Lions coach Andy Farrell isn’t buying into the hype of a series sweep against Australia

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — The growing hype about a British and Irish Lions series sweep over Australia isn’t something Andy Farrell is buying into.

The Lions head coach only had to walk the streets of Brisbane and have a chance encounter with Australia and Queensland Origin rugby league legend Gorden Tallis in the days leading up to Saturday’s first test to be reminded of what to expect.

Tallis “said everyone used to talk about Queensland being underdogs. He said ‘We never, ever saw it that way.’ Australia will be exactly the same,” said Farrell, who was captain of the British rugby league team before switching to rugby union.

The Lions tour every four years to the southern hemisphere but the Wallabies only face them every 12, usually a once-in-a-career opportunity.

“If you’re in a position where it comes down to this every 12 years and you get to pull the shirt on for the Wallabies and the privilege that goes with that — they’ll be fighting tooth and nail,” Farrell said. “I’m sure they’ll want to prove a point.”

Lions assistant coach and former flyhalf Johnny Sexton said the touring squad didn’t care at all about odds or speculation.

“We’re just trying to put a great performance out there because that’s what’s going to be needed,” Sexton said Friday. “A great performance, not a good performance, to beat this Australian team.”

Farrell was a defense coach at Ireland before taking over from Joe Schmidt as head coach there in 2020. Schmidt, a New Zealander, is now head coach of an Australia squad that is rebuilding after its worst-ever Rugby World Cup performance in 2023.

They’re well acquainted.

“You don’t go into a series trying not to win it 3-nil — it’s a natural target for them,” Schmidt said of those predictions of a Lions sweep. “But I know Andy Farrell well enough to know he won’t be talking about 3-nil. They’ll be focused on this test alone, not Melbourne or Sydney I don’t think.”

While the Lions are unbeaten in five tour games so far in Australia, the Wallabies are coming off a scratchy 21-18 comeback win over Fiji — when captain Harry Wilson scored the winning try — as their only match preparation. They’ve also got a new halves combination and will be missing some size and power in the forward pack.

“We’ve had one test match. We’ve got 15 this year,” Schmidt said.

“We thought we’d ease our way into the year!” he added, joking about the monumental task ahead against the Lions. “That’s the magnitude of it, really.”

Key confrontations

The halves combinations will be critical to the outcome. The Lions have the advantage in the experienced and assured Scotland flyhalf Finn Russell directing play and working with Jamison Gibson-Park, one of eight Irishmen in the XV.

Schmidt has entrusted the playmaking duties to 22-year-old Tom Lynagh, the son of Wallabies great Michael Lynagh. The quietly confident Lynagh is starting a test for the first time and working with Jake Gordon.

The Lions will be expecting scrum dominance, and for a hard edge will be relying on a front row featuring Ireland prop Tadhg Furlong and hooker Dan Sheehan and England prop Ellis Genge. For the Wallabies, 144-test veteran James Slipper is starting in his second series against the Lions and looking for revenge. He’ll be packing down with Allan Ala’alatoa, who has 81 caps, and young hooker Matt Faessler.

For the first time since more than a century, there are no Welshmen in the Lions test squad.

Recent series

Brisbane is a city where the Lions have had success.

In 1989, when Michael Lynagh was Australia’s playmaker, the Wallabies won the opening match in Sydney 30-12 before the Lions rallied to take a brutal second test 19-12 in Brisbane, dubbed the “Battle of Ballymore.” The Lions won the decider, back in Sydney, which was famous for an errant pass by Australian winger David Campese that gifted a simple try and lead to the visitors.

The 2001 series opener in Brisbane felt more like a home game for the Lions, with the Gabba stadium filled with fans wearing red. That helped propel the Lions to a win over the 1999 World Cup champions. But the Australians rallied to win in Melbourne and Sydney to clinch a historic series win.

Twelve years ago, on the last tour to Australia, the Lions again won in Brisbane — 23-21 — when Wallabies’ goalkicker Kurtley Beale slipped and missed a last-minute penalty attempt. The Wallabies won the second test in Melbourne, when Leigh Halfpenny missed a late shot at goal that would have clinched the series for the Lions. The Lions dominated in Sydney to clinch the series.

Tour so far

The Lions are perfect in Australia since a 28-24 loss to Argentina in a warmup in Dublin. They had wins over Super Rugby franchises Western Force,Queensland Reds, Waratahs and Brumbies — before last Saturday’s 48-0 demolition of an AUNZ invitational XV.

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