British and Irish Lions skipper Maro Itoje is relishing the “absolutely crazy” sea of red support that will back the class of 2025 this weekend in Brisbane.
It’s a fanatical following last seen in New Zealand eight years ago when the Lions drew the Test series with the All Blacks.
The backing from the 2017 tour wasn’t repeated four years later as the 2021 trip to South Africa took place during the global pandemic, and the matches against the Springboks were played behind closed doors.
However, Lions fans are now back on the beat in their numbers, and Itoje, who featured in the 2017 and 2021 series, can’t wait to see what transpires next Saturday against the Wallabies.
“They can be the 16th man…”
Appearing on Sky Sports to ignite the build-up to the first of three Test matches versus Joe Schmidt’s Australia, Itoje explained: “Test week is different, Test week on a Lions tour is like nothing I have really experienced before.
“I remember back in 2017 the mood, the atmosphere, it’s absolutely crazy, so we are looking forward to welcoming them, the sea of red to Brisbane, and hopefully they can be the 16th man for us.”
Beaten by Argentina in an uncapped fixture last month in Dublin, the Lions have won all five of their preparation matches on Australian soil, but Saturday’s Test challenge is what it is all about for Itoje.
“We’re incredibly excited. The whole point of the Lions tour is to get to this point; the whole point of the Lions tour is to relish this opportunity. This is what we have been building towards, so we are ready to go,” he stressed.
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“We will train throughout the week, but the difference is just the edge of it, the mind sharpens a little bit more. Over the last two weeks, we have had about five games; we have only had captain’s run sessions, but now we have a full week to prepare. We are excited. It’s a great opportunity for us.
“Over the last two-and-a-bit weeks, all we have ever done is the captain’s run, which is a very short session, like a 15-minute session before we play. Now we have the opportunity to build. Now we have the opportunity to increase the cohesion that we have been working on. It’s just good.
“We have learned an awful lot. In many ways, playing those games is a bit of a blessing for us because you learn in training, but you really learn come game time. So, we have learned where we need to tidy up some bits; we learned where we have got stronger to have an advantage.
“The aspect is just to build on all fronts; you want to improve our defence, want to improve our attack, you want to be dominant up front, so it’s all of those things.”
It will be Thursday when head coach Andy Farrell publicly unveils his chosen Lions XV, and Itoje explained that the squad is braced for all the different emotions that will materialise.
“It’s going to be a mixture of emotions and feelings when that team gets announced. Some people will be delighted that they are in, some people will be very disappointed that they are not in, and they haven’t been selected,” he said.
“But what we are trying to build here is, regardless of whether you are playing, whether you are not playing, we all have a role to play.
“Any member of any successful team will tell you that whether you are playing, whether you are not playing, you have a role to play to make the team successful so I know whatever team is named, whoever is in, whoever is out, all 38-42 of us, however many it is, will push in the right direction.”
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