British & Irish Lions

The captain's runs are done.

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You can almost hear the Wallabies kit manager's sigh from here.

Just as Nick Champion de Crespigny makes his debut, Australia are putting names on the back of their shirts for the first time on Saturday.

This tour is the first time that the Lions have had names on the back of their shirts.

Elsewhere, injured fly-half Noah Lolesio, ruled out of the series with a neck injury sustained in Australia's warm-up match against Fiji, has been into the Wallabies camp to wish his team-mates good luck.

And, finally, the sold-out sign is up over the 52,500-capacity Suncorp Stadium for the first Test, with the late returns from UK tour operators having been snapped up by local fans in Brisbane., external

"It's amazing. It's one of the best stadiums in the world and to see it sold out is super exciting," Australia captain Harry Wilson said.

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The latest episode of the Ultimate Test - the Lions' in-house documentary - has dropped, external and no doubt about the star of this one.

Bundee Aki is revelling in his role on the fines committee dishing out the charge sheets and big novelty dice.

He even attempts to take down captain Maro Itoje.

The Ireland centre also comes off second best to Owen Farrell on the basketball court.

Elsewhere Finn Russell talks goal-kicking and Henry Pollock talks try-scoring.

Mantej Mann
BBC Sport Journalist

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Tommy Freeman's selection for the British and Irish Lions' first Test with Australia has proved to be fairly costly for the Northampton Saints wing.

The 24-year-old returns to Brisbane three years after he made his Test debut for England against the Wallabies.

It was on that tour Down Under when Freeman promised to fly his parents Sara and Cliff back to the city in business class should he make a Test appearance for the Lions.

"My parents came to Australia in 2022. It was very last minute because I didn't think I was going to play out here, so I told them not to come," Freeman said.

"I eventually got selected and then they flew out. It was last minute so I told them that if I get picked for the Lions I would pay for their business class seats, which has backfired."

Freeman's mum and dad were already in the country following their son, but his pledge to fly them to Brisbane in upgraded seats worth over £12,000 will come as a welcome gift following an accident.

"I gave them a ring and they are having troubles of their own. Mum has just broken her foot so she has had surgery in Adelaide," he said.

"They were travelling from Canberra to Adelaide and thought they would drive so they pulled over and got some photos.

"It has not gone well on that front so it's a bit of good news for them. Mum's main concern was being fit enough to fly to get here in time.

"They were obviously delighted and all the travelling miles they have put in for me has paid off.

"It's amazing to be able to give back because I am not that pleasant to be around on game day with the nerves. I can be a bit grumpy, so for it all to pay off with moments like this is extra special."

Nigel Ringland
BBC Sport Senior Journalist in Brisbane

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Eight Ireland internationals will start for the British and Irish Lions in the first Test against Australia in Brisbane on Saturday.

Full-back Hugo Keenan, wing James Lowe and scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park are named among the backs while Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong, Joe McCarthy, Jack Conan and Tadhg Beirne will pack down together up front.

And there could be more appearances from the Irish contingent with prop Andrew Porter, hooker Ronan Kelleher and centre Bundee Aki all named amongst the replacements.

It equals the record of most Ireland players to start a Lions Test that dates back to the third Test in South Africa in 1938.

Five of the eight were from Ulster, including captain Sammy Walker.

Blair Mayne, George Cromey, Harry Mckibbin and Robert Alexander were the others and were joined by Robert Graves, Charles Boyles and George Morgan.

That game was also the last that the Lions wore blue shirts in a Test match.

None of the starters is a surprise with Keenan as the only recognised full-back in the squad at the moment with Blair Kinghorn out injured.

With Garry Ringrose out with concussion, an all-Scottish midfield combination of Huw Jones and Sione Tuipulotu is preferred with Aki starting on the bench.

Perhaps the most debated selection is that of Beirne over England’s Ollie Chessum in the back row alongside Conan and Tom Curry with Josh Van der Flier missing out.

At times Beirne has not looked like his normal commanding self, but he has captained the side to a pair of wins.

“Yeah, I suppose that's the hotly contested one, part of the side that's been talked about for quite some time and rightly so because of the quality that we've got there,” admitted Farrell.

”Obviously we feel that that's the right balance for the first Test, the combination of Tadhg, being the type of player that he is, as far as his quality in the set-piece but yet his all-round ability, either on the floor or a ball-playing six.

