Ringrose and McCarthy miss out but nine Irish to start second Lions Test

Owen Farrrell has been named on the Lions bench, while Joe Schmidt has recalled fit-again power forwards Will Skelton and Rob Valetini as well as hooker David Porecki.

British & Irish Lions' prop Andrew Porter. Pic: Dan Sheridan/Inpho

Andy Farrell selected a record nine Irishmen in his British & Irish Lions starting line-up for Saturday’s second Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

It is a record contingent from one nation in a Lions Test side for the professional era, Farrell having started eight from the Ireland team he has coached since succeeding Joe Schmidt as head coach in 2019.

Now Australia head coach, Schmidt also named his second test team on Thursday, recalling fit-again power forwards Will Skelton and Rob Valetini as well as hooker David Porecki but keeping faith with the backline which opened the series, anchored by half-backs Jake Gordon and Tom Lynagh.

There are three changes in total from the Lions starting side which laid the platform for last Saturday’s first Test victory over the Wallabies, a 27-19 win in Brisbane, with Bundee Aki’s selection ahead of Sione Tuipulotu at inside centre the biggest surprise, creating a mix and match duo with Scotland’s Huw Jones.

Tuipulotu, a Melbourne native, was denied a Test homecoming with the Lions due to a tight hamstring. It breaks up the all-Scottish midfield partnership with Jones which started last Saturday, although Farrell explained he had wanted to select an all-Irish pairing of Aki and Garry Ringrose as his starting combination but the outside centre reported a recurrence of concussion symptoms that had forced him out of the first Test.

“Sione has a little bit of a tight hamstring there, so that influences that,” Farrell said.

“Huw comes in. Garry was actually selected and unfortunately, in training today, he's had to pull out. That's unfortunate for Garry.

“But, we've always said it's about the squad, and nothing but about the squad. And we're delighted for Huw to come in and be ready to go for Saturday.” 

Farrell backed his centres to thrive as a partnership.

“They'll be good. At this stage of the tour and well before this stage of the tour, actually, the combinations have been absolutely fine together. So Bundee and Huw will hit it off exactly like any other type of partnership.” 

Asked to compare Tuipulotu and Aki, Farrell added: “Very similar in many ways. Both direct and abrasive and combative type characters and exactly what you want as far as you go forward and gain line success and not just that. On the other side of the ball, they're pretty good there as well, so very similar in that regard.” 

Ireland’s Andrew Porter is preferred to Ellis Genge at loosehead prop to form an all-Irish front row with hooker Dan Sheehan and tighthead Tadhg Furlong while there is an enforced change to the second row where Joe McCarthy failed to recover from the foot issue that saw him depart the first Test after 42 minutes. 

Captain Maro Itoje now partners England team-mate Ollie Chessum in the second row while the back row is unchanged following standout performances from Tadhg Beirne, fellow flanker Tom Curry and No.8 Jack Conan.

There will be joy in Wales with the selection of Jac Morgan as the back-row replacement, the Lions having last Saturday fielded a Test squad without a Welshman for the first time since 1896. Morgan replaces Ben Earl on the bench while James Ryan fills the vacuum as the lock replacement following the promotion of Chessum to the starting side.

The other changes to the bench are backs, with Owen Farrell replacing Marcus Smith and providing cover at 10 and 12, following an impressive 80-minute performance last Tuesday captaining the Lions to a narrow win over the First Nations & Pasifika XV. 

The former England captain’s selection means the 32-year-old, son of the head coach, is in line to appear in his fourth Lions Test series having debuted in 2013 against the Australians. 

Scrum-half Alex Mitchell retain his place among the replacements but Aki’s move into the number 12 jersey sees wing/full-back Blair Kinghorn named as the outside backs replacement.

Reacting to the Wallabies team changes, Farrell said: “Well, I mean, it is what it says on the tin. It's obvious what they're going to bring and why they're selected, so I suppose they're delighted with that, and the 6-2 bench just backs that up a little bit, doesn't it? So it's not unexpected.” 

Having taken control of the series with that opening victory over the Wallabies, the Lions boss did not shy away from the potential to wrap up the series in front of an expected 90,0000-plus crowd at the MCG on Saturday.

“That's been spoken about from day one when we met as a group. We're the privileged ones that get the opportunity to do something special and hopefully create a bit of history.

“There's a determined Australian side that's in our way that's going to try and stop us to do that, so it's a hell of a Test.” 

AUSTRALIA: Tom Wright; Max Jorgensen, Joseph Suaalii, Len Ikitau, Harry Potter; Tom Lynagh, Jake Gordon; James Slipper, David Porecki, Alan Alaalatoa; Nick Frost, Will Skelton; Rob Valetini, Fraser McReight, Harry Wilson – captain.

Replacements: Billy Pollard, Angus Bell, Tom Robertson, Jeremy Williams, Langi Gleeson, Carlo Tizzano, Tate McDermott, Ben Donaldson.

BRITISH & IRISH LIONS: Hugo Keenan (Leinster/Ireland); Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints/England), Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), Bundee Aki (Connacht/Ireland), James Lowe (Leinster/Ireland); Finn Russell (Bath/Scotland), Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster/Ireland); Andrew Porter (Leinster/Ireland), Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Ireland), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Ireland); Maro Itoje (Saracens/England) – captain, Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers/England); Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Ireland), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks/England), Jack Conan (Leinster/Ireland).

Replacements: Ronan Kelleher (Leinster /Ireland), Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears/England), Will Stuart (Bath/England), James Ryan (Leinster /Ireland), Jac Morgan (Ospreys/Wales), Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints/England), Owen Farrell (Saracens/England), Blair Kinghorn (Toulouse/Scotland)