by Andy Farrell stands with Garry Ringrose and Luke Cowan-Dickie from the first test of the lion against the wallabies in front of a fresh selection dilemma. Ringrose and Cowan-Dickie were broken off by a concussion with the English hooker Jamie George from the Australia of Argentina to strengthen the squad for the last three weeks of the tour.
The misfortune of Ringrose has come at a crucial time and should drive the Scotlands Huw Jones into the start -XV in Australia in Brisbane next Saturday. Farrell can therefore be tried to combine him with his Glasgow teammate Sione Tuipulotu after the couple’s successful excursion in a 48:0 struggle of a combined Australia & New Zealand Invitational XV.
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For his part, Cowan-Dickie will not be available for the first test and for the subsequent final game of the week against a First Nations & Pasifika XV in Melbourne. This has led to a premature call for George, who moved Argentina on tour with England. It will be the third Lions tour of the Saracens of the Saracens and his experience can still be useful. “We are to the end and there is a lot of rugby playing,” emphasized Farrell.
Since the Lions will fly to Brisbane on Sunday, Ringrose must now be patient against the Brumbies on Wednesday. “Unfortunately, Garry had a delayed reaction,” said Farrell. “He had a day with a headache and it continued for the next day, so he went through cerebral conception protocols and failed.
“But that brings him out of the first test [potentially] Get in again before the second test for the game during the week. They don’t play around with these things. It is unfortunate for him and everyone else. “
However, selecting the right mix in midfield will be of crucial importance, and ring rose can be withdrawn prematurely. In any case, Farrell SNR insists that it is still open. “I thought Huw and Sione were very good. Obviously there was a discussion after this game. Who knows how we would have gone because it was true what we said about leaving it open.
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“I know that people think we have a firm mind after the game on Wednesday, but that is not the truth. I can’t remember having a leaf in the past few weeks and thinking that this combination has to be done on the basis of the country from which it comes.
On the one hand, Jones does not take a matter of course after he was not recommended before the game that the ring rose fought. “Nobody told me what was probably a good thing in my opinion because it didn’t work with my head. We worked together, so I was disappointed for him. They hate to see it when someone is hurt because we are all together. But if that means that I have the opportunity to do so next week, then I will be very happy with it and try to reach with both hands.”
The Lions also have big decisions in the back series, in which Jac Morgan, Josh van der Flier, Tom Curry and Henry Pollock compete for places.
“I thought it was a professional team performance. If we win with 50 points, the competition is not strong enough, but if someone puts us a hard performance on us, we are not good enough. They are damn if they do this, they are damn if they don’t.
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“We just want to make sure that we as a squad keep driving and I felt that we did it in many areas of our game. I don’t think someone is surprising. We know the staff we have, but we are happy that everyone will get into a bit of form next week.”
