Latest news with #AUSNZInvitational
Irish Examiner
6 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Farrell backs Keenan to take charge after Kinghorn setback
Andy Farrell backed Hugo Keenan to take ownership of the British & Irish Lions full-back berth after Blair Kinghorn's tour was thrown into serious doubt following a knee injury. The Ireland full-back's tour to Australia has been a frustrating one to date. The Leinster star's pre-tour calf injury was compounded by illness and followed by a less than stellar outing in his Lions touring debut against the Waratahs in Sydney last Saturday. Read More Jamie Osborne called up to Andy Farrell's Lions squad despite positive Blair Kinghorn update Yet a knee injury to full-back rival Kinghorn against the Brumbies in Canberra last Saturday has reopened the possibility of Keenan staking a claim for Test recognition for the famous touring squad with the series opener against Australia kicking off on July 19 and his head coach believes Keenan has the mental strength to reach his objective. 'He's ready for that. He's ready for that, he's hungry,' Farrell said. 'The reason I said that, because he's been through a lot with the injury… he got back from that but then got ill and other people got ill and they got better very quickly and he still was not so it was a knock-on effect. 'That takes its toll emotionally on anyone, so that was a tough game for him first up and he's got that under his belt now. So, off he goes. He's an honest a player as there ever has been. Why would that change?' Having played what he hoped would be his full-strength Test team to face the Wallabies in last Wednesday's 36-24 victory over the Brumbies in Canberra, Kinghorn's injury has not been the only reason for a reassessment on his selection for the series opener in Brisbane. Jamie Osborne's call-up from Ireland's summer tour camp in Portugal as cover for Kinghorn is one thing, bringing Irish representation on the 2025 Lions to a record 17 players. But Farrell wants his wider squad to keep playing for places in this final tour game against an invitational side feature eight All Blacks. Tadhg Beirne will captain the Lions for the second time in Australia when the tourists play their final tour before the first Test against the Wallabies seven days later. The Lions are set to play a strong AUSNZ Invitational side at the Adelaide Oval with Farrell having fielded what looked to be his strongest side in Wednesday's victory over the Brumbies in Canberra. A day later, Farrell unveiled a starting line-up that gives Test hopefuls one final chance to prove their worth for the Lions. Keenan gets the start to face the combined Australia/New Zealand side on Saturday and has been named in a back three with Connacht's Mack Hansen on the right wing and Scotland's Duhan van der Merwe on the left. It is an all-Scottish centre partnership of Sione Tuitupulotu and Huw Jones outside a half-back pairing of Fin Smith and Ben White, the fourth Scot in the Lions backline. Blair Kinghorn. The British and Irish Lions are sweating on the fitness of Blair Kinghorn as they face the possibility of losing another full-back to injury. Beirne forms an all-Irish second row combination with James Ryan behind a front row of Pierre Schoeman, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Will Stuart while the back row comprises Henry Pollock at blindside flanker, Jac Morgan at openside and Ben Earl at No.8. The bench sees late arrival Owen Farrell given his first opportunity of the tour, his third as a Lion, as the outside back replacement with Marcus Smith nominally acting as fly-half cover and scrum-half Alex Mitchell maintaining his ever-present record in Australia. There is an all-Irish front row in reserve with Ronan Kelleher, Andrew Porter and Finlay Bealham named while Scott Cummings covers the locks and Josh van der Flier is asked to cover the back row once again. Andy Farrell insisted he was not whingeing when he highlighted yet again the Lions' abnormal preparations for three tour games every eight days. Asked if the tour had changed emphasis on training versus matches as he looked forward to the first genuine week on the training field ahead of the first Test against Australia in Brisbane next Sunday, the Lions boss said: 'It has to be. We're doing things on game day that we would never normally do just because of lack of time and preparation. 'I keep going on about it but I'm not whingeing, I'm not. I love this part of it and the lads do as well. There's not one person that's ever questioned what we've done as a group, which shows where they're at. 'For example, on game day we'd have more of a walk through. The players would have another meeting that we'd probably have earlier in the week etc just because you need to join the dots to have a slight chance of performing. 'That's been fun, but am I looking forward to a week of normality? I think we all are at this stage.' AUNZ INVITATIONAL XV: S Stevenson; AJ Lam, N Laumape, D Havili (co-captain), M Koroibete; T Edmed, F Fakatava; A Ross, B Paenga-Amosa, J Toomaga-Allen; A Blyth, L Salakaia-Loto (co-captain); S Frizell, P Samu, H Sotutu Replacements: K Eklund, J Fusitu'a, G Dyer, M Philip, J Brial, K Thomas, H McLaughlin-Phillips, J Campbell BRITISH & IRISH LIONS: H Keenan; M Hansen, H Jones, S Tuipulotu, D van der Merwe; F Smith, B White; P Schoeman, L Cowan-Dickie, W Stuart; T Beirne – captain, J Ryan; H Pollock, J Morgan, B Earl. Replacements: R Kelleher, A Porter, F Bealham, S Cummings, J van der Flier, A Mitchell, M Smith, O Farrell.
Irish Examiner
6 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Tadhg Beirne to captain Lions again as Owen Farrell named among replacements
Tadhg Beirne will captain the British & Irish Lions for the second time in Australia when the tourists play their final tour match on Saturday before the first Test against the Wallabies seven days later. The Lions are set to play a strong AUSNZ Invitational side at the Adelaide Oval with head coach Andy Farrell having fielded what looked to be his strongest side in Wednesday's 36-24 victory over the Brumbies in Canberra. A day later, Farrell unveiled a starting line-up that gives Test hopefuls one final chance to prove their worth for the Lions. Blair Kinghorn will not be among them, though, with the head coach revealing the Scotland full-back had gone for a scan on the knee he injured in the first half against the Brumbies. Ireland's Hugo Keenan gets the start to face the combined Australia/New Zealand side on Saturday with the Test number 15 jersey now up for grabs, and the Leinster man has been named in a back three with Connacht's Mack Hansen on the right wing and Scotland's Duhan van der Merwe on the left. It is an all-Scottish centre partnership of Sione Tuitupuotu and Huw Jones outside a half-back pairing of Fin Smith and Ben White, the fourth Scot in the Lions backline. Beirne forms an all-Irish second row combination with James Ryan behind a front row of Pierre Schoeman, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Will Stuart while the back row comprises Henry Pollock at blindside flanker, Jac Morgan at openside and Ben Earl at No.8. The bench sees late arrival Owen Farrell given his first opportunity of the tour, as the outside back replacement with Marcus Smith nominally acting as fly-half cover and scrum-half Alex Mitchell maintaining his ever-present record in Australia. There is an all-Irish front row in reserve with Ronan Kelleher, Andrew Porter and Finlay Bealham named, while Scott Cummings covers the locks and Josh van der Flier is asked to cover the back row once again. BRITISH & IRISH LIONS: H Keenan; M Hansen, H Jones, S Tuipulotu, D van der Merwe; F Smith, B White; P Schoeman, L Cowan-Dickie, W Stuart; T Beirne – captain, J Ryan; H Pollock, J Morgan, B Earl. Replacements: R Kelleher, A Porter, F Belaham, S Cummings, J van der Flier, A Mitchell, M Smith, O Farrell.
