Owen Farrell called up by the Lions as Elliot Daly's tour ended
England international Daly fractured his forearm during Wednesday's win over the Queensland Reds, cruelly ending what had been a positive start to the tour.
Lions head coach Farrell has now turned to Owen to link up with the squad in Daly's place. Owen will arrive in Sydney on Friday evening.
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This will be Farrell's fourth Lions tour, having been part of the 2013, 2017, and 2021 campaigns.
Farrell is an out-half or inside centre, whereas Daly plays at fullback, outside centre, or on the wing.
33-year-old Farrell is coming off the back of a difficult, injury-hit season with French side Racing 92 and left the club early this summer to re-join Saracens.
He recently worked as a pundit on Sky Sports' coverage of the Lions' defeat to Argentina but will now join the squad Down Under.
'It is heartbreaking for the group that Elliot's tour is over,' said Andy Farrell.
'He is a Lions legend who has added so much to the group on and off the field over the past few weeks and over the course of three tours.
'Owen will now come in and add to our options and bring his own Lions experience to the group.'
Lions tour manager, Ieuan Evans, added his best wishes to Daly.
'To be a three-times tourist like Elliot means you have to be a world-class player over an extended period of time,' said Evans.
'But not only is Elliot a world-class player, he is also a wonderful Lion who is much-loved by his teammates and our fans. So we all feel for him right now.
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'Both on and off the field, Elliot can be immensely proud of his contribution on this tour of Australia. He will be sorely missed and we wish him a speedy recovery.'
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Extra.ie
37 minutes ago
- Extra.ie
Why Ireland's off-Broadway clash with Georgia is a crucial first step in 2027 World Cup journey
It will be 2am in Sydney when Ireland's clash with Georgia gets going at Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi. Andy Farrell is very much in Lions mode at the moment, but it's highly likely that he'll be hunkered over a laptop in the small hours to see how this young and experimental Irish team go against a rising force of the global game. The Lions – replete with a record contingent of 16 Irish players – are hogging all the limelight at present and Ireland's summer tour has a distinct 'off-Broadway' vibe about it. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile Make no mistake, however, Farrell is keeping tabs on developments in Eastern Europe. It will be the same story in Lisbon next week. Team Ireland have been utterly fragmented in recent months. Farrell, a sizeable crew of assistant coaches and a busload of frontliners are currently in Australia. Caelan Doris, Robbie Henshaw and Iain Henderson are back home in Ireland rehabbing injuries. Peter O'Mahony, Conor Murray and Cian Healy have retired while Paul O'Connell – the interim, interim head coach – is bringing a crew of fringe players on tour. It's all a bit chaotic but there will be a singular focus once the autumn internationals appear on the horizon. Farrell and his merry band of Lions will be back on national duty. There will be no distractions come November. A looming rematch with the All Blacks in Chicago will focus minds. Soldier Field: Part 2 is going to be box office. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile The Wallabies and the Springboks are also paying visits to Dublin. And there will be a real sense that the countdown to the 2027 World Cup has begun. The draw for the global showpiece in Australia is set to take place in December. Farrell and this entire Ireland setup will begin to zero in on the big one in two years' time. In that context, these looming games against Georgia and Portugal are massive opportunities. This is a chance for the next generation to stake their claim for inclusion in November and the 2026 Six Nations, and beyond. It's been clear for the past 12 months that Ireland are in dire need of another reboot across the board. From personnel to tactics. Performance and results have been patchy. Ireland are in the early stages of the next evolution. There is a clutch of top players who are on the wrong side of 30, namely Bundee Aki, James Lowe, Tadhg Beirne, Henderson and Jamison Gibson-Park. Tadhg Furlong is beginning to show signs of wear and tear from a decade at the coalface, while O'Mahony, Murray and Healy have all called it a day. Farrell's Ireland is going to have a very different look in November. Fast forward to 2027 and the matchday 23 will have a fresh look about it. The latest rebuild begins in Tblisi and Farrell will be watching with interest. Tommy O'Brien and Darragh Murray are