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Sione Tuipulotu has been left out of the British & Irish Lions side to face Australia on Saturday with Bundee Aki coming in at inside centre and Owen Farrell named on the bench.
Andy Farrell has named nine Ireland players with Andrew Porter replacing Ellis Genge at loosehead while in the other change to the starting XV, Ollie Chessum replaces the injured Joe McCarthy as the Lions look to wrap up the series in Melbourne. It would have been 10 Irishmen with Garry Ringrose initially selected, only to withdraw after training on Thursday morning.
Owen Farrell is named among the replacements after captaining the side to a 24-19 victory over the First Nations & Pasifika XV on Tuesday while there are also bench spots for Jac Morgan, Blair Kinghorn and James Ryan. Assuming he comes on to the field, Farrell will win his first Test cap since England’s 2023 World Cup bronze medal-match victory over Argentina. He has six previous Lions Test caps to his name and is set to make his 22nd appearance for the touring side.
Tuipulotu’s omission is due to a tight hamstring and is a blow after he impressed in the first Test victory in Brisbane last week and it will be a bitter pill to swallow for the Scotland centre given he grew up in Melbourne. Huw Jones also shone and gets a reprieve after Ringrose’s setback from a concussion earlier in the tour.
Genge can consider himself hard done by to drop to the bench but the replacements struggled in Brisbane and he will be tasked with bringing intensity on Saturday. Porter’s selection makes for an all Ireland and Leinster front-row along with Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong.
Chessum joins England teammate and captain Maro Itoje in the second row while the back-row – so impressive last week – is unchanged with Tadhg Beirne, Tom Curry and Jack Conan . Aki’s promotion is the only change to the backline with Jamison Gibson-Park, Finn Russell, Jones, James Lowe, Tommy Freeman and Hugo Keenan continuing.
Farrell’s pick of nine Ireland players is one short of the 10 Welshmen selected for the 2013 decider against Australia when Brian O’Driscoll was famously dropped, but the head coach is nonetheless leaning heavily on players from his national team. Seven of the starting XV are from Leinster.
On the bench, as well as Genge, Ronan Kelleher and Will Stuart provide front-row cover while Ryan and Morgan are in line for their first Lions caps. Ben Earl drops out as a result while Alex Mitchell continues his record of being named in every matchday squad to date. With Owen Farrell and Kinghorn selected, Marcus Smith drops out of the 23.
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“We have put ourselves in a good position after the First Test, but we know there will be a massive reaction from this Wallaby team,” said Andy Farrell. “Everyone saw the quality they have in Brisbane and we know we will have to be a lot better than we were last week.”
Team: 15-Hugo Keenan, 14-Tommy Freeman, 13-Huw Jones, 12-Bundee Aki, 11-James Lowe, 10-Finn Russell, 9-Jamison Gibson-Park, 8-Jack Conan, 7-Tom Curry, 6-Tadhg Beirne, 5-Ollie Chessum, 4-Maro Itoje, 3-Tadhg Furlong, 2-Dan Sheehan, 1-Andrew Porter
Replacements: 16-Ronan Kelleher, 17-Ellis Genge, 18-Will Stuart, 19-James Ryan, 20-Jac Morgan, 21-Alex Mitchell, 22-Owen Farrell, 23-Blair Kinghorn
