The British and Irish Lions in Australia: Analysis of the Upcoming Encounter
The British and Irish Lions have had an outstanding performance in Australia, accumulating four consecutive victories. Now, they are preparing for their final challenge before facing the Wallabies. This match promises to be exciting. Although the absence of Richie Mo’unga, due to a hand fracture, is regrettable, the Lions cannot underestimate the team led by Les Kiss and Ian Foster. With an almost complete team playing on Wednesday, the Lions have presented a XV with several changes for this match, while the AUNZ team has 17 players with international experience and an imposing back line.Key Match Information
Date and Time: Saturday, July 12th at 8 p.m. AEST (11 a.m. Wednesday BST)Place: Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
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Where to Watch the Match?
The match will be broadcast live on Sky Sports in the UK and on Stan Sport in Australia. For radio, TalkSport will offer live commentary, while BBC Radio Wales will provide commentary in Welsh.Alignments
Former England captain Owen Farrell has been named among the replacements, while Ireland’s Tadhg Beirne will captain the Lions for the second time, as Maro Itoje, captain in this week’s victory, rests. Lions coach Andy Farrell included his son, Owen, in the team last week following the injury to Elliot Daly, which ruled him out of the three-match series against the Wallabies. The 33-year-old player joins despite not having played a match since 2023, after a season marked by injuries at the French club. The team that will play the match has undergone many changes compared to the lineup that faced the Brumbies. Wing Mack Hansen and flanker Henry Pollock, who played off the bench against the Brumbies, are in the starting lineup, while England back Marcus Smith has been kept on the bench after replacing injured fullback Blair Kinghorn in Canberra. Meanwhile, Kiss has named an imposing AUNZ Invitational starting XV, which includes a menacing back row trio of Shannon Frizell, Pete Samu and Hoskins Sotutu. The team will be co-captained by Lukhan Salakaia-Loto of Australia and David Havili, captain of the title-winning Crusaders.Kiss announced their team on Thursday afternoon, with Tane Edmed getting the nod at number 10, in what will be a last chance for the only Test Wallaby to impress Joe Schmidt. While Schmidt will name his Wallabies team to face the Lions on Friday, Edmed could return to contention for a spot in the 23-player squad for the first Brisbane match this weekend with a strong performance in Adelaide. The 23-player AUNZ team includes 17 players with international experience.After speaking with all the players, we thought the co-captaincy model with natural leaders like David and Lukhan would really suit this team and what we stand for.
Kiss