making their Test debuts with four more potential new caps on the bench in the form of Michael Milne, Jack Aungier, Tom Ahern and Ben Murphy. O'Brien recently turned 27 so he's no spring chicken when it comes to top-level rugby. Last season was the first time that this talented wing, who has been blighted by injuries throughout this career, got a run of games, and it showed. O'Brien was superb for Leinster. His pace could be a real game-changer for an Irish side which has lacked a bit of gas in the wide channels for quite some time. Crucially, he revels in the defensive side of things. O'Brien is the kind of player who could rise up the Test ranks swiftly. Jamie Osborne and tour captain Craig Casey are also banging on that door. This doesn't sound like it's going to be an occasion for free-flowing rugby, however. The weather has been biblical in Tblisi all week and the Georgians, despite unearthing some real gems out wide – namely La Rochelle-bound full-back Davit Niniashvili – will be going Old Testament on the Irish pack this evening. The Lelos are renowned for their forward power and pride themselves on their fearsome scrum. Their starting frontrow of Irakli Aptsiauri, Vano Karkadze and Giorgi Akhaladze are all seasoned operators who all ply their trade in the Top14 with Lyon, Montpellier and Clermont respectively. They will be eyeing up Ireland's trio of greenhorns in the frontrow with relish. Jack Boyle, Gus McCarthy and Thomas Clarkson have just 10 international caps between team. We're likely to see plenty of scrums and plenty of opportunities to feel the heat. All three frontrowers made massive strides last season and if they come through this stern scrummaging examination with reputations greatly enhanced, it will be a massive boost for Ireland's World Cup chances down the line. Clarkson, in particular, finished Leinster's campaign in impressive form with the young tighthead delivering a dominant display against a giant Bulls pack in the URC final. McCarthy has taken to senior rugby with ease while Boyle had seemingly moved ahead of Healy in the loosehead pecking order. Leinster and Ireland desperately need him to make the step up. This is a huge night for Ireland's frontrow stocks. Murray can further has cause, too. The uncapped Connacht lock is a real lineout technician. The Westerners endured a poor campaign but their lineout was one of the best in the URC and Murray was central to it. The 24-year-old will be calling the lineout tonight. Again, if he can oversee a smooth-running set-piece against formidable opponents in tough conditions, he could find himself back in the mix when November rolls around. Murray will lean heavily on Ryan Baird in that department. The Leinster flanker is very much the leader of this young pack, with 27 Test caps to his name. Baird really needs to kick on now. His talent or freakish athleticism has never been up for debate. Consistency has been the issue. Too often, Baird has gone off the boil. Now that O'Mahony has retired, the blindside spot is there for the taking. Baird hit a rich vein of form at the tail-end of the season. Indeed, if the 25-year-old had been playing like that a few months earlier, he would on tour with the Lions. Baird has the capacity to be Rocky Elsom 2.0. He can lay down a marker against their hardy Georgian backrow. And he haven't even mentioned Sam Prendergast yet. This will be a night for playing the percentages and keeping the pack on the front foot. Jack Crowley will be chomping at the bit to get involved from the bench. Two quality player jostling for position. In truth, Ireland need that level of competition in all departments in the coming years. Farrell will welcome those selection headaches. He will be watching with interest from the southern hemisphere.
Irish Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
What time and TV channel is Georgia vs Ireland on today?
What does an Ireland team look like when sixteen players are away with the Lions and a further two front-line stars, Caelan Doris and Robbie Henshaw, are injured?Well like this one lining up to play the first of two summer test matches, against Georgia and Portugal. Actually, the good news is that players such as Jamie Osborne, Sam Prendergast, Craig Casey and Ryan Baird are in situ while recently capped Jimmy O'Brien, Thomas Clarkson, Cormac Izuchukwu and Gus McCarthy are in the are two debutants in the line-up, Leinster's powerhouse winger Tommy O'Brien who could do no wrong post-Christmas and Connacht's beanpole second-row Darragh Murray (pronounced Muh-ray if you must know...)Munster cause-celebre Gavin Coombes gets a chance to make his case with a rare have mustered a selection show-casing nine players who play in France, six from the Top 14 and three from PROD2 (see team sheet at bottom).The other six are with Black Lions, the side selected from their domestic league and coached by national coach Richard Cockerill that represents Georgia on an invite in the EPCR European Challenge Cup. They've beaten Scarlets 23-7 in Llanelli in 2023 and Vannes 22-19 in Tbilisi mightn't get any easier with those coming from the bench either as it has a similar Top14/PROD2/Black Lion make up. Tedo Abzhandadze, incidentally, went to Terenure is what you need to know about the match:Where and when is it?The match takes place at the Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi on Saturday, July time is kick-off?The action gets under way at 6pm Irish are the match officials?Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)Assistant referees: Adam Leal (England) & Ben Whitehouse (Wales)TMO: Matteo Liperini (Italy)QUOTES CORNERPaul O'Connell, Interim Ireland coach said: "They have a mixture of players playing in France who bring a real, I suppose, flair to what they do and the Black Lion players have impressed a lot of the coaches as well. The likes of Mikeil Babunasvili and Luke Ivanasvilli from a forward point of view, these kinds of guys are really tough, well organised, smart rugby players."They had a good Autumn, nearly beating Italy, they had a good summer, they put 29 points on Australia down there although they didn't beat them. They beat a tier one nation in Japan. They've been steadily beating tier one nations in the last number of years. So it's a brilliant test match for our players."Georgia Coach Richard Cockerill on the burning agenda in Georgia rugby: "If you are finishing bottom of the Six Nations why do you just get free rein to turn up next year and play?"We want the opportunity to prove that we can compete, so surely that's logical we get the opportunity to have a play-off."We feel we are probably a little bit too strong for the second level tournament although the other teams are improving, especially Spain and Romania, but for us to improve we need to play at a tougher level. Italy had that opportunity in the early 2000s."It would be the richest game in World Rugby - Georgia versus Wales at some point in the near future to see who plays in the Six Nations for the next tournament. That's jeopardy, isn't it? That would be a game people would want to watch."We feel we've earned the right, we want the opportunity to prove that potentially we're good enough to compete on a regular basis at that level."Debutant Tommy O'Brien, just turned 27, finally fully fit and finishing the season as one of Leinster's most valued players: "I guess I've known what I can do in training but it's obviously behind closed doors so the general public wouldn't see it."But I had a bit of confidence in what I was doing and the fact you're training in Leinster with such high level players, such international quality players, I took a bit of confidence from that and I felt I just needed to get a chance to get a couple of games under my YOU KNOW: Ireland beat Georgia 14-10 at RWC 2007 - thanks to Denis Leamy getting his hand under the ball preventing a touchdown after Georgia had crossed the Irish line looking to touch down in the 78th minute. DID YOU KNOW: Georgia are ranked no11 in the world, one place above ODDSGeorgia win: 7/1Ireland win: 1/10Draw: 35/1What TV CHANNEL IS IT ON?The match will be shown on Virgin Media - Joe Molloy will lead coverage with Ian Madigan, Andrew Trimble as studio analysts. John Forrest will be commentator with Alan Quinlan as co-commentator. Coverage begins 5.30pmTEAMSGeorgia : 15 Davit Niniashvili (Lyon); 14 Akaki Tabutsadze (Black Lion), 13 Demur Tapladze (Grenoble), 12 Giorgi Kveseladze (Black Lion), 11 Sandro Todua (Black Lion); 10 Luka Matkava (Castres), 9 Vasil Lobzhanidze (Oyonnax);1 Giorgi Akhaladze (ASM Clermont), 2 Vano Karkadze (Montpellier), 3 Irakli Aptsiauri Lyon), 4 Mikheil Babunashvili (Black Lion), 5 Lado Chachanidze (Black Lion), 6 Luka Ivanishvili (Black Lion), 7 Beka Saghinadze (Lyon), 8 Tornike Jalagonia (Provence),Replacements: 16 Irakli Kvatadze (Black Lion), 17 Giorgi Tetrashvili (Perpignan), 18 Beka Gigashvili (Toulon), 19 Giorgi Javakhia (Grenoble), 20 Ilia Spanderashvili (Valence), 21 Mikheil Alania (Black Lion), 22 Tedo Abzhandadze (Aurillac), 23 Tornike Kakhoidze (Black Lion).Ireland: 15 Jimmy O'Brien; 14 Tommy O'Brien, 13 Jamie Osborne, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale; 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Craig Casey; 1 Jack Boyle, 2 Gus McCarthy, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 4 Cormac Izuchukwu, 5 Darragh Murray, 6 Ryan Baird, 7 Nick Timony, 8 Gavin CoombesReplacements: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Jack Aungier, 19 Tom Ahern, 20 Cian Prendergast, 21 Ben Murphy, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Calvin Nash.
