British and Irish Lions tour 2025: Results, fixtures, schedule and latest squad changes in Australia
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Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Wallaby Hooper named to face Lions for Brumbies
SYDNEY, July 7 (Reuters) - ACT Brumbies loose forward Tom Hooper has been named to face the British & Irish Lions in Canberra on Wednesday despite coming on as a replacement for the Wallabies against Fiji on Sunday. The 11-test flanker, who is leaving the Brumbies for England at the end of the season, will line up in a team missing several test players but including plenty of the side that made it to the Super Rugby Pacific semi-finals this season. The Brumbies are expected to give the Lions their toughest match before the test series, especially given their track record against the tourists. The Lions needed a conversion from Matt Dawson deep into stoppage time to beat the Brumbies 30-28 on their 2001 tour and went down 14-12 the next time they visited Canberra Stadium 12 years later. Hooper is one of three Wallabies in the pack along with lock Cadeyrn Neville and hooker Lachlan Lonergan, while the back three of Andy Muirhead, Corey Toole and Ben O'Donnell have a mixture of guile, blinding pace and experience. Lonergan's brother Ryan captains the team from scrumhalf, while Hooper's sibling Lachie, also a loose forward, has been named on the bench for what could be his Brumbies debut. "It's been amazing to watch the growth of both Tom and Lachie over the past few years, and it's special that they may get the opportunity to play alongside each other in a Brumbies shirt on Wednesday night," said coach Stephen Larkham. "Not only that, but it's against a world-class team in the British & Irish Lions ... they'll be chomping at the bit to contribute positively to the team." Larkham was an assistant coach at the Brumbies in 2013 and Australia's flyhalf in the first two tests against the Lions in the 2001 series, which the Wallabies won 2-1. "The boys have been back in training for a couple of weeks and they are aware of how big an opportunity this is for them to take on the Lions," he added. "We're under no illusions of the challenge that lies ahead." Brumbies team: 15–Andy Muirhead, 14–Ben O'Donnell, 13–Ollie Sapsford, 12–David Feliuai, 11–Corey Toole, 10–Declan Meredith, 9–Ryan Lonergan (captain), 8–Tuaina Taii Tualima, 7–Rory Scott, 6–Tom Hooper, 5–Cadeyrn Neville, 4–Lachie Shaw, 3–Rhys van Nek, 2–Lachlan Lonergan, 1–Lington Ieli. Replacements: 16–Liam Bowron, 17–Cameron Orr, 18–Feao Fotuaika, 19–Lachie Hooper, 20–Luke Reimer, 21–Harrison Goddard, 22–Jack Debreczeni, 23–Hudson Creighton.
Evening Standard
11 hours ago
- Evening Standard
British and Irish Lions tour 2025: Results, fixtures, schedule and latest squad changes in Australia
Next up for the Lions is Australia's best-performing Super Rugby side - the ACT Brumbies - in the capital Canberra on Wednesday, after which only a match against an Invitational Australia and New Zealand XV is to come in Adelaide before they return to Brisbane for the first Test against the Wallabies, who needed a last-gasp try to avoid defeat by Fiji in their only warm-up match.
Belfast Telegraph
13 hours ago
- Belfast Telegraph
‘There's no real confidence': Joe Schmidt casts doubt on Australia's chances against the Lions
It took a 78th-minute try from back-rower Harry Wilson to save the Wallabies from an embarrassing defeat less than two weeks out from the opener against the Lions at Suncorp Stadium. Fiji were rampant in the second half in Newcastle and Schmidt insisted that 'quiet resolve' rather than outright conviction would be his team's currency during the three Tests against Andy Farrell's tourists. 'We didn't play well enough for people to have the expectation that we're going to come bowling into Brisbane and knock the Lions over. I'm not sure that expectation was there before Fiji,' head coach Schmidt said. 'There's not real confidence, but there's a quiet resolve. And that quiet resolve, hopefully over the three-match series, can build to something that will earn us the support of a very interested group. 'We haven't been together for six months. To have five trainings and to be seamless would be an expectation that I hoped for rather than immediately believed would happen. Now we have another short runway to improve on where we were against Fiji.' Not only did Australia scrape home in a game that saw a Fijian try by Sireli Maqala controversially ruled out, but they also lost fly-half Noah Lolesio with 20 minutes to go after his head hit the ground during a tackle by Elia Canakaivata. Schmidt is hopeful that Lolesio will only be a short-term absentee after providing a positive update on the 25-year-old playmaker. 'The first question Noah asked me was 'did we win?'. He was still very much focused on the game and he appeared to be in good shape. That's the most important thing,' Schmidt said. 'It was whiplash and his head hit the ground. I'm hopeful that that will be something that resolves itself reasonably quickly. But we won't take any risks that we don't need to.'
