Word had reached The Times on Thursday morning in Melbourne that Andy Farrell was preparing to select Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose for the second British & Irish Lions Test against Australia as part of a ten-strong cohort of Ireland players in the starting XV, with Owen Farrell to be added to the bench.
That was the plan, providing everyone came through the final 90-minute training session at Xavier College, on a field that overlooks the Melbourne city skyline. With a Test series victory on the line at the MCG on Saturday, Farrell Sr was executing exactly the selection strategy that Brian O’Driscoll had predicted he would from months out.
“Coaches always go back to muscle memory,” O’Driscoll, the former Lions captain and four-times tourist, told The Times in April. “If you’ve been there and done it and they’ve delivered for you, you go back to that. That’s my experience over the years, that when there’s a 50-50 call coaches will always revert to what they know.”
O’Driscoll was speaking from experience. He was dropped for the deciding Test in 2013 when Warren Gatland, also the Wales coach, fielded ten Welshmen in his starting XV. The Lions thumped Australia 41-16.
Ringrose reported concussion symptoms after the final training session before the team was announced
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Sione Tuipulotu, back in his home city, and Huw Jones were to be the fall guys this time; the all-Scotland starting midfield from the first Test win last week were set to be dropped from the 23-man squad entirely.
Ringrose had missed the Brisbane Test due to concussion but he played 65 minutes of a bruising encounter with the First Nations & Pasifika XV (FNP) on Tuesday without any adverse reaction.
As Farrell’s whistle signalled the end of the training session and the players gathered in their huddle, there had been no alarms, no late injuries. The selection was locked in. The Lions would revert to the all-Ireland midfield that had always been his preference.
Then Ringrose approached his head coach and the team doctor for a conversation that will define his career and should be held as an example to all players. The 30-year-old revealed that he had started to experience concussion symptoms during the session.
Tuipulotu, left, and Jones were among the Lions’ standout performers in the first Test but the Scotland duo were both set to be dropped until Ringrose revealed concussion symptoms — Jones will now start
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Just imagine how hard that confession must have been. Ringrose’s family have flown to Melbourne in anticipation of watching him on the grandest stage. The second Test at the MCG, with an opportunity to win the series in front of 90,000 people, would be the biggest game of his career. Revealing the symptoms would be likely to end his tour and he will be 34 by the next one. This may well have been his one chance to emulate O’Driscoll and wear the Test No13 jersey.
Ringrose spoke up anyway. In prioritising his own welfare, he also put the team first. Farrell said his first thought was that Ringrose had been “unbelievably selfless” in coming forward.
“It’s very easy to keep it to yourself and lie and not be honest and open. It was very big of him and the right thing to do, 100 per cent. For the team as well, not just for Garry,” Farrell said.
Jones was drafted back into the outside-centre role to start alongside Aki for the second time on tour. The team announcement document was amended and issued only minutes later, with nine Irishmen now in the starting XV.
To appreciate the context of Ringrose’s decision, rewind to that third Test in 2013. O’Driscoll was watching from the sidelines when George Smith, the Wallabies flanker, was concussed in a collision with Richard Hibbard.
Smith was dazed and struggled for balance as he left the field. He passed the rudimentary and controversial five-minute concussion assessment which was in place at the time and convinced the Wallabies medical team to allow him to return to the field.
That would not happen now. Protocols and understanding have both advanced markedly. Campaigners argue more needs to happen. The lobby group, Progressive Rugby, believe there should be a 21-day mandatory stand-down period. But Ringrose is an example of how far the education programme has come. He felt comfortable self-diagnosing in a way O’Driscoll never would have. Even the biggest day of his rugby career was not worth the risk.
“It shows his character,” Andrew Porter, the Ireland and Lions prop, said. “That would be an incredibly hard thing to do, given the magnitude of the game. He put the team first and if he’s not right, he’s not right.”
Chessum is among those who come into the side
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER MARC ASPLAND
Even without Ringrose, this team selection has all the hallmarks of Farrell, in the words of O’Driscoll, reverting to what he knows and trusts. Much of this squad will have been in the head coach’s mind before the Lions departed for Australia. Nine Ireland players in the starting XV, seven from Leinster.
Porter is one of three changes to the starting side, having swapped roles with Ellis Genge. The England prop is being held back for the final quarter, which the Lions want to address after going a bit flat in the first Test. Ollie Chessum starts in the second row after Joe McCarthy sustained a foot injury last weekend.
Aki was preferred to Tuipulotu, who grew up in Melbourne and was hoping to play in front of his Scottish grandmother. “The fairytale is not always written,” Farrell said. The 28-year-old’s tight hamstring did not have a bearing on selection.
Aki was preferred to Tuipulotu and will start alongside Jones at centre
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER MARC ASPLAND
On the bench, James Ryan, the Ireland lock, steps up to provide second-row cover as the Lions maintain their policy of having four premier lineout jumpers in the squad while Jac Morgan, the only Welshman on tour, has edged out Ben Earl.
It is all-change with the back-line cover. Owen Farrell, who captained the Lions against the FNP XV on Tuesday, comes on to the bench along with Blair Kinghorn, the Scotland full back and wing. Kinghorn’s back-field coverage and his aerial presence are superior to what Marcus Smith could offer, which will be important if rain hits the MCG as forecast on Saturday.
Kinghorn’s errors against the FNP XV were never going to outweigh his experience of winning titles with Toulouse and performing under pressure. That has been a hallmark of Andy Farrell’s selection strategy on this tour; a player’s character and body of work has been deemed much more valuable than recent form. See Tom Curry last week. See Owen Farrell.
Kinghorn’s inclusion was tied to Farrell Jr returning to the Test arena for the first time since the 2023 World Cup; the former England captain will cover fly half and inside centre. The Lions want more generals and more dynamism on the field in the final 20 minutes. They should have it in Genge, Morgan, Farrell, Kinghorn and Alex Mitchell.
Australia have tooled up with Will Skelton and Rob Valetini back in the starting line-up and a 6-2 bench. They delivered a meek display in Brisbane and have to be physical on Saturday to stand any chance. The Lions are steeling themselves for that.
“It’s obvious what they’re going to bring and why they’re selected,” Farrell said. “The 6-2 bench just backs that up a little bit, doesn’t it?”
MCG officials expect the Lions Test to attract about 90,000 fans on Saturday. It will be an opportunity for the touring team to win their first series since Gatland’s men sealed a 2-1 triumph down under in 2013.
“No other Lions have done back-to-back victories in tours of the same country,” Andy Farrell said. “Due to the good work of the 2013 touring party, we get the privilege to be in a position to try to accomplish that.
“That’s been spoken about from day one when we met as a group. There’s a determined Australian side that’s in our way that’s going to try to stop us from doing that, so it’s a hell of a test.”
Australia Tom Wright; Max Jorgensen, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Len Ikitau, Harry Potter; Tom Lynagh, Jake Gordon; James Slipper, David Porecki, Allan Alaalatoa, Nick Frost, Will Skelton, Rob Valetini, Fraser McReight, Harry Wilson. Replacements Billy Pollard, Angus Bell, Tom Robertson, Jeremy Williams, Langi Gleeson, Carlo Tizzano, Tate McDermott, Ben Donaldson.