Australia turn to Lynagh – but this time it’s a gamble with young Tom

It’s a huge call to select Tom, son of former flyhalf Michael, at No.10 for Saturday's first Test against the Lions – and it doesn’t reflect well on Wallabies

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The big breaking news in Brisbane before the first British & Irish Lions Test against Australia was that Tom Lynagh is set to start at No 10 for the Wallabies.

The team is not to be confirmed until Thursday, but the news is out and there is little that could quicken pulses faster in the union code here than a Lynagh back in green and gold.

His father, Michael, who is revered in these parts, also played against the Lions, in the 1989 series. This selection therefore makes history, because no other father and son have played against the Lions. But let’s not get stuck in the history, it is the present that is gripping: a huge call that heaps a great weight of pressure on the shoulders of a 22-year-old who has only three caps to his name.

Tom Lynagh looks dejected at the end of a bruising 67-27 loss to Argentina in last year’s Rugby Championship match in Santa Fe Picture: Getty Images)

In different circumstances, the younger Lynagh might have been on the other side. He was born in Italy, where his father played for Benetton, but brought up and educated in England.

It was in November 2020, when Michael was driving Tom back to Epsom College, his Surrey boarding school, that Michael asked if Tom knew when Harlequins were going to announce which schoolboys were going to get academy contracts for the following season. It was to Michael’s surprise that Tom replied that, even if Quins did make him an offer, he would turn it down because he wanted to see if he could make it in Super Rugby instead.

Quins were unable to persuade him to change his mind. It says something about the young man’s courage that he was prepared to cross the world for a job that was also on offer down the road. And not only was he going to Australia, but to the Queensland Reds in Brisbane, his father’s home town. Nowhere else in the world would his fledgling moves in the professional game be put under such scrutiny.

Queensland Reds new recruit Tom Lynagh and his father former Wallaby Michael Lynagh pose for photos at Ballymore in Brisbane in 2021 Picture: NewsWire

Thus, accompanied by Michael, he arrived in Brisbane in the depths of Covid. They were met by federal police and taken to a quarantine hotel where they spent two weeks in adjacent rooms. That was how badly young Tom wanted this.

The Wallabies will be hoping this is the kind of determination and self-belief that will be navigating him through the most extraordinarily testing three Saturdays ahead, for there is no pretending that these are ideal circumstances. It is not only Lynagh’s inexperience but a lack of physique that he brings as armour to the big stage at the Suncorp Stadium on Saturday that makes him an obvious target for the Lions. It does not reflect well on the Wallabies’ planning that they are having to turn to such a young and unproven talent for such a major event.

Australia A’s Tom Lynagh is tackled by England A’s Fraser Dingwall and Tom Willis during the international friendly at The Stoop in London last November. Eight months later he will spearhead the Wallabies against the touring Lions Picture: Getty Images

Joe Schmidt, the head coach, had heaped all his hope and planning around Noah Lolesio, yet when Lolesio was injured against Fiji two weekends ago, he was left without adequately experienced reserve options. The likely replacement seemed to be Ben Donaldson, who plays No.10 for Western Force. The headlines were then all stolen by the out-of-the-blue call-up for James O’Connor, the 35-year-old who had last played for the Wallabies nearly three years ago. All of this would have suited Lynagh, who was quietly preparing for the series with none of the spotlight upon him.

Tom Lynagh of the Reds hold the ANZAC medal after this year’s Round 11 Super Rugby Pacific match between Queensland Reds and Blues at Suncorp Stadium on April 25 Picture: Getty Images

What might it do to a young player when that spotlight then lands upon him? The last 22-year-old fly half in whom Rugby Australia placed its hopes was Carter Gordon, who was whistled up by Eddie Jones, then the Wallabies coach, for the 2023 World Cup in France. Gordon laughs at what he now refers to as a “crazy time”. He says that he went into it “being fearless and backing my ability and the hard work I put in”. Eventually, though, pressure and the sequence of adverse results took their toll. “I started to question myself a bit,” he says, “and that obviously led to some poor performances that I’m not proud of.”

In Australia’s last game, with their hopes of World Cup survival fading, Jones finally hooked Gordon, a late, cruel twist that both put him out of his misery and served to stress the folly of having invested so much faith in him in the first place.

Seven months later, with his team, Melbourne Rebels, set to go out of business, it was announced that Gordon would be crossing codes to play NRL for the Gold Coast Titans. He was offered a contract with the Waratahs in Sydney but wanted to be back in Queensland, his home state. With Lynagh there, though, there was no opening. Letting Gordon go is one of the many errors that Rugby Australia made that has led them, now, to Lynagh. Gordon is currently recovering from a severe injury affecting the fluid around his spinal cord and brain, delaying his NRL debut.

One of the reasons Gordon was deemed to have struggled two years ago was the lack of senior experience around him. Schmidt has ensured that this isn’t repeated: bringing O’Connor back into the fold makes more sense in the role of eminence grise than as an out-of-practice comeback band.

Wallabies flyhalf Michael Lynagh kicks long and hard against the British & Irish Lions in Sydney in the 1989 series Picture: Getty Images

O’Connor first met Lynagh more than a decade ago when he was playing for London Irish and Michael invited him to dinner at his home in Richmond. The Lynagh kids enjoyed the interest O’Connor showed in them and he made occasional appearances on the touchline watching them play for the minis at Richmond. There was thus a neat connection when Tom arrived at the Reds, where O’Connor was the main man.

Tate McDermott, the Reds and Wallabies scrum half, remembers well that young man with the famous name. “When he first arrived, he didn’t say anything,” he says. “He was a really shy guy and obviously everyone knew his old man. His development over the last 12 months has been fantastic.” McDermott wondered if he had the personality to be a “general” at No 10 but says that “running the show” is “the biggest thing he’s done in the last 12 months. I’ve been really proud of him.”

Italy’s wing Louis Lynagh – older brother of Tom – runs at South African scrumhalf Morne van den Berg in Springboks’ 42-24 win at Loftus Versfeld on July 5 Picture: AFP

The personality profile is interesting. There is, in the Lynagh DNA, a more vivacious, outgoing set of behaviours which come through mother Isabella, and were handed down to Louis, the elder Lynagh brother, who has been playing international rugby for Italy against the Springboks these past two weekends. The more reserved characteristics are shared by Tom and Michael. That’s not a bad start for the younger Lynagh, nor is the knowledge that every other challenge that he has faced in his short journey, he has taken in his stride.

There is a third, younger brother, Nick, the tallest of the three, a goal-kicking full back, who has just started in the Harlequins academy, but that is a story for another day.

Today is all about Tom. Michael flies into town on Friday night to see how it works out.

When he arrived with Tom, back in 2021, on that drive between the airport and their hotel, he pointed out one landmark of note. That was the Suncorp Stadium. Maybe Tom would end up there one day.

THE TIMES