Lions captain Tadhg Beirne warns against players becoming desperate to advance Test selection claims

Captain Beirne outlined additional motivations for a group of Lions who are looking to atone for a below-par performance seven days ago in a hard-fought victory against the Waratahs in Sydney

Lions captain Tadhg Beirne. Picture: Billy Stickland/Inpho

Will this be the game when the British & Irish Lions finally click into gear? If it doesn’t happen at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday morning against a strong AUSNZ Invitational XV then the alarm bells will start to ring even louder with the opening Test against Australia up next.

At least the Lions will have some breathing space and the opportunity to actually train once this final tour match before the Test. When they arrive in Brisbane on Sunday they will have a seven-day lead-in to the Suncorp Stadium clash with the Wallabies.