Hungry Lions prepare to storm MCG on day they have dreamed about

BBC News

2 days ago

Australia v British and Irish Lions - second TestVenue: Melbourne Cricket Ground Date: Saturday, 26 July Kick-off: 11:00 BST Coverage: Live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app with post-match analysis on iPlayer, BBC Radio 5 Live and Rugby Union Weekly podcast.
At some point before kick-off at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday, Maro Itoje might want to consider asking his second-row partner Ollie Chessum to say a few words to the troops.If Chessum can get the battle fever going when talking to journalists in a room in a school in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne on Thursday, then you can only imagine the power of his words in the dressing room minutes before the Lions run out into the MCG in front of an expected crowd of 90,000."This is everything international rugby is all about," said Chessum of the Lions' bid to win the series on Saturday."Physicality goes up through the roof, the intensity goes up through the roof, the speed of the game goes up through the roof and you have to walk towards it because if you don't, you'll get found out pretty quickly."So I'm not quite ready and raring to go, obviously we're a couple of days out, but I'm chomping at the bit to get into it."And he went on: "You have to [embrace the magnitude of the occasion] because this is everything you have ever dreamt of. You'd be kicking yourself years down the line if you didn't."This is where - and I can't speak for everyone, although I'm fairly sure I can - everyone wants to be on the biggest stage with the chance to win a Lions series at an arena like the MCG in front of our families. There's nothing better. I'm properly looking forward to it."That is it, right there. Chessum nailed it. These are the days of their lives, the biggest moment for most of those who have not already been around the Lions block.
On Thursday, Andy Farrell over-reached a tad, but you knew where he was coming from. The coach said that his boys were bidding for history on Saturday as the only Lions team to win back-to-back series in the same country, 2013 and possibly 2025. He was wrong. It has been done before, but it is not common.A better way of presenting it is that they are bidding to become only the second Lions team to go 2-0 up in a series in 28 years, only the third to do it in 51 years and only the seventh ever since this glorious thing started in 1888.The 'Everest' tour of 1997 was the most recent time the Lions won the first two Tests of a series. Maybe it was a coincidence but the captain then, Martin Johnson, presented the jerseys to the team on Thursday evening in Melbourne.Four of Farrell's starting line-up on Saturday were not born back then (Chessum, Tom Curry, Tommy Freeman and Dan Sheehan), two of them were a year old (Andrew Porter and Hugo Keenan), Itoje was two, Huw Jones was three, Finn Russell was four and a handful of them were five. Bundee Aki was the oldest; he was seven.So, 1997 is an alien world to them. Since then, after two Tests it has been 1-1 against Australia, 2-0 to the All Blacks, 2-0 to the Springboks, 1-1 against the Wallabies, 1-1 against New Zealand and 1-1 against South Africa.At the MCG, if the Lions live up to their billing of screeching hot favourites, we will be heading into terrain we have not been across in close to three decades.There is a giant caveat in all of this. If we are examining the scale of the achievement if the Lions were to pull it off then you have to measure the quality of the opponent.Unless the Wallabies can stir themselves in an almighty way, they are in mortal danger of going down as the one of the worst crews the Lions have faced in the modern era - or pretty much any other era.
Australia have 'massive point to prove'
The case for the Wallabies, then.Their backs are very firmly against the wall. They have spent the week hearing how their forwards were bullied for 50 minutes in Brisbane. Presumably, they are a proud bunch with a massive point to prove. Unless they are utterly dead inside, there has to be an improvement in aggression.To that end, they have brought back lock Will Skelton, an unfeasibly large human, and back row Rob Valetini, their best player over the past two years. Hooker Dave Porecki is also in. Their line-out ought to improve as a consequence.But for every point you might make about how the Wallabies could push the Lions all the way, there is a counterpoint which says they will not.Skelton has played no rugby since 7 June, Valetini has not played since 14 June. Porecki has played 27 minutes since the end of May.Joe Schmidt looks to have made a serious error by wrapping the rest of his Test players in cotton wool since the Lions landed. Precious few of them have faced the Lions. Precious few were battle-hardened in Brisbane. Many of them had not played, or had played once, in many weeks. They were so undercooked, they were red raw. Schmidt judged it poorly.
Of Australia's past 12 games, eight have been lost. Three of the victories (Argentina, England and Fiji) have been by five points or fewer. Scotland beat them by 14, New Zealand by 20, South Africa by 18 and 26 and Argentina by 40.There is a 95% chance of rain on Saturday night in Melbourne. If the conditions are as predicted it could make it tighter, but if it goes down to a slugfest you would still bank on the Lions forwards winning it.This is a good Lions team. The pity is that they are not playing South Africa or New Zealand just so we could get a proper gauge on how good they actually are. On the basis of the first 50 against the Wallabies, they are formidable. On the basis of the final 30, when they lost the run of themselves with such a big lead, less than formidable.Will the real Lions stand up for 70 or 80 minutes on Saturday? If they do, it could get ugly out there.
Ringrose's 'selfless' withdrawal
Of course there has been lots of stuff going on in the preamble.The Garry Ringrose story is a sickener. How selfless and mature of the centre, who has been quite brilliant, to take himself out of the team on Thursday after feeling the effects of a brain injury.A similar brain injury probably cost him a place in the first Test. It is completely chilling that Ringrose, having passed all his HIA tests across 12 days, having come through a game on Tuesday and recovery on Wednesday, did not feel right again on Thursday.Concussion moves in the most sinister of ways. It can beat any test. It can deceive any doctor. Only the player knows if he is OK or not and Ringrose called it in the knowledge that he may never again get a chance to play a Test for the Lions.Next Saturday must be a doubt. He is 30 - young enough to still be world class in four years' time but with a record of head injuries, you have to wonder.So, Huw Jones, having been dropped, was suddenly back in. Will it damage his confidence knowing that he came so close to losing his spot? Hardly. These guys do not necessarily think that way. He will just be fired up to the high heavens because of it, you fancy.No such reprieve for Sione Tuipulotu, who was bizarrely and unfairly dropped when the team was named internally on Wednesday and who then suffered a tight hamstring on Thursday.Aki and Jones is not the partnership that Farrell would have wanted but it is still strong, albeit with only one game together on tour.
If things get sticky, Farrell has some muscle on the bench. The replacements did not do a whole lot last weekend, but Ellis Genge, James Ryan (Scott Cummings might feel aggrieved) and Jac Morgan are all capable of upping the ante with their attrition.Blair Kinghorn has the class and Owen Farrell has the leadership and the savvy. Whether you think he should be there or not is a moot point now. He is in the squad and he has to deliver.They all do. This is not just about winning on Saturday, it is also about winning on Saturday week and making it 3-0. Emphatic as you like. Historic.There is a big job to be done at the MCG before they start thinking about landslides and pantheons, though.If the Lions are all that they can be, then they will win and should win well, regardless of whatever fire and brimstone might be thrown at them."These games are the reason why you want to play rugby," said Itoje. "You want to be a part of these huge occasions with a little bit of jeopardy on the line. The opportunity to do something special, the opportunity to do something that lives long in the memory."Given the magnitude of the game, there is a higher level of focus. As a professional athlete, there is always focus to what you do, but not all games are equal. Not all games mean the same thing. And this game, last week, these games are not equal to normal games of rugby."The MCG awaits. The grandest stage in the land and the biggest crowd in Lions history.Chessum added: "Maro said to us that what we produced last Saturday will not be good enough this Saturday. There's a whole different beast coming down the road and we'll have to front up and tackle it."If Chessum is anything to go by, the Lions are ready to finish what they started.