Nine Irish players have been named to start Saturday’s third and final test of the Qatar Airways backed British and Irish Lions Tour of Australia in Sydney on Saturday morning.
Saracens and England’s Maro Itoje will lead out the side and is partnered in the second row by Leinster and Ireland’s James Ryan.
In the front row, the Leinster and Ireland trio of Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong is retained, with Furlong set to start his ninth consecutive Test match for the Lions. This is more than any other current player and places him behind only five other players in history, two of whom are Irish: Willie John McBride, who started 15 and Tony O’Reilly, who started 10.
The backrow of Sale Sharks and England’s Tom Curry at openside, Leinster and Ireland’s Jack Conan at No.8 and Munster and Ireland’s Tadhg Beirne at blindside is named to start a third consecutive Test.
Leinster and Ireland’s Jamison Gibson-Park and Bath Rugby and Scotland’s Finn Russell are retained as the half-back pairing at scrum-half and fly-half respectively.
Connacht Rugby and Ireland’s Bundee Aki is again partnered with Glasgow Rugby and Scotland’s Huw Jones in midfield.
Toulouse and Scotland’s Blair Kinghorn is introduced into the back three alongside Northampton Saints and England’s Tommy Freeman and Leinster and Ireland’s Hugo Keenan.
“We have put ourselves in a great position to finish this Tour with our best performance to date and create our piece of history,” said Farrell.
“Last weekend’s Test match in Melbourne was an incredible spectacle and illustrated how special Lions Tours are and what it means to both the players and the supporters. ”
“We are expecting another epic battle this weekend against a Wallaby side that showed their quality last week.”
The game kicks off at 11.00 am BST and will be broadcast live on SKY in the UK and Ireland.
The British & Irish Lions v Wallabies
Accor Stadium, Sydney, Saturday 2nd August, 2025, KO: 11:00 BST
15. Hugo Keenan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) #881
14. Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints/England) #858
13. Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland) #878
12. Bundee Aki (Connacht Rugby/Ireland) #837
11. Blair Kinghorn (Toulouse/Scotland) #882
10. Finn Russell (Bath Rugby/Scotland) #835
9. Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) #879
1. Andrew Porter (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) #876
2. Dan Sheehan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) #873
3. Tadhg Furlong (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) #818
4. Maro Itoje (Saracens/England) (C) #825
5. James Ryan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) #880
6. Tadhg Beirne (Munster Rugby/Ireland) #838
7. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks/England) #853
8. Jack Conan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) #839
Replacements:
16. Ronan Kelleher (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) #864
17. Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears/England) #859
18. Will Stuart (Bath Rugby/England) #877
19. Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers/England) #875
20. Jac Morgan (Ospreys/Wales) #861
21. Ben Earl (Saracens/England) #857
22. Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints/England) #860
23. Owen Farrell (Saracens/England) #780
Image Credit: Inpho.ie, British and Irish Lions Official Media
Read more about the Irish success story behind the broadcast of the Lions’ Pre Tour game in Dublin.
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