'Better again': Lions to step it up against Waratahs
After piling on more than 50 points against both the Western Force and Queensland Reds, the rampant tourists tackle the Waratahs in Sydney on Saturday intent on shifting up yet another gear.
With a huge squad of almost double the amount of players needed for the first Test against the Wallabies in Brisbane on July 19, the Lions hopefuls are hungry to impress coach Andy Farrell and push for a place in the match-day 23.
"That's the ultimate goal, isn't it, for everyone here. They want to play in those Tests and the only way to do that is to play well in these in all these games leading up to it," said Irish lock Tadhg Beirne, who will captain the Lions at Allianz Stadium.
"If you're not producing in these games, you're not giving yourself a fighting chance.
"Everyone here wants to be in that 23 so everyone's going to put their best foot forward."
That could spell trouble for the undermanned Waratahs, who are missing several Wallabies on duty for Sunday's season-opening international against Fiji in Newcastle.
Bookmakers are giving the Tahs no hope, offering the hosts 40 points start in head-to-head betting.
In a chilling warning to Dan McKellar's side, fellow Irish second-rower James Ryan says the Lions are out to improve on their eight-try victories over both the Force and Reds in the past week.
"It's about just getting better again,' Ryan said on Friday.
"We thought we took a step forward on Wednesday in terms of our performance, discipline and some of our defensive work was better against the Reds than maybe it was against the Force.
"So we want to just push on the standard now again. You know the Tests are coming up in the next couple of weeks, so it's just about getting better tomorrow night.
"That's the main thing."
Captaining NSW in the absence of Wallabies star Jake Gordon, lock Hugh Sinclair says the Waratahs are embracing their big underdogs' tag.
"We've been lucky that a lot of the (Waratahs) coaches and the players that we have have been involved in Test matches and they've spoken heavily throughout the week that it is a Test match," Sinclair said.
"A lot of us haven't had those sort of weeks and those experiences, but we're treating it that way and we want to put in a performance. We don't want to get beaten by 50."
"We've talked about the Olympics is every four years, but the Lions is every 12 years so many players don't get an opportunity to play against them, so we're extremely fortunate to be able to be in this position.
"The boys are just excited."
Win or lose, it will be the retiring Sinclair's last match for the Waratahs and says the honour ranks as the highlight of his career.
"I actually played the curtain raiser in 2013 for Northern Suburbs at the old stadium so that was pretty cool.
"To captain this state and to do it against the British and Irish Lions, it will be my greatest rugby memory for sure."
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