Farrell appoints his son as B&I Lions captain
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Owen Farrell will captain the British and Irish Lions against a First Nations and Pasifika XV on Tuesday.
Fellow England veteran Jamie George was also named in the starting line-up, named on Monday, for the encounter in Melbourne.
The tourists have won all six games in Australia so far, including a polished 27-19 victory over the Wallabies in the first Test at Brisbane at the weekend.
But with the second Test at the cavernous Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday, coach Andy Farrell is not risking any injuries to his first-choice stars.
None of the Brisbane starting side is in the matchday 23 for the clash at Melbourne’s Docklands Stadium on Tuesday against an untested team spearheaded by Wallabies great Kurtley Beale.
That has opened the door to a host of players looking to make a late case to play a part in the second Test, including former England captain Farrell.
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He came off the bench for a solid cameo against a combined Australia-New Zealand side after his surprise call-up to replace the injured Elliot Daly.
The 33-year-old now gets the chance to start and impress his father, coach Andy Farrell, enough to earn a bench spot for the second Test in what will be his 20th B&I Lions appearance.
Farrell will partner Ireland’s Jamie Osborne in the centre, with Scotland’s Ben White at scrumhalf and England’s Fin Smith the playmaker at No.10.
Fullback Blair Kinghorn returns from injury and forms an all-Scotland back three alongside Darcy Graham and Duhan van Der Merwe.
Up front, 102-Test veteran hooker George, who was called up last week as cover for the concussed Luke Cowan-Dickie, will pack down with Scotland’s Pierre Schoeman and Irishman Finlay Bealham.
Ireland’s James Ryan is partnered in the second row by Scot Scott Cummings while in the back, Wales captain Jac Morgan lines up alongside Ireland’s Josh van der Flier and England’s Henry Pollock.
British and Irish Lions: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Jamie Osborne, 12 Owen Farrell (captain), 11 Duhan van Der Merwe, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Ben White, 8 Henry Pollock, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Jac Morgan, 5 Scott Cummins, 4 James Ryan, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Jamie George, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Tom Clarkson, 19 Gregor Brown, 20 Ben Earl, 21 Alex Mitchell, 22 Marcus Smith, 23 Garry Ringrose.
Date: Tuesday, July, 22
Venue: Docklands Stadium, Melbourne
Kick-off: 20.00 (11.00 BST, 10.00 GMT)
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Assistant referees: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Andrea Piardi (Italy)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
