Melbourne — A beefed-up Australia will look to win the physical battle against the British & Irish Lions at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday and avoid the ignominy of losing the series with a Test to spare.
Missing top players, the Wallabies were outmuscled for the first hour of the 27-19 defeat in the Brisbane opener, leaving their belated comeback in vain.
Coach Joe Schmidt will look for more power in the collisions from loose forward Rob Valetini and lock Will Skelton whose collective brawn was missed at Lang Park as the duo nursed calf problems.
The Wallabies’ fruitless efforts to punch holes in the Lions’ line while giving their opponents leeway with the ball has been bemoaned by home fans and pundits all week.
Schmidt has demanded more intensity from his squad to keep the series alive before the third and final match in Sydney.
“We don’t want to be nice and we don’t want to be submissive,” the New Zealander told reporters on Thursday.
“We didn’t have the intention last week, and we don’t have the intention this week of being submissive.
“I just think they played on the edge really well. They got in among us, sometimes just beside us, which made it very hard to play and we’re hopeful we will be able to take that to them this week and keep them on the back foot a little more.”
With rain forecast on Saturday, blue-collar grit and forward power may end up far more important than strike-plays and backline flair at the MCG, where a bumper crowd of 80,000-plus is tipped.
Though Schmidt said the six forwards on his bench were to cover players such as Valetini and Skelton returning from injury, Lions coach Andy Farrell saw it as a clear signal of intent.
“It’s obvious what they’re going to bring and why they’re selected,” he said of the Wallabies.
“I suppose they’re delighted with that and the 6-2 bench just backs that up a little bit, doesn’t it? So it’s not unexpected.”
Nine Ireland players make up Farrell’s starting XV, and it might have been 10 but for centre Garry Ringrose pulling out because of concussion symptoms.
Inside centre Bundee Aki and prop Andrew Porter are the two new Irish starters, while England lock Ollie Chessum was promoted to replace the injured Joe McCarthy.
Farrell’s son Owen, the former England captain, takes a spot on the bench with flanker Jac Morgan, who adds a Welsh presence after the Test team in Brisbane had none, the first time since the late 19th century.
Andy Farrell has called Saturday’s Test “the biggest game of [their] lives” — a chance to clinch a first series win in the 12 years since Warren Gatland’s team beat Robbie Deans’ Australia 2-1.
Victory at the MCG would also make Farrell’s Lions the first to wrap up the series with a match to spare since the 1997 tour of SA.
Reuters
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