Farrell keeps us guessing - five Lions talking points

Yahoo

11 hours ago

On Sunday evening, the Lions swapped the pleasant climate of Western Australia and headed east, into the rain of Brisbane.
Outdoor training was binned and instead they had a walk-through indoors at their base in the grounds of an Anglican church grammar school in the city suburbs, nicknamed Churchie.
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A fitting venue. Former Wallabies David Pocock and Quade Cooper received part of their education here. And on Monday morning it was where Andy Farrell sat down to talk about his team selection for game three, against the Queensland Reds on Wednesday, a Lions side showing 14 changes from Perth last Saturday. The only constant in the starting line-ups from Perth to Brisbane is Finn Russell.
Life moves on - the twin emotions of elite sport
Tomos Williams' departure leaves only one Welshman in the 38-strong squad - flanker Jac Morgan [Getty Images]
Saturday's worst fears were confirmed with Tomos Williams ruled out of the tour, cut down in his prime with a hamstring injury in the act of scoring a terrific try in an exciting performance against the Western Force.
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"He's going to be medium-to-long-termish, so unfortunately he's got some sad news this morning and he'll be leaving camp later on this evening," said Farrell.
Ben White is now on his way. One in, one out. Just like that. Despair and joy. Williams will be 34 when the next Lions trip comes around. It's horrible, but his time has come and gone in a blur.
With Scotland in Whangarei, the northernmost city in New Zealand, White is at the other end of the emotional spectrum. He would have been devastated to miss out on selection in the first place, especially after such a fine Six Nations. Now he's elated.
He scored against Italy, England and Ireland. His understanding with Finn Russell has been telepathic for a number of years now, so he's an interesting customer, full of energy and ambition. He should fit in well with the game the Lions are trying to play.
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Jamison Gibson-Park is the clear favourite for the nine Test jersey, but White's understanding with Russell will make him a very real threat to Alex Mitchell for a bench spot.
"He's [got] a bit of a trek, but at least he's in our time zone," said Farrell of White. "He'll be devastated for Tomos, like we all are. But at the same time, he's super-excited."
Mr Cohesion changing his thinking, for now
Garry Ringrose is a contender for the first Test - but who might he be paired with? [Getty Images]
In his coaching with Ireland, Farrell has always put large store in cohesion, hence why so many Leinster partnerships move up into the green jersey, almost as a bloc.
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He's not doing that in Australia, particularly not in what is becoming a really fascinating area - the midfield. There are two ready-made combinations with years worth of cohesion - Ireland's Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose and Scotland's Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones - but Farrell is not putting these guys together. Not yet anyway.
Against the Pumas he had Aki and Tuipulotu, against the Force it was Tuipulotu and Ringrose and now it's Aki and Jones. Ringrose is on the bench on Wednesday, so maybe we'll finally get to see a familiar duo at some point - Ringrose and Aki. Or maybe there's a Ringrose-Jones axis coming. He's keeping us guessing.
Farrell knows what the Scots and the Irish can do in their usual partnerships. He's now exploring what might happen if you break them up and look for another way.
It means we're no nearer in determining which one of these partnerships is going to begin the first Test. It's intriguing. This will be Jones' first game from the start on tour, having had some minutes off the bench on Saturday in Perth.
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As a Scot, he's won two of his three Tests against the Wallabies, scoring three tries in the process. Through injury, he's only played two and a bit games since the end of the Six Nations, which featured a hat-trick against Italy and a try against England.
He's a thoroughbred attacker and he needs a big game against the Reds. Ringrose, in the words of Tuipulotu, was like a "missile" against the Force. Tuipulotu was impressed, to say the least. The battle for the midfield spots is getting more compelling with every passing game.
Kiss calls on the Reds to rip into the Lions
The Queensland Reds will have 11 Test players, including nine Wallabies and two All Blacks, in their squad to face the Lions.
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Coach Les Kiss named his team on Monday and there's some star quality in it. Wallaby hooker Matt Faessler is in as is his fellow Test player, Hunter Paisami, the centre. Lachie Anderson, the exciting wing, is part of a backline that could pose plenty of threat to the Lions.
"Excitement is high, that's for sure," said Kiss. "It's a one-off match but we've had a line of sight with their games against Argentina and the Western Force. They are an incredibly good and talented team. They have taken on some of the DNA of the Irish team.
"They've shown their attacking side, too. We have to meet those challenges but we'll put our brand of rugby out there as well. We'll keep backing ourselves. Why can't we put our best foot forward, rip in and see what happens?"
Keenan gets his shot, Kinghorn on his way
Hugo Keenan was absent as Leinster beat Bulls to win the URC Grand Final on 14 June [Getty Images]
Fair play to Elliot Daly. He's had a tremendous beginning to his tour and he's piled the pressure on Hugo Keenan and Blair Kinghorn for the 15 jersey. It was supposed to be a straight shootout between the Irishman and the Scot, but Daly has given his coaches plenty to think about. He's been class in both of his appearances so far.
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Leinster's Keenan starts at 15 against the Reds. He's not played since the United Rugby Championship quarter-final in late May, missing the semi-final and final. A sore one for him.
He can't really afford to be rusty and Kinghorn - who was pictured in Toulouse-branded pants in the mixed zone on Saturday night after winning a second Top 14 in two years - needs to hit the ground running, too.
Kinghorn is versatile and has played five of his last six games for Toulouse on the wing. He's in excellent form and will arrive in Brisbane tired but also elated. Keenan vs Kinghorn vs Daly is going to be a hell of a tussle.
Wrinkle-free Maro returns with a smile on his face
Maro Itoje has played almost 2,200 minutes this season [Getty Images]
A few eyebrows were raised when the captain didn't feature in the first game on Australian soil last weekend, but there was a reason to rest him. Two reasons, actually.
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Farrell needed to see his other locks, for one, and, for another, Itoje looked as if he needed a rest when putting in a pretty low-key performance in the defeat against Argentina. It wouldn't have been a huge shock had Farrell given him another rest day on Wednesday, but he hasn't.
Itoje has played a huge number of minutes - almost 2,200 - this season for club and country. That's 1,000 minutes more than Ollie Chessum and Scott Cummings and between 700-800 more than Joe McCarthy and James Ryan.
The captain is among the most-played Lions this season, but in Brisbane he declared himself fresh and ready to roll again.
"Often when you talk about game minutes and load, part of it is the physical load, but a lot of it is the mental load," he said.
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"Coming into this new environment, spending time with new players, new systems, new coaches, everything, has been really refreshing for me. In my career, I've had a lot of consistency with club and country, so just to have a different stimulus has been great."
In some banter at the top table, Farrell said that Itoje, 30, looked good despite all those minutes played. "Looks great, look at the smile," said the coach. "No wrinkles, skin is fresh," replied the lock. "Botox?" asked Farrell. "No botox," laughed Itoje.
Game number three is around the corner. More amusement in the aftermath and they'll have done their job.