Owen Farrell among replacements for Lions’ final tour match ahead of first Test

By Damian Spellman, PA

Owen Farrell is among the replacements for Saturday’s British and Irish Lions clash with an Australia and New Zealand Invitational XV after being drafted into the squad.

The 33-year-old Saracens and England fly-half only arrived in the southern hemisphere last Friday following the arm fracture which ended Elliot Daly’s tour prematurely.

He has quickly had to get up to pace with his team-mates, who are unbeaten in four outings Down Under with one remaining before the first Test in Brisbane.

Head coach Andy Farrell has resisted the temptation to throw his son, who has been drafted in as cover at inside centre, into his starting line-up at the earliest opportunity, but is confident he is ready to make a 19th Lions appearance if and when required.

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He said: “He’s the same as everyone else who’s had to get up to speed pretty quickly. Everyone had to at the start, obviously, and then a few have come in since.

“I think the art at this stage of the tour is mentally being as switched on as you possibly can for all, not just the lads who are new to the group, because of the nature of the preparation, so there’s not that much training that you can do.”

Farrell Junior, who stepped away from international rugby after the 2023 World Cup to prioritise his and his family’s well-being, is on his fourth Lions tour after making his debut in Australia in 2013 and his father, who was an assistant coach on that trip, admits that experience will serve him well 12 years on.

He said: “He was, I suppose, lucky enough to play when he was very young. You need the stars to align, as far as that’s concerned. When your first one starts, I suppose it allows you to have a look-in at that type of thing.”

Scotland full-back Blair Kinghorn suffered a knee injury during Wednesday’s 36-24 win over the ACT Brumbies in Canberra and while the Lions head coach is hopeful the damage is not significant, he was awaiting the outcome of a scan as he conducted his press conference on Thursday morning.

Asked how Kinghorn was, Farrell said: “Blair is okay, he’s not too bad. He’s actually gone for a scan as we speak now, so we’re waiting as regards to the news on that, but the same as he always is.

“Like I said yesterday, he’s in good spirits, so we’ll wait and see what the outcome is of that.

“I don’t think it’s as bad as what could have been. It was something innocuous really, just a rugby accident that was unfortunate, so fingers crossed when we get back to the hotel that we get some good news.”

Tadhg Beirne, who will line up alongside Ireland team-mate James Ryan in the second row, captains the side for the second time with Pierre Schoeman, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Will Stuart ahead of them and Henry Pollock, Jac Morgan and Ben Earl making up the back row.

Ben White and Fin Smith will link up at half-back with Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones in midfield and Hugo Keenan, Mack Hansen and Duhan van der Merwe combining in the back three.

Beirne, who has three sisters living in Australia, said: “It’s a huge honour. There’s an incredible amount of leaders within this squad. People aren’t afraid to speak up and say what needs to be said at times, so there’s not as much of a burden on you, that’s for sure.

“But as I said, it’s a huge honour for me to lead out this team and I’m looking forward to it again.”