“I think that complements Jack in a similar regard and Tom being the engine that we all know that you need in regards to Test match football.”

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The Sydney Morning Herald reports, external that there are still tickets available for all three Tests between the British and Irish Lions and Australia after some were handed back by UK tour operators.

The newspaper adds that there were fewer than 1,000 remaining for the opener at the 52,500-capacity Suncorp Stadium for Saturday's series opener on Wednesday.

"We're almost there," said Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh.

"So naturally, just the way ticketing works, you get some hand backs from different tour groups that are pre-booked, and so you just naturally have some that become available late, which is what we have for this weekend.

"But we're almost there. Hopefully, we get a good run home and a full stadium."

The Melbourne Cricket Ground is hosting the second Test and is expected to have more than 90,000 people in attendance. The turnout of MCG members - who have access to events at the venue - will decided whether how close the crowd gets to the capacity of 100,000.

Chris Jones
Rugby union Correspondent in Brisbane

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We spent a very enjoyable hour this morning with Australia great Will Genia, who started all three Tests against the Lions in 2013.

Genia reflects on that series and looks ahead to what is coming up in the next few weeks. He reckons whoever wins the first Test will win the series, and says an Australia victory will turbo-charge the atmosphere in the country ahead of the second Test at the 100,000 seater Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The 110-cap Wallaby has some sage advice for rookie 10 Tom Lynagh and explains what Australia need to do to upset the odds on Saturday.

You can hear from Genia on the latest Rugby Union Weekly podcast, which will be out from around 9am on Thursday.

UPDATE: This is the link to the published edition.

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Australia will be without key forwards Rob Valetini and Will Skelton for Saturday's first Test in Brisbane according to a report by Australian website The Roar., external

Both players missed the Wallabies warm-up win over Fiji with calf complaints, but the hosts had hoped they would be fit in time to fact the Lions.

Skelton said earlier this week that he would be ready to play in the series opener, while Australia assistant coach Geoff Parling issued an upbeat assessment of Valentini's chances saying he was "very hopeful" the hard-carrying 26-year-old would make the match.

However The Roar reports that head coach Joe Schmidt will now turn to Nick Champion de Crespigny, who moved to Western Force this year after a successful spell at French side Castres, as blind-side flanker in Valetini's absence.

Tom English
BBC Sport in Australia

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British and Irish Lions hooker, Dan Sheehan, says his team are going to have to play a "lot better" than they have been performing if they are to win the first Test against the Wallabies in Brisbane on Saturday.

"I think we have to find another level," said the Leinsterman. "We've had some close games in the last few weeks, so we definitely need to step up. We've talked about it.

"What we've done so far has been great and I think we've done a good job doing it, but there has to be a visible difference this week. We should be able to feel the energy off people. Everything is just going to be up a level."

Sheehan is sure to start at hooker when Andy Farrell names his team on Thursday.

He has compared this Lions tour, with the frenetic pace of travel and games, as like a World Cup "on steroids."

The hooker also spoke about the significance of the scrum on Saturday, an area of strength for the Lions so far on tour.

"We'll need to make sure we have no preconceived ideas that we might have a dominant scrum," he said. "We have to earn their respect from the start. We can't carry in that belief that we might run over a team. It won't happen like that. We're back to ground zero at scrum time. But it's a big part of our game that hopefully we can get a bit of joy out of."

Various Lions have spoken of their desire to win the series 3-0 and to be remembered as the greatest Lions side ever, a noble, if deluded, thought.

The 1971 Lions were the first and still the only squad to win in New Zealand, the 1974 Lions in South Africa went unbeaten and the 1997 Lions, also in South Africa, stamped their names in history by winning a series that few thought them capable of.

Nothing these Lions can do against the world's eighth-ranked nation will live with those feats, but Sheehan thinks the chat from some of his team-mates is not out of place.

"There's going to be a bit of fire and they (the Wallabies) will feed into that," he added.

"We need to make sure we come out firing and stamp our gameplan on them early.

"I'm sure there's going to be some big collisions, some big heated moments in the game. I don't think that's anything too crazy (the comments about 3-0). It's obviously everyone's goal to win a Test series and to try to be a step beyond the last squad.

"The way rugby has evolved, every team should be better than the last, and it's a massive goal of ours to make sure we reach our potential. I think if we do reach our potential we have the possibility to be one of the best teams. I think they're fair comments."