The 42
9 hours ago
- The 42
Waratahs huge underdogs as Farrell asks for more Lions progress
ENGLISHMAN JAMIE ADAMSON will play for the Waratahs against the Lions in tomorrow's match in Sydney and then head off to Canberra to wear a Lions jersey for the tourists' clash with the Brumbies on Wednesday. Adamson will be in the stands with his family supporting the Lions next week. The 25-year-old, who is on the bench for the Waratahs tomorrow [KO 11am Irish time, Sky Sports], was released by the Great Britain 7s back in 2023 and decided to go on an adventure to Australia to play club rugby. Adamson won the Shute Shield with Sydney's Easts but then moved back home to England in the hope of returning to the 7s fold. Just a couple of weeks later, Waratahs boss Dan McKellar asked him to join the Sydney franchise on a trial basis. It went well. Adamson has racked up 11 appearances in Super Rugby this year and now he gets a chance to take on the Lions, a team he has supported all his life and probably once hoped to play for. Many others in the Waratahs' matchday 23 have intriguing stories of their own, even the famous players. 29-year-old Taniela Tupou was seen as one of the best tightheads in rugby only a few years ago but his form fell away drastically. In May, he told the Sydney Morning Herald about the mental struggles he's been dealing with. Tupou is still in the Wallabies set-up, but he has been released to the Waratahs for tomorrow's game in a bid to show that he has what it takes to face the Lions in a couple of weeks. Waratahs flanker Charlie Gamble. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo At the other end of the scale in terms of experience, 21-year-old Waratahs loosehead prop Jack Barrett should get the chance to scrummage against Tadhg Furlong at Allianz Stadium tomorrow. Openside flanker Charlie Gamble is a New Zealand native who moved to Sydney in 2018. Initially, he was playing so-called 'Subbies' amateur rugby and working as a delivery driver for an alcohol supplier. Advertisement He swiftly rose through the grades in Sydney rugby to secure a contract with the Waratahs in 2020 and five years later, he gets the opportunity to plays against the Lions. 21-year-old out-half Jack Bowen has only started two games in Super Rugby and he's preferred to Wallabies-capped Tane Edmed as the number 10 for tomorrow's game. Every single one of these Waratahs will be proud and pumped up to play against the Lions but with seven of their key players remaining in Wallabies camp, there are fears that they will struggle to compete, especially if Andy Farrell's side can deliver something closer to an 80-minute performance. There are some good pros in the Waratahs 23. Lock Fergus Lee-Warner spent time in the Premiership, skipper Hugh Sinclair has a hard edge, blindside Rob Leota has 21 Wallabies caps, wing Andrew Kellaway has been released by Joe Schmidt along with Tupou, and clever centre Lalakai Foketi has reportedly signed for the Chiefs in New Zealand. It should help that Mike Catt is the Waratahs' attack coach and will have helped to prepare them well for facing an Andy Farrell team. But the reality is that there is a major gulf in quality between the two teamsheets for tomorrow. The Tahs are massive underdogs for this one. Lions head coach Farrell has rung the changes again after Wednesday's win over the Reds, but he saw more to like in that performance in Brisbane. Now he wants things to go up another level against the Waratahs. Mack Hansen at the Lions' captain's run in Sydney. Billy Stickland / INPHO Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO 'A bit more continuity, a bit more putting things together,' is what he hopes to see in Sydney. 'There's a bit of a stop-start nature with our outcomes… just lacking a bit of staying in the moment as much as we possibly can. 'But having said that, I think it's getting better. There's always things to fix in every single game but we've been pleased with some of our progression. 'Our breakdown work was great the other night, our transition work – whether it be defence to attack, attack to defence – was pretty good as well. 'So, yeah, we want to keep improving our defence because that's the main thing you'd want to stand for. I know defence has been pretty good, but there's still room for improvement.' The Brumbies game in Canberra was always going to be the Lions' toughest challenge against the Aussie Super Rugby sides because they've been consistently the best for years now. The hope is that the Waratahs' obvious emotion and delight at getting a shot at the Lions helps them to deliver a credible, competitive performance tomorrow. If not, we could be in for a rout that does nobody any good. WARATAHS: Lawson Creighton; Andrew Kellaway, Lalakai Foketi, Joey Walton, Darby Lancaster; Jack Bowen, Teddy Wilson; Tom Lambert, Ethan Dobbins, Taniela Tupou; Fergus Lee-Warner, Miles Amatosero; Rob Leota, Charlie Gamble, Hugh Sinclair (captain). Replacements: Mahe Vailanu, Jack Barrett, Daniel Botha, Matt Philip, Jamie Adamson, Jack Grant, Tane Edmed, Henry O'Donnell. LIONS: Hugo Keenan; Mack Hansen, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu, Blair Kinghorn; Fin Smith, Alex Mitchell; Pierre Schoeman, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Finlay Bealham; Tadhg Beirne (captain), James Ryan; Henry Pollock, Josh van der Flier, Ben Earl. Replacements: Dan Sheehan, Ellis Genge, Tadhg Furlong, Joe McCarthy, Scott Cummings, Jac Morgan, Ben White, Marcus Smith. Referee: Paul Williams [New Zealand].
