Wallabies confirm captain and lock in debutant for first Test against Lions, opponents include more Aussies than Welsh
The Wallabies have finally confirmed their captain for the First Test against the Lions in Brisbane with the team being announced, including a debutant. While the Lions have relied on an Aussie instead of the Welsh.
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THE “psycho” and the silent assassin.
That is who the Wallabies will be relying upon to pull off one of the great upsets this Saturday against the British & Irish Lions when they unleash debutant backrower Nick Champion de Crespigny and first-time starter Tom Lynagh.
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The pair could not be more different in style and personality, but both will be essential to Australia’s chances of beating a star-studded Lions outfit confident of winning this series 3-0, starting with victory at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.
The loss of Rob Valetini and Will Skelton to calf injuries has severely impacted the Wallabies’ go-forward capabilities, and it will be up to de Crespigny to bring the same aggression that saw him scuffle with Lions scrapper Henry Pollock earlier on tour when the tourists played the Western Force.
“I think we just have full confidence in Nick and what he brings, he’s a psycho,” de Crespigny’s backrow partner Fraser McReight said.
“He loves contact and he’s ready to go. So obviously disappointing to (lose) Bobby, but again super excited to get to play with Nick and obviously Carlo (Tizzano).
“(De Crespigny brings) physicality, he loves the whack and he loves that physical nature of the game, which is great.
“I haven’t yet played with him, so I hear and see things at training, heard all the stories from the Force boys, so it’s super exciting to see in person.
“Off the field he’s a great man. Once he crosses that white line, he’s a different beast.”
While 29-year-old de Crespigny will be required to bring the mongrel, 22-year-old Lynagh needs to show the mastery of playmaking.
Having played three Tests off the bench, he now starts his first, in the process creating history as the first father-son duo to play against the Lions, with dad Michael having worn the same No.10 jersey in 1989.
“I always felt that Michael had a real quiet control of games and a calmness about the way that he ran the game, and I do think there’s a bit of that in Tom,” Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt said.
“It’s always the same when you haven’t seen someone at the level and they haven’t been put under the pressure that’s going to come, then you’re not quite sure how things are going to work out. But I have real confidence in Tom and I’m sure Michael does as well.
“I’m really excited for Tom. He’s a great kid. He’s got a quiet confidence about him. You wouldn’t think that he’s necessarily designed to run a game and dictate what’s happening, but he does have a quiet confidence that gives us a quiet confidence as well.
“And he’s fitted in really well this week. He has given us the confidence, and the players the confidence, that he’s going to run the game really well for us. His kicking game is strong. He’s got good acceleration and he’s incredibly brave to a fault.
“It’s Suncorp. It’s his home track. It’s a fantastic opportunity for him. We twice had him lined up for his first start for the Wallabies last year and he picked up little niggles. So it’s great this time. Probably not ideal to be starting your first Test match for the Wallabies against the British & Irish Lions, but you’ve got to start somewhere and if not now, when? So now is good.”
Schmidt hailed de Crespigny’s lineout capabilities, which will be vital against a starting Lions pack featuring jumping specialists Maro Itoje, Joe McCarthy and Tadhg Beirne.
“The good thing with Nick, he’s a good lineout option, I thought he was very good in the Force lineout,” Schmidt said.
“He is probably a bit more of a roving scavenger than Bobby V, who in the past has been a big ball-carrier for us.”
While Schmidt had kept the captaincy a mystery, Valetini’s injury meant Harry Wilson had to start and therefore retain the skipper’s role he’s held since last year.
Meanwhile, prop Taniela Tupou and winger Filipo Daugunu, who were left out of the squad, have flown to Melbourne to join the First Nations and Pasifika team to play the Lions next Tuesday.
More Aussies than Welsh in Lions’ team
- Julian Linden
At least one Aussie could walk off Suncorp Stadium a winner after Saturday’s series opening Test between the Wallabies and the British & Irish Lions.
This may not be what Wallabies fans had in mind but Australia does at least now have a foot in each camp after Melbourne-born and raised centre Sione Tuipulotu won himself a place in the Lions’ starting team.
The former Melbourne Rebel, who now plays for Scotland, was given the plum job of starting ahead of Ireland’s ex Kiwi Bundee Aki in a powerful Lions team brimming with power and experience.
So if the Wallabies don’t win the game, Tuipulotu should end up on the right side of the ledger after being picked alongside his Glasgow Warriors teammate Huw Jones in an-all Scottish midfield.
Of the 15 starters named in Andy Farrell’s first Test team, eight are Irish, four are English and the other three are Scottish. No Welsh players made the starting side or the reserves bench for the first time since 1896.
“We are entering the business end of the tour and it is time to put in our best performance to date,” Farrell said.
“We know how motivated the Wallabies will be and we know they are a well organised and dangerous side.”
As expected, there was no place in the squad for either Owen Farrell, the coach’s son, or Henry Pollock, the youngest member of the touring squad who brazenly tipped the Lions to complete a 3-0 series sweep.
England lock Maro Itoje will lead the Lions as skipper for the first time in a Test with the Lions overwhelming favourites to win the match and the series.
But Farrell, who played in the Wigan team that beat the Brisbane Broncos to win the 1994 World Club Challenge, said he remains wary of the Australians.
“We know the quality as far as their attacking threats, their athletic ability, the way that they want to play the game from turnover ball, counter-attack, all of that, the set piece is good,” he said.
“But when it comes around every 12 years and you’re privileged to be able to represent Australia, they’ll obviously be making sure that they use it appropriately.”
With Brisbane being overrun by Lions fans in the lead up to the match, Farrell said he was expecting a big display from his side.
“We want to see a performance that does everyone proud,” he said.
“What does that look like? I’m talking about everyone, you’re seeing the thousands of people that are turning up now. You’re walking around town and you get that lion’s buzz, don’t you?
“It’s certainly going to hot up so it’s making sure that we do everyone proud here and at home.
“You can talk about everything that the first Test of a Lions tour brings but it’s making sure that we’re concentrating on the performance and making sure that we attack it straight from the get-go.”
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