Mantej Mann
BBC Sport Journalist

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Former Australia hooker Stephen Moore says the Lions tour is an opportunity to create another "golden period" for the Wallabies.

The hosts are ranked sixth in the world but welcome the Lions to Australia with a home World Cup just two years away.

Australia beat the Lions in 2001, which set them on course to reach the final of the 2003 World Cup in Sydney, where they were beaten by England.

"The Lions tour is a key moment in the rugby calendar for Australia," Moore told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"If we do well in this series, it helps in growing participation, fan engagement, sponsorship and TV numbers. All these metrics go up if we do well and that is why this is so important for us.

"Australia are not where they would like to be, that is pretty obvious, and Australian rugby has been under pressure over recent years.

"We are used to success in every sport in Australia. We are very lucky in our history to have some wonderful sportspeople and rugby is a good example of that.

"If you look at the Lions tour in 2001 it kicked-off a great period for rugby in Australia leading into the World Cup. I know we lost the final but those few years were a real golden period for rugby in Australia and the current payers have the opportunity to replicate that.

"With this Lions series going into a home World Cup, they won't get that again in their lifetime so it's so important."

Lauren Jenkins
BBC Sport in Australia

Many fans may have opted to detour to the Great Barrier Reef or Cairns before arriving in Brisbane from Adelaide but today Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh opened the official fan zone in King George Square. The public can measure their heights against the likes of Maro Itoje and Joseph Suaalii, test the strength of their tackle and even point to which Wallaby or Lion hair do they'd like to emulate at a pop up barbershop.

Former Wallaby Waugh says he's been delighted with how the tour has gone so far:

''The build-up has been nice, we've seen record crowds at Western Force, the biggest crowd in twenty years at the Brumbies. I think we really saw this country come alive when the Wallabies beat England last year in Twickenham. Everyone wants to get behind the team. To sell out Suncorp on Saturday night off the back of these records means it's going to be a very exciting two and a half weeks.

The team now needs to put the performance out on the park. You want hunger, fight and desperation.''

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Alastair Telfer
BBC Sport journalist

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Australia scrum-half Tate McDermott backed Queensland Reds team-mate Tom Lynagh to perform if he is given the starting fly-half shirt for the Wallabies against the British and Irish Lions.

The 22-year-old is reportedly set to start, external the first Test in Brisbane on Saturday after Joe Schmidt's first-choice fly-half Noah Lolesio was ruled out of the series.

Lynagh, son of 1991 World Cup-winning fly-half Michael, has three caps and is yet to start for his country.

Veteran fly-half James O'Connor, who started all three Tests against the Lions in 2013, was called up by Schmidt following Lolesio's withdrawal, with Ben Donaldson the other 10 in the squad.

"I've played a lot of footy with Tom and his development over the last 12 months has been fantastic," McDermott said.

"The way he has steered around the Reds side this year is a true credit to all the work he has done and all the work he has had put into him.

"From his experiences last year in the Wallabies side and Les Kiss' guidance [at Queensland Reds].

"There are a number of options in our pocket and it will be exciting to see.

"I'd back whoever in that nine and 10 jersey to take the Lions on."

McDermott confirmed Lynagh is back to full fitness after not being "100%" to feature in Australia's victory over Fiji earlier this month.

The first Test against the Lions will be at Suncorp Stadium, where both McDermott and Lynagh play their club rugby.

Having started the Wallabies' only warm-up game before the Test series, McDermott is in with a chance of partnering Lynagh at Suncorp Stadium.

"Any opportunity to wear the gold jersey is special and even more so against the Lions in my and Tommy's home state," he added.

"It is not about us, there are plenty of other fellas who we are on this journey together with to experience a once in a lifetime opportunity."

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So far, the Lions tour, like rugby union in general, has struggled to break through the noise of rugby league's NRL and Aussie Rules in the Australian media.

However two, admittedly league-tinged, stories are splashed across the back pages today.

The Courier Mail lead with Wallaby Joseph Suaalii reflecting on how his preparation for the Lions opener on Saturday will differ from a disastrous State of Origin appearance last year in which he was sent off for a high shot on Queensland's Reece Walsh.

The Daily Telegraph (the Australian version) goes with news that Kayln Ponga, reportedly the highest-paid player in the NRL, is looking to secure a move to a European union club.