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Andy Farrell has challenged his British & Irish Lions players to rouse themselves for “the biggest game of our lives” in Saturday’s second Test after watching his second-string side edge past the First Nations & Pasifika XV.
Farrell’s side can clinch a first Lions series win in 12 years with a game to spare on Saturday but are expected to have to try and do so without the second row Joe McCarthy, who has not trained fully this week due to a foot injury. In better news, Marcus Smith passed a head injury assessment ensuring he was not automatically ruled out of the second Test.
On Tuesday the Lions – led by captain for the night Owen Farrell – defeated the First Nations & Pasifika XV 24-19, having been level at 14-14 at half-time. Blair Kinghorn played all 80 minutes on his return from injury but endured a mixed bag of a game, while Garry Ringrose came on inside in the opening 20 minutes after an injury to Darcy Graham. Owen Farrell, meanwhile, showed some impressive glimpses and staked a claim for a place on the bench on Saturday.
By and large Andy Farrell is expected to stick by the majority of his starters from last weekend’s first Test win in Brisbane with Ollie Chessum ready to deputise for McCarthy. The Lions led by 19 points at one stage in Brisbane but allowed the Wallabies to claw back to within eight at the final whistle.
Asked if there was room for improvements, Farrell said: “Plenty, yes. There will have to be plenty to get to the point where a win’s on the cards because we know that Australia are going to be … can you put a percentage on it, it’s going to be a lot. If you can’t get up for what’s coming, we’re all in the wrong place. To me, this is the biggest game of our lives, every one of us, that’s part of our squad so we’ll make sure that we address the week like that.”
Smith was withdrawn late on against the First Nations & Pasifika XV, raising fears that he may have to drop out of the Test squad and further opening the door for Owen Farrell to feature on Saturday. Andy Farrell confirmed afterwards that Smith was fine and offered an honest appraisal of Owen’s performance, highlighting his left-footed chip to set up Jamie Osborne’s opening try. “Some good things obviously, a nice little chip off the left peg. Some nice touches on the ball as well but always work-ons, there are always work-ons.”
Farrell Jr completed all 80 minutes – all too often a rarity in an injury-plagued season – and relished the challenge against a fired up First Nations & Pasifika XV for whom Charlie Gamble, Taniela Tupou and Salakaia-Loto all shone. “I enjoyed it,” said Owen Farrell. “There’s always things you can do better, obviously and we’ll have a look back at the game and see what they were. But I loved being out there.
“I loved that it was difficult, that it was hard tonight. We got some joy early on but it was a tough match. I feel like I’ve been in a tough match now sat here. So I’m grateful for that.
“For the rest of it, we’ll see. We’ve got a job to do regardless for the rest of this tour. Whether you’re lucky enough to be involved or preparing the team for what is a massive occasion on Saturday and next week, so it’ll be great whatever it is.”
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Andy Farrell is due to hold a selection meetingon Wednesday before naming his team on Thursday, but with McCarthy unable to train it seems unlikely he will feature. Mack Hansen, who missed the first Test with a foot injury, is in a similar position with Farrell adding: “Mack’s progressing. Whether he’s progressing quick enough we’ll see towards the end of the week.
“There’s all sorts that goes into it, some performances [from tonight], there’s no doubt about that. But there’s also what’s right for this second [Test] and what that presents and the make-up of the squad and how it feels. Are a few changes going to freshen it up or do we go with the same guys?
“All that comes into the pot and it’s whatever’s best for the team that we think that we need on a game like that at the MCG with over 90,000 people. So yeah, it should be like that shouldn’t it, it should be challenging.”
