If Lions complete Australia rout, clamour for tour of France will grow

It may open the Lions to accusations of parochialism, but there is a compelling case for staying in Europe.

British and Irish Lions Head Coach Andy Farrell ahead of the Qatar Airways Lions Tour match at the Marvel Stadium.

It may be too early to start asking existential questions about the British & Irish Lions but, sitting in Melbourne’s Southbank, slap bang in the middle of Aussie rules territory, where union makes barely a ripple, you begin to wonder. The sea of red will roll in at the weekend but, for now, Melbourne is pretty much oblivious. “Some kind of carnival on I think,” was one taxi driver’s assessment.

None of this is to criticise Australia. It is a wonderful country, sports mad and as the loosehead prop James Slipper says of the locals: “They’re still Australian, so they’ll be there. I know they’ll be there. It’s one thing about this country, regardless of the sport, they’ll get behind the national colours.”