Andy Farrell Asserts Lions Won’t Underestimate Australia
British and Irish Lions coach Andy Farrell has stated that his team is not guilty of overconfidence despite being the favorites to win the upcoming test series against Australia. Farrell has announced his team for the first match in Brisbane on Saturday. Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones will start in the midfield, while the contested back row will be formed by Tadhg Beirne, Jack Conan and Tom Curry. There is no place in the team for English stars Owen Farrell or Henry Pollock. Pollock had said that sweeping the series 3-0 was “definitely on the table” for the Lions, but Farrell insisted that there is no risk of overconfidence in the team ahead of the series.
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“There is an understanding of what it is and what it means [to be a Lion] and how privileged we are. But that, again, does not get in the way of how we prepare to make sure we allow ourselves to be the best version of ourselves.” Farrell’s stellar team and Australia’s inconsistent run of results have made the Lions the favorites for the series. When asked if he wanted his team to embrace the favorite tag, Farrell replied: “100% Why not? They ask you questions like that, but internally you just build your own belief, your own confidence as a team, and that goes for both sides. Speaking with [Australian rugby league legend] Gordon Tallis today, he said that everyone used to talk about Queensland as the underdogs. He said: ‘We never saw it like this’, and Australia will be exactly the same. It’s about your preparation and how you get down to doing what really matters.”There is no such thing as excessive confidence at all. It’s about having internal confidence within our group that we’re going to go out and execute the plan when it matters.
Farrell
