{"id":24628,"date":"2025-07-26T07:49:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-26T07:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/24628\/"},"modified":"2025-07-26T07:49:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-26T07:49:09","slug":"preview-australia-v-the-british-irish-lions-second-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/24628\/","title":{"rendered":"Preview: Australia v The British & Irish Lions – Second Test"},"content":{"rendered":"

Not since 1997 has a touring British & Irish Lions team wrapped up a Test series with a game to spare.<\/p>\n

That could all change on Saturday at the MCG as Andy Farrell\u2019s side go in search of their own slice of Lions history.<\/p>\n

Last weekend\u2019s 27-19 win at Suncorp Stadium marked an excellent start but Farrell and his players are well aware the job is far from done.<\/p>\n

The current head coach was part of the backroom team in Australia 12 years ago when the Wallabies bounced back from a first Test defeat with victory in the second to level the series \u2013 and is doing everything in his power to avoid a repeat.<\/p>\n

Three changes have been made to the starting XV, two of them in the pack. Andrew Porter has replaced Ellis Genge at loosehead while Ollie Chessum comes in for Joe McCarthy, who has a foot injury, in the second row.<\/p>\n

In the backline, Bundee Aki lines up at 12 in place of Sione Tuipulotu, who has a tight hamstring and misses out on featuring in a Test in the city of his birth.<\/p>\n

Huw Jones retains his place at outside centre, with Garry Ringrose reporting concussion symptoms following training on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Jac Morgan comes on to the bench for Ben Earl, while Owen Farrell and Blair Kinghorn are also named among the replacements. All three are set for their first Test appearances of the Tour.<\/p>\n

Australia have been boosted by the return of Will Skelton and Rob Valetini, while Dave Porecki comes in at hooker.<\/p>\n

The backline is unchanged from Brisbane, with Tom Lynagh at fly-half and Len Ikitau and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii linking up in midfield.<\/p>\n

The Wallabies have gone for a six-two split on the bench as Langi Gleeson returns to the matchday squad.<\/p>\n

Where to watch<\/p>\n

Sky Sports will be showing all the action live in the UK, Ireland and Gibraltar throughout this Tour.<\/p>\n

Welsh language channel S4C will broadcast extensive same-day highlights of each game every evening.<\/p>\n

For a full breakdown, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What they said<\/p>\n

British & Irish Lions Head Coach Andy Farrell said: \u201cDoing things properly is what we have talked about all week. Our expectation is we will make the right choices most of the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are all human and realise it is not going to be perfect, but staying on it as much as we can gives us a better chance of getting what we want from this challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know we will have to be a lot better than last week. We are way better than what we showed and we have got another chance to prove that.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is obvious what they are going to bring, but the focus will be on us. We do not want to get too distracted by what they may or may not do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Australia Head Coach Joe Schmidt said: \u201cThey got in amongst us in Brisbane. We\u2019ve no intention of being submissive again.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey played the game on the edge very well, and we\u2019ve learned from that. I think you\u2019ll see us take it to them and keep them on the back foot more consistently.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone in rugby knows what Bobby [Valetini] brings. His experience gives us confidence, and the other players know he\u2019s going to carry hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Key Battle \u2013 Bundee Aki v Len Ikitau<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s much-vaunted midfield partnership did not fire as anticipated in the first Test and it will be the incoming Bundee Aki\u2019s task to ensure that remains the case in Melbourne.<\/p>\n

Ikitau reflected that \u2018I felt like I didn’t really get him (Suaalii) into the game as early as I wanted\u2019 in Brisbane and rued the fact his side were \u2018too conservative\u2019.<\/p>\n

That is unlikely to be the case again in front of a packed out MCG but Aki is a proven warrior in the toughest of arenas and will be relishing his first opportunity to shine in the Test series.<\/p>\n

One of nine Irishmen in the starting line-up, Aki has enjoyed a solid Tour to date and how he links up with Huw Jones will be crucial if the Lions are to wrap up the series.<\/p>\n

Teams<\/p>\n

British & Irish Lions: 15. Hugo Keenan; 14. Tommy Freeman; 13. Huw Jones, 12. Bundee Aki; 11. James Lowe; 10. Finn Russell, 9. Jamison Gibson-Park; 1. Andrew Porter, 2. Dan Sheehan, 3. Tadhg Furlong; 4. Maro Itoje (captain), 5. Ollie Chessum; 6. Tadhg Beirne, 7. Tom Curry, 8. Jack Conan<\/p>\n

Replacements: 16. Ronan Kelleher, 17. Ellis Genge, 18. Will Stuart, 19. James Ryan, 20. Jac Morgan, 21. Alex Mitchell, 22. Owen Farrell, 23. Blair Kinghorn<\/p>\n

Australia: 15. Tom Wright; 14. Max Jorgensen; 13. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, 12. Len Ikitau; 11. Harry Potter; 10. Tom Lynagh, 9. Jake Gordon; 1. James Slipper, 2. David Porecki, 3. Allan Alaalatoa; 4. Nick Frost, 5. Will Skelton; 6. Rob Valetini, 7. Fraser McReight, 8. Harry Wilson (captain)<\/p>\n

Replacements: 16. Billy Pollard, 17. Angus Bell, 18. Tom Robertson, 19. Jeremy Williams, 20. Langi Gleeson, 21. Carlo Tizzano, 22. Tate McDermott, 23. Ben Donaldson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Not since 1997 has a touring British & Irish Lions team wrapped up a Test series with a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24629,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-24628","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}