What Wallabies captain Harry Wilson will say to teammates before they face experienced Lions

Nick Farr-Jones, John Eales and James Horwill - now add Harry Wilson who will captain his country against the Lions. And the skipper is imploring his teammates to win every moment despite massive experience gap.

In his final address, Wallabies captain Harry Wilson will instruct his teammates to win every moment in front of them before they run onto a sold-out Suncorp Stadium against a British & Irish Lions side with over 500 more Test matches of experiences.

As Brisbane is overrun by red-shirted Lions fans, skipper Wilson must inspire his team to produce a monumental upset on Saturday night against a touring team boasting about clean sweeping the series 3-0.

The 25-year-old Wilson joins some of the great Wallabies of the past in leading Australia against the Lions – including Nick Farr-Jones, John Eales and James Horwill – and his final speech in the dressing room must lift the team to a new level of performance.

Australia's captain Harry Wilson (C) leads his teammates for the captain's run at Suncorp Stadium. Picture: DAVID GRAY / AFP

This young Wallabies team, including debutant Nick Champion de Crespigny, has a combined tally of just 638 Test matches, compared to the Lions’ 1151 – a gulf of 513 international games.

But Wilson will tell his players: “Definitely to enjoy the moment. None of us have really got to enjoy something like this, sold out Suncorp Stadium, we really want to take it in, but we’ve got a job to do.

“For us, it’s about focusing on ourselves and just trying to win every moment in front of our face.”

That’s easier said than done against a vastly more experienced Lions side led by Maro Itoje, and featuring some of the world’s best players including halves Jamison Gibson-Park and Finn Russell, props Ellis Genge and Tadhg Furlong, and fullback Hugo Keenan.

British & Irish Lions captain, Maro Itoje poses with Wallabies captain, Harry Wilson. Picture: David Rogers/Getty Images

Australia, ranked sixth in the world rankings, will field one of the most inexperienced Test sides ever to face the Lions, but Wilson says they are ready.

“As a young footballer, these are the situations you want to be in, versus the British & Irish Lions at your home track, it’s amazing,” he said.

“I just can’t wait to enjoy the moment with 22 other people I love playing footy with, and we’ve all got each other’s back.”

Wilson was not confirmed as the team’s captain until this week when the team was announced, an unusual predicament for any Test skipper before such a major series, as Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt weighed up the leadership role.

“My main job is to play good Test footy for Australia and that’s all Joe’s ever asked me to do is to try and perform and do my job,” Wilson said.

“If I get named captain, it’s a massive honour. If not, I just want to play footy.”

But Wilson understands the enormity of the honour, given those who have gone before him.

“Being able to captain your country, to me, is one of the biggest honours you could ever have, it’s something I’ll never take for granted and in a Lions series, it really is special,” Wilson said.

“The thing which is nice about captaining this team is I’m not doing it alone. I’ve got so many other leaders in the team who have really helped me out and we really are a unit.”

Harry Wilson speaks to the media during the Wallabies captain's run at Suncorp Stadium. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

Wilson had a chance to speak earlier this year with Eales – the only Wallabies captain to claim a series win against the Lions in 2001 – as well as Australia’s lineout coach Geoff Parling, who was part of the 2013 winning Lions team that last toured here.

“The biggest thing from when (Eales) spoke to us, he’d already won two World Cups, captained a World Cup win, and he missed out on the chance to play in the previous Lions series, and he really wanted to finish his international career on something like that,” Wilson said.

“He had achieved everything in the game. How high he had this on his list of achievements was pretty special to hear.”