Tom Clarkson. That brings the total Leinster contingent in the squad to 14, level with the number of England players, although Clarkson is expected to provide cover for the midweek match against a First Nations and Pasifika XV in Melbourne between the first and second Tests on July 22. 'Everyone's hungry – everyone wants that Test spot' The back row combination looks like being one of the most fiercely contested areas of selection with Pollock, Earl, Jac Morgan, Tom Curry and Josh van der Flier all seemingly competing for one space at openside. Coming into this tour as the youngest player with barely half an hour of Test rugby experience, Pollock is relishing the level of competition. 'I think everyone's hungry,' Pollock said. 'That's why it's such an amazing environment to be part of. Everyone wants that Test spot and whether you get it or not, you've just got to react positively to that and be the best team that you can be. We're looking forward to the next couple of days and that week as well to get the full training weekend and we're ripping to Saturday. 'There's world-class players here and if you're not learning, then you're in the wrong place. You try and learn as much as you can each day. I can vouch for all the boys that were loving it. The back row has been really good as well. I'm learning from Josh [van der Flier, Jac [Morgan], Ben [Earl]. They've been amazing. As I said, as a group, we're really close and we're just all striving for the same thing and it's a special environment.' The Lions will train on Monday and have their main performance session on Wednesday before Farrell unveils his team on Thursday to face the Wallabies at the Suncorp Stadium in the first Test on Saturday. The players now face a nervous wait before the team is announced internally with even a Farrell favourite such as Tadhg Beirne, who has twice captained the side, given no special treatment. 'It would be great if you just announced it in the morning,' Beirne said. 'But this is all part of it isn't it, you just have to get on with it. It's a little bit out of our control at this point, everyone's put their best foot forward and it's up to Andy and the coaching staff now to select what they believe is the best 23 to do a job. Everyone's going to be anxious and want to be in that 23 but if you're not it's about how you react to that then, it's about preparing those 23 because we're all here to put one goal in mind. If you're not in that 23 it's just as important to prepare the team as best you can so they're ready to go come the Test game.' George: I would swim to Australia if I had to
