Blair Kinghorn and James Ryan will start for the British & Irish Lions in the third Test against Australia in Sydney, as Andy Farrell picks a strong team in an attempt to sweep the series.
As The Times revealed, Kinghorn, the Scottish back-three player, comes in for the Ireland wing James Lowe, who drops out of the 23 for the final match of the tour, and Ryan replaces Ollie Chessum, who returns to the bench.
Despite the Lions saying earlier this week that Joe McCarthy, Sione Tuipulotu and Mack Hansen were back fit and available, none of them are selected. Ben Earl comes onto the bench, making it a 6-2 split in favour of the forwards, to join Jac Morgan as two back-row options.
The only backs are Alex Mitchell, who has been in every matchday squad of the the tour, and Owen Farrell.
Ryan celebrates at the end of the second Test in Melbourne
JOEL CARRETT/EPA
Ireland’s Tadhg Furlong is set to equal Wales’ Alun Wyn Jones in starting nine consecutive Lions Test matches. Only four other Lions have started more consecutive Tests — Willie John McBride (15, 1966-74), Graham Price (12, 1977-83), Tony O’Reilly (10, 1955-59) and RH Williams (10, 1955-59).
Furlong starts again at tight-head, as part of a settled pack alongside his Ireland team-mates Andrew Porter and Dan Sheehan in the front row. The captain Maro Itoje is joined by Tadhg Beirne, Tom Curry and Jack Conan, all of whom started the 29-26 second Test win.
Jamison Gibson-Park and Finn Russell are retained in the half-back berths, with Bundee Aki and Huw Jones in the centres, and Kinghorn, who starred as a substitute in the second Test on the wing, joins Tommy Freeman and Hugo Keenan in the back-three.
Andy Farrell, the head coach, has only used 27 players across his three squads for the Test matches in Australia. “We have put ourselves in a great position to finish this Tour with our best performance to date and create our own piece of history,” Farrell said.
“Last weekend’s Test match in Melbourne was an incredible spectacle and illustrated how special Lions Tours are and what they mean 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 Lions last won all their Tests in a series in 1927, when they toured Argentina, and before that they won all of their international games in one country last in 1891.
On the 1974 tour, the Lions won their four-match series against South Africa 3-0, with one drawn Test, which meant they went unbeaten on that tour.
Lions v WallabiesAccor Stadium, Sydney, Saturday, KO 11am BST15. Hugo Keenan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) #88114. Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints/England) #85813. Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland) #87812. Bundee Aki (Connacht Rugby/Ireland) #83711. Blair Kinghorn (Toulouse/Scotland) #88210. Finn Russell (Bath Rugby/Scotland) #8359. Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) #8791. Andrew Porter (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) #8762. Dan Sheehan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) #8733. Tadhg Furlong (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) #8184. Maro Itoje (Saracens/England) (C) #8255. James Ryan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) #8806. Tadhg Beirne (Munster Rugby/Ireland) #8387. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks/England) #8538. Jack Conan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) #839
Replacements
16. Ronan Kelleher (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) #86417. Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears/England) #85918. Will Stuart (Bath Rugby/England) #87719. Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers/England) #87520. Jac Morgan (Ospreys/Wales) #86121. Ben Earl (Saracens/England) #85722. Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints/England) #86023. Owen Farrell (Saracens/England) #780
Australia Tom Wright; Max Jorgensen, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Len Ikitau, Dylan Pietsch; Tom Lynagh, Nic White; James Slipper, David Porecki, Taniela Tupou, Nick Frost, Will Skelton, Tom Hooper, Fraser McReight, Harry Wilson (capt).
Replacements Billy Pollard, Angus Bell, Zane Nonggoor, Jeremy Williams, Langi Gleeson, Tate McDermott, Ben Donaldson, Andrew Kellaway.