Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.<\/a><\/p>\nThe Western Force man, who has 20 caps for the Wallabies, has already faced Andy Farrell’s Lions three times this summer, having started against them for his club side, as well as the AUNZ Invitational team and First Nations and Pasifika XV.<\/p>\n
Paenga-Amosa reportedly arrived at the team hotel in Sydney on Thursday, as he prepares to make his first international appearance of the campaign.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Pollard is set to be one of five changes to the Wallabies’ starting team, with influential flanker Rob Valetini missing out on the third Test due to a calf issue, and prop Allan Alaalatoa also ruled out through injury. Nic White, who has announced his retirement from international rugby, starts at scrum-half.<\/p>\n
\u201cIncredibly deflated group, Tuesday was tough, actually, to get them up off the canvas,\u201d said Schmidt as he looked ahead to the third and final Test during a press conference on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, there was a little bit of an upswing, and we\u2019ve just got to keep that momentum. Hopefully, they can be sharp at captain\u2019s run tomorrow, and then springboard their way into the Test match.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a challenge, because all that emotional energy, psychological energy that was expended, the way things finished, the sense of frustration, and it\u2019s almost like a grieving process by the time they\u2019ve gone through those first few days, and giving them time to breathe a bit, and then try to elevate the spirits and the tempo.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cOne of the reasons we\u2019ve made a few changes is that when everyone\u2019s as flat as they were, I think just bringing a few newer guys in, it just freshens things up and those guys know it\u2019s an opportunity for them.<\/p>\n
“I suppose it\u2019s just a way to shift the malaise that continued for the 48 hours post-game to try to get that upswing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Farrell hits back at ‘insulting’ Australia proposal<\/p>\n
By Duncan Bech, PA Rugby Union Correspondent, Sydney<\/p>\n
Andy Farrell insisted debate over Australia\u2019s future as a British and Irish Lions tour destination was \u201cinsulting\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Lions are seeking to complete a series whitewash when the rivals clash for the final time in Sydney on Saturday with Farrell making two changes to his starting XV, bringing in lock James Ryan and wing Blair Kinghorn.<\/p>\n
Australian rugby is facing significant challenges on and off the field and is the weakest of the three nations visited by the elite of British and Irish rugby, with South Africa and New Zealand completing the 12-year rotation.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, there is growing support for the Lions to visit France because of the strength of their national side and club game, as well as the commercial possibilities.<\/p>\n
The Wallabies answered their critics at Melbourne Cricket Ground by taking the second Test to the wire in an all-time classic before falling 2-0 behind in the series when Hugo Keenan struck with 51 seconds left.<\/p>\n
When asked if Australia had earned the right to host another tour, Farrell replied: \u201cIt was never off the agenda, in my opinion.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery single team, country and province have their ups and downs but Australia \u2013 the sporting nation that they are \u2013 are always going to come back.<\/p>\n
Have a look at the year they\u2019ve got coming up. Come the 2027 World Cup they\u2019re going to be a force to be reckoned with, 100 per cent.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be tragic not to tour here. We\u2019ve had a blast. To me its insulting to talk about it in that kind of way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Farrell\u2019s success as Lions head coach \u2013 as well as his obvious passion for the concept \u2013 makes him overwhelming favourite to lead the next tour to New Zealand, but he is refusing to look beyond attending an Oasis concert at Croke Park upon his return home.<\/p>\n
\u201cWould I do this again? Give me a break would you! Let me get through Saturday. I have absolutely loved every single minute and I knew I would because I just love everything that the Lions is about,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThinking about the future is not something that is on my mind until I get home and have a bit of reflection on the whole thing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m definitely going to Oasis and that\u2019s why I\u2019m going home! I\u2019ll be taking a few friends. There are a few coaches here that are trying to get on the bandwagon.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘Magic’ Kinghorn backed to shine<\/p>\n
Former Lions tourist Ugo Monye has backed Blair Kinghorn to deliver a “magic” performance for Andy Farrell’s side in the final Test in Sydney this weekend.<\/p>\n
The Scotland international replaces James Lowe on the left wing as one of two changes by Farrell, who is looking to make history with his side as they aim for a 3-0 series whitewash.<\/p>\n
Kinghorn impressed when he replaced Ireland star Lowe in the second half in Melbourne last week, and Monye – who represented the Lions on the 2009 tour of South Africa – is expecting him to shine again.<\/p>\n
“He’ll be magic on Saturday,” the former England back told the BBC’s Rugby Union Weekly podcast.<\/a> “The style of player is often reflected in their personality. Kinghorn loves life and would have celebrated hard at the weekend.<\/p>\n“Lots of players would have felt the nerves in the last 20 minutes. Kinghorn had thrown two interceptions that week [against First Nations and Pasifika] but he did not care. He was rinsing Joseph Suaalii.<\/p>\n
“They were getting territory through his pace. He was so good in that last 20 – watch him be massive on Saturday. Through boot, line breaks or aerial ability, he will be a big, big player.”<\/p>\n
Agreeing with his fellow pundit, former Scotland captain John Barclay heaped praise on the Toulouse back as he detailed how his game has developed in recent years.<\/p>\n
“Five or six years ago, Kinghorn may have been like ‘don’t give me the ball’,” he said. “Now he is the player that is like ‘give me the ball’, we have seen that with Toulouse.<\/p>\n
“His mental growth is what separated the athlete and the player he is now.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The latest headlines from Wales and around the world 16:31, 31 Jul 2025Updated 16:42, 31 Jul 2025 Schmidt…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35409,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,32376,1378,32377,760,85,32378],"class_list":["post-35408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-rugby-team","tag-british-and-irish-lions","tag-lions-tour","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-todays-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Schmidt](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1_Australia-v-British-Irish-Lions-Second-Test.jpg\")
Schmidt has called in front-row cover ahead of the third Test(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n