6 days ago
Joe McCarthy out but nine Irish to start second Lions Test against Australia
Andy Farrell is backing his Irish stars to deliver a series win, naming nine Irish players in his starting team for Saturday's second Test against the Wallabies in Melbourne.
Joe McCarthy and Mack Hansen both miss out on selection, having struggled with foot injuries which have kept them out of training, but in spite of this it's an Irish dominated starting XV once again, with 11 Ireland internationals across the matchday 23.
It's a statement selection by Farrell, who had eight Irish starters in his team a week ago, and he has upped that further as the Lions look to clinch the series with a game to spare.
McCarthy misses out after failing to recover from a foot injury, with Ollie Chessum partnering Maro Itoje at lock for an all-English second row pairing.
Andrew Porter comes in at loosehead prop with Ellis Genge dropping to the bench, a nod towards Farrell wanting more explosiveness from his replacements in the final quarter.
It's also a full-Irish front row at the MCG this week, with Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong both starting alongside their Leinster team-mate.
Farrell has naturally stuck with the same back row which dominated the Wallabies at Suncorp Stadium, Tadhg Beirne and Jack Conan joined by Tom Curry.
The head coach has broken up his Scottish centre partnership, with Bundee Aki (above) replacing Sione Tuipulotu in the centre, linking up with Huw Jones who has held off stiff competition from Garry Ringrose to start.
The rest of the backline is unchanged; Jamison Gibson-Park and Finn Russell picked in the half-backs, while Farrell has also retained his back three, with James Lowe and Tommy Freeman on the wings, and Hugo Keenan keeping his place at full-back.
Farrell's frustrations with the lack of impact from his bench last week are evident with several changes to the replacements.
James Ryan will play his first Lions Test, taking the spot left vacant by Chessum, while Jack Morgan is preferred to Ben Earl as the back row sub. Owen Farrell and Blair Kinghorn also come onto the bench, with both players having played 80 minutes in Tuesday's win against the First Nations and Pasifika XV.
British and Irish Lions: Hugo Keenan; Tommy Freeman, Huw Jones, Bundee Aki, James Lowe; Finn Russell, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong; Maro Itoje, Ollie Chessum; Tadhg Beirne, Tom Curry, Jack Conan.
