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Maro Itoje is clear there remains a difficult task ahead.
Paul Smith weighs in on the Lions romance argument via email
“One benefit of the Lions I’ve never heard mentioned is their effect in keeping the Six Nations civilised. The fact that Fin Russell in a Scotland jersey is an irritating little man is tempered by the fact that when he is in a Lion’s jersey he becomes our confident, reassuring genius. The fact that today’s team is Ireland heavy is irrelevant to this Englishman. And that won’t be forgotten come February. Probably one of the reasons Scotland voted ‘No’ in their referendum.”
Garry Ringrose withdrew himself from selection for this match after feeling some continued effects of his concussion after training on Thursday.
Pre-match reading
There’s much to ponder and reflect on as we head towards kick-off at the MCG so why not let me know what’s on your mind on the email?
Teams
Joe Schmidt has reinforced the Wallabies pack with the return of Will Skelton and Rob Valetini, plus David Porecki starting at hooker. The backline is unchanged from last week, which is a little surprising given how absolutely terrible Jake Gordon was at scrum-half.
For the British & Irish Lions, Andy Farrell makes three changes with Bundee Aki, Ollie Chessum, and Andrew Porter brought into the starting XV, replacing Sione Tuipulotu (injured), Joe McCarthy (injured), and Ellis Genge (benched). Owen Farrell is a test Lions once more, albeit on the bench, where he is joined by other changes: Jac Morgan, Blair Kinghorn, and James Ryan.
Australia
Tom Wright, Max Jorgensen, Joseph Suaalii, Len Ikitau, Harry Potter, Tom Lynagh, Jake Gordon; James Slipper, David Porecki, Allan Alaalatoa, Nick Frost, Will Skelton, Rob Valetini, Fraser McReight, Harry Wilson (c)
Replacements: Billy Pollard, Angus Bell, Tom Robertson, Jeremy Williams, Langi Gleeson, Carlo Tizzano, Tate McDermott, Ben Donaldson
British & 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 (c), Ollie Chessum, Tadhg Beirne, Tom Curry, Jack Conan
Replacements: Ronan Kelleher, Ellis Genge, Will Stuart, James Ryan, Jac Morgan, Alex Mitchell, Owen Farrell, Blair Kinghorn
Preamble
The notion of something being romantic can get a lot of stick these days. This is likely due to the over saturation of romcoms, the tendency towards mawkish nostalgia on local Facebook groups, or publishing private personal events on social media for the purposes of engagement - “can you believe he proposed to me in the Aldi where we met? #lucky #romance #leggingsonoffer”.
The British & Irish Lions is, or should be, an unabashedly romantic endeavour. The coming together of nations in this way shouldn't have survived the advent of professionalism in 1995-6; yet it did via the weight of history, the sentiment of fans home and abroad, and the real feeling of the special place it holds for players. A lot of romance.
Historically this was bolstered by the difficult task presented to touring Lions, who had to travel across the world with a scratch team in order to try and beat usually the best outfit in the world. After all, you might as well focus on the romance when you are highly likely to lose – which they did, often.
Heading into the second test of this tour in a couple of hours, there is a yearning for some romance. Can Australia in this second act create some tension to head into week three? For an hour of the first test, this appeared unlikely, as the plot of a competent but uninspiring hammering looked easy to extrapolate to the final act of three-nil win for the visitors. But, in the closing scenes the Wallabies mustered something – however small - to flicker the emotions.
Is this something that can be fanned into a performance to level the series and have us all hanging on the third test? We’ll know in a few hours.
