British & Irish Lions

Image source, Inpho

British and Irish Lions legend Willie John McBride believes reverting to only using the bench to replace injured players would leave rugby as a "far better game".

Ulster hero Mike Gibson was Test rugby's first substitute when he took the place of Barry John for the Lions against South Africa in 1968.

Tactical replacements in the international game were not introduced until 1996, however.

In recent years, led by back-to-back World champions South Africa and their use of the so-called 'Bomb Squad', deployment of the bench is now considered an integral part of the game.

"We didn't have any reserves. If you got injured with Ireland, they put you on the wing because you knew the ball wasn't going to get there," McBride told the Ireland Rugby Social podcast.

"If you could stay on the field you stayed on and if not, you played with 14. So replacements were very important for injury."

McBride has little time for the modern-day approach to rugby as a squad game.

"I'll be quite honest, that's one of the things that annoys me terribly," he added.

"We have changed rugby from a 15-man game into a 23-man game and that drives me crazy. They talk about bomb squads...absolute nonsense.

"I think we should get back to a 15-man game with reserves for injury only and I think we'd have a much better game."

In their most recent Test match, a dominant 73-0 victory over Wales, South Africa named Cobus Reinach as their only back on the bench, bringing on seven forwards across the contest.

Chief amongst McBride's concerns is the fear that bringing on an almost a fresh pack during a game will increase the risk of injury.

"It's just not fair," he said. "The chances of injury are so much more because you've fresh men against tired men.

"These guys that they rush on at the end are 25 stone probably, huge guys who couldn't play 80 minutes of rugby.

"That's unfair for a start. The whole game is wrong the way they've done this."

Image source, Inpho

Ireland back row Jack Conan says a hangover from the British and Irish Lions tour "is not on anyone's mind" before the Chicago rematch with New Zealand.

Andy Farrell's Lions' panel contained 18 Ireland players, but Leinster - who had a 14-strong contingent in Australia - have lost three out of four United Rugby Championship games this season.

Ireland will face New Zealand in Chicago on 1 November at Soldier Field, where the they famously defeated the All Blacks for the first time in 2016.

"I don't think it's a thing myself," said Conan when asked if he had any worries about a lingering hangover for Ireland from the Lions tour.

"I don't think anyone could say that Tadhg Beirne has had a Lions malaise or however you put it. Over the weekend [in Munster's 31-14 win over Leinster] he was fantastic.

"Obviously things didn't go right for the Leinster lads against Munster the other day but there was still some good performances in there.

"It's not something that is on anyone's mind. I think the lads will be fresh and ready to go. There will be no lack of motivation for next week or the coming weeks."

Conan missed the Munster defeat with a "niggle" but could make his first appearance of the season in Chicago against New Zealand.

As a large number of Ireland's internationals were away with the Lions in the summer, the last time a full-strength Irish side played together was in March's Six Nations finale in Italy.

In that time, New Zealand have played nine matches and narrowly missed out on winning the Rugby Championship - and Conan says Farrell's side will be ready to face the All Blacks despite the lack of international minutes.

"It's unacceptable in this environment to have any excuses for not performing well," Conan said.

"There's no excuses. It's great to be over here now to have the time to train together without the distraction of travel.

"We'll prep really well for next week. We've done it before and we'll do it again."

Image source, Getty Images

Former Ireland and British and Irish Lions scrum-half Conor Murray has confirmed his retirement from rugby after opting against a move abroad.

Murray, 36, ended his Test career alongside Peter O'Mahony and Cian Healy at the conclusion of this year's Six Nations.

While initially indicating that he would "pursue a playing opportunity abroad", five-time Six Nations winner Murray has decided to hang up his boots.

"I had left it open-ended," he told The 42, external.

"My body felt really good and in a good place. But it was more for a life experience for my wife Joanna and our little boy Alfie, who's 10 months now, and just if we wanted to go somewhere nice and experience a nice place to live, for them as much as me wanting to play on."

Murray added that he received a "couple of offers" to extend his career.

"There was one in Japan but dragging them [his family] there, putting them in an apartment in Tokyo or something like that just didn't appeal to where we're at at the minute," he added.

"So long story short, nothing of appeal came up and I'm very happy to hang up the boots properly and move into the next chapter."

During his 125-cap Ireland career, Murray won five Six Nations titles, including two Grand Slams.

He also made eight Test appearances for the British and Irish Lions across the 2013, 2017 and 2021 tours.

Having made his debut in 2010, Murray played 206 times for Munster, winning two United Rugby Championship titles.

Promotion of rugby union on the front page is something Australia is not regularly used to in recent years.

But Australia's third Test win over the British and Irish Lions made for front and back page news.

Dylan Pietsch is pictured celebrating after scoring the first of Australia's three tries in their 22-12 triumph in Sydney, while Max Jorgensen's spectacular dive for the Wallabies' second also gets a good showing.

According to the Sunday Telegraph in Australia, Wallabies lock Will Skelton "was a titan among mere mortals" in denying the Lions a 3-0 series whitewash.

'Wallabies stealing the Lions thunder' also alludes to the lightning storm that interrupted play for more than 30 minutes.

Image source, The Sunday Telegraph

Image source, The Sunday Telegraph

Image source, The Sunday Telegraph

David Mohan
BBC Sport NI journalist

Tadhg Beirne said being named British and Irish Lions player of the series after defeat by Australia in Saturday's final Test was "bittersweet".

Beirne's place on the team for the first Test had been questioned in some quarters, but the Munster forward was instrumental in helping the Lions secure a 2-1 series win over the Wallabies.

Although Joe Schmidt's side won the final Test in Sydney to salvage some pride, the spoils went to the Lions as Andy Farrell masterminded the series win thanks to their earlier victories in Brisbane and Melbourne.

Irish flanker Beirne said he was unsure whether he would make the team for the opening Test, which the Lions won 27-19, but he grabbed his opportunity and comes away as one of the stars of the tour.

"It's a massive honour but more about the series win for me," he said.

"It's a bittersweet moment. It's a class moment we've won the series, but we've lost tonight.. but as Faz [head coach Andy Farrell] said, we'll get over it because we've won the series.

"I was unsure whether Faz was going to pick me, so when you see your name on the board, I knew it was an opportunity for me, but if I didn't play well he would take me out just as quick as he put me in. I needed to step up, as did all of the players, and we did that."

There is not a lot the 33-year-old has not experienced on a rugby pitch, but Saturday's 22-12 win for Australia did throw up a first for Beirne, with the game suspended for 40 minutes because of lightning in the vicinity of Stadium Australia.

"It was just a bit strange," said the Munster player.

"I've never experienced anything like that, so it was a bit of the unknown. You're told it's going to be 45 minutes so you try to relax a bit before getting back up and then all of a sudden it's seven minutes and you're switching on to try and focus the mind again.

"I've never experienced that before, but I have now and will know what to expect the next time."