Waratahs v British and Irish Lions - Teams and Prediction

PREVIEW: Not content with two half-century scorelines, the British and Irish Lions are promising the Waratahs no let-up.

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After piling on more than 50 points against both the Western Force and Queensland Reds, the rampant tourists tackle the Waratahs in Sydney on Saturday, intent on shifting up yet another gear.

With a huge squad of almost double the amount of players needed for the first Test against the Wallabies in Brisbane on July 19, the Lions hopefuls are hungry to impress coach Andy Farrell and push for a place in the matchday 23.

“That’s the ultimate goal, isn’t it, for everyone here. They want to play in those Tests and the only way to do that is to play well in all these games leading up to it,” said Irish lock Tadhg Beirne, who will captain the Lions on Saturday.

“If you’re not producing in these games, you’re not giving yourself a fighting chance.

“Everyone here wants to be in that 23, so everyone’s going to put their best foot forward.”

The story continues below…

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That could spell trouble for the undermanned Waratahs, who are missing several Wallabies on duty for Sunday’s season-opening international against Fiji in Newcastle.

Bookmakers are giving the Tahs no hope, offering the hosts a 40-point start in head-to-head betting.

In a chilling warning to Dan McKellar’s side, fellow Irish lock James Ryan says the Lions are out to improve on their eight-try victories over both the Force and Reds in the past week.

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“It’s about just getting better again,’ Ryan said on Friday.

“We thought we took a step forward on Wednesday in terms of our performance, discipline, and some of our defensive work was better against the Reds than maybe it was against the Force.

“So, we want to just push on the standard now again. You know the Tests are coming up in the next couple of weeks, so it’s just about getting better tomorrow night [Saturday].

“That’s the main thing.”

Captaining NSW in the absence of Wallabies star Jake Gordon, lock Hugh Sinclair says the Waratahs are embracing their big underdogs’ tag.

“We’ve been lucky that a lot of the [Waratahs] coaches and the players that we have been involved in Test matches, and they’ve spoken heavily throughout the week that it is a Test match,” Sinclair said.

“A lot of us haven’t had those sort of weeks and those experiences, but we’re treating it that way and we want to put in a performance. We don’t want to get beaten by 50.”

“We’ve talked about the Olympics being every four years, but the Lions are every 12 years, so many players don’t get an opportunity to play against them, so we’re extremely fortunate to be able to be in this position.

“The boys are just excited.”

Win or lose, it will be the retiring Sinclair’s last match for the Waratahs and says the honour ranks as the highlight of his career.

“I actually played the curtain raiser in 2013 for Northern Suburbs at the old stadium, so that was pretty cool.

“To captain this state and to do it against the British and Irish Lions, it will be my greatest rugby memory for sure.”

Players to watch:

For Waratahs: Big prop Taniela Tupou will want to make a massive statement and also give Wallaby Joe Schmidt some hope that his players can match the Lions’ power. Loose forward Rob Leota can make life hard for opponents with his physicality. In the backline, centre Lalakai Foketi is a tough man to mark when he gets good ball to work with out wide.

For British and Irish Lions: England flyhalf Finn Smith gets a shot to run the show, and his halfback partner is a familiar one in the form of Alex Mitchell. Blair Kinghorn, who normally plays fullback for Scotland and Toulouse, is on the wing, and he is an exciting ball-runner. In the pack, the young Henry Pollock gets another shot to grab headlines in that No.6 jersey.

Prediction

@rugby365com: British and Irish Lions by 39 points.

Teams:

Waratahs: 15 Lawson Creighton, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Lalakai Foketi, 12 Joey Walton, 11 Darby Lancaster, 10 Jack Bowen, 9 Teddy Wilson, 8 Hugh Sinclair (captain), 7 Charlie Gamble, 6 Rob Leota, 5