Sitting in a car wash with the windows jammed open would be marginally drier than walking the streets of Sydney this week. The forecast rain stayed away for the decisive second Test in Melbourne, but the outlook for the Accor Stadium on Saturday is properly damp. Not that the Lions are overly bothered as they seek to squeeze every last drop of joy out of their tour of Australia.<\/p>\n
From the moment they met up the mantra of this party has been based on showing the absolute best of themselves in the Test matches and winning the series 3-0. Nothing has changed in that regard, as reflected in Farrell\u2019s largely rinse\u2011and-repeat final-Test selection, with the exception of Blair Kinghorn and James Ryan being elevated to the starting XV and a forward-loaded 6-2 bench split.<\/p>\n
As anyone with knowledge of Farrell\u2019s competitive instincts will be aware, the chances of him easing off the downcast Wallabies at this late juncture were always on the nonexistent side of slim. A final flourish is not always easily achieved at the end of a long, punishing season, but, in this case, all the most influential Lions are fit and hungry and motivation is not a problem.<\/p>\n
Aside from enjoying each other\u2019s company, the players have also responded well to Farrell\u2019s management style, among the primary reasons why this large tour party has stayed fully united. \u201cHe\u2019s been really good at getting everyone closer,\u201d said the Scotland centre Huw Jones, set to become a member of a prestigious Lions club by starting all three Tests. \u201cI don\u2019t really know how he\u2019s done it, but it\u2019s worked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t really sure what to expect from the outside. He\u2019s very calm and relaxed a lot of the time, [but] when he\u2019s on, he\u2019s pretty intense. When we\u2019re training he\u2019s always on and doesn\u2019t miss a beat. He sees everything and he\u2019s prepared to call you out in the middle of the session if something\u2019s not good enough.<\/p>\n
The Scotland and British & Irish Lions centre Huw Jones (left) alongside his centre partner Bundee Aki in training. Photograph: Billy Stickland\/INPHO\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no hiding place, his standards are so high. He\u2019s very clear about what he wants and how he wants you to do it. He\u2019s been brilliant and it\u2019s great to be part of the squad under that leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jones, who will again partner Bundee Aki in midfield, was also good value on the subject of Farrell\u2019s presence and rugby instincts. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t need to try to be intimidating, he just is. Some people just have that presence. He\u2019s obviously massive. Without meaning to be, he\u2019s just an intimidating person. Not in a bad way, but in a good way that commands respect. When he speaks everyone is listening. I\u2019m yet to hear him say something I don\u2019t agree with, he reads the game so well.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you are walking, haven\u2019t quite got into position or if you are not talking to someone he will pick it up \u2026 and you will know about it. It is about not accepting anything average or mediocre you may be able to get away with at your club. We are here because we were selected as being the best of our international teams. You have to show up and prove that every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
A resounding final performance, accordingly, is the objective of all concerned, Farrell included. When he says winning 3-0 \u201cwould mean the world to us\u201d he is reiterating his belief that aiming high is vital, in sport and life.<\/p>\n
skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week’s action reviewed<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n \u201cI never think you should shy away from shooting for the stars because you might end up on the moon,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s pretty good as well.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s there to be shy about? Players, coaches, staff, Lions fans, everyone \u2026 they all want to win every game. You can\u2019t be frightened of that.\u201d<\/p>\n Just as telling, perhaps, is that even the 16 unlucky individuals \u2013 12 original selections and four replacements \u2013 who have had no involvement in the Tests have felt as much a part of campaign as the 27 who have. \u201cIt touches you,\u201d said Farrell. \u201cThe ones that were celebrating most last Saturday were the ones who hadn\u2019t put the shirt on. That says it all.\u201d<\/p>\n The Lions celebrate victory in the second Test. \u201cThe ones that were celebrating most hadn\u2019t put the shirt on,\u201d said Andy Farrell. Photograph: Billy Stickland\/INPHO\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n All that remains, then, is for the chosen few to go out and apply the coup de grace. In the first half in Brisbane<\/a> and the second half in Melbourne<\/a> these Lions have shown what they can do; not so much at other times. On this occasion, Farrell would settle for 70 minutes of excellence that, on the evidence to date, should be enough: \u201cWe know what we\u2019re capable of in all sorts of areas, so getting close to eight or nine out of 10 in all of them would be somewhere close to where we want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n Jones feels much the same as he prepares for his own final fling. \u201cWe\u2019ve probably not played to our full capacity yet. That\u2019s been the message this week: to try and have our best performance of the tour. To do it in the last game, to win 3-0 \u2013 that would be amazing. That\u2019s where the motivation is.\u201d<\/p>\n It takes more than a spot of rain to dilute the resolve of Farrell and\u00a0co.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sitting in a car wash with the windows jammed open would be marginally drier than walking the streets…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":307050,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4102],"tags":[4151,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-307049","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"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114948865029249513","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307049\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/307050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}