Andy Farrell has described suggestions the Wallabies are not worthy opponents of the British & Irish Lions as “insulting” and believes it would be a mistake to scrap tours of Australia.
The Lions can wrap up their first clean sweep since 1927 if they beat the Wallabies in Saturday’s third Test in Sydney and become the first Lions side to go unbeaten since 1974. The Lions have already made history by becoming the first touring side to clinch a second straight series win over the same opponent and are odds-on favourites to secure a 3-0 whitewash.
The Wallabies are languishing at sixth in the world rankings and although they came within 50 seconds of levelling the series in Melbourne were well beaten in the Brisbane opener. The six warm-up victories have been largely one-sided – the five-point win over the First Nations & Pasifika XV notwithstanding – raising questions as to whether the Lions should continue to tour Australia or seek different opponents, such as France or Argentina.
The French federation vice-president Abdel Benazzi said this month that he intended to discuss a “new business model” with the Lions. Benazzi was adamant he did not want to do so at the expense of Australia, but Sir Clive Woodward, who coached the Lions in 2005, and Brian Moore, who featured on two tours, have said consideration should be given to scheduling different opponents.
Australia’s head coach, Joe Schmidt, chose not to release a number of his players to feature in the warm-up games and this provided more ammunition. The 2029 tour of New Zealand is all but signed off, but there is no agreement in place over future tours.
The Lions captain, Maro Itoje, said on Tuesday that his preference would be to stick with the traditional opponents and on Thursday Farrell said: “I don’t think [touring Australia] was ever off the agenda. Every single team, country, province, has their ups and downs, but Australia – the sporting nation they are – are always going to come back.
“That [performance last] weekend is no surprise to us and why we expect them to be better. Have a look at the year they’ve got coming up. They’re going to be a force to be reckoned with, 100%, with all their experiences, come the World Cup in 2027 [in Australia].
“Hopefully, [this tour] will be remembered for the type of rugby we played and the way that we went about it. We came here and wanted to win a series. We’ve achieved that, but we have a massive responsibility to make sure we finish this off with something we promised ourselves with.
“It’s a big ask, but it’s something that we’re determined to do. [Winning 3-0 is] something we’ve talked about from day one and we’ve put ourselves in a position to put that on the line, so that’s why it means so much to us.”
Despite already securing the series, Farrell has resisted making wholesale changes for the final Test with just two to the starting lineup. Blair Kinghorn replaces James Lowe on the left wing while James Ryan comes in at second-row. Ollie Chessum drops to a 6-2 bench that includes Jac Morgan and Ben Earl.
Morgan’s clearout on Carlo Tizzano in the buildup to Hugo Keenan’s last-minute try last week has been hotly debated with the Wallabies adamant the score ought to have been chalked off. Tizzano, for his part, has been accused of playacting, but Schmidt revealed on Thursday that the clearout registered a force of 54G. Schmidt has chosen to omit the flanker for the third Test and said “he’s copped a lot of online abuse”.
Farrell, who lashed out when his son Owen was targeted after his red card against Wales in a 2023 World Cup warm-up match, said: “Online abuse is clear and obvious. It’s disgusting. It shouldn’t be that way.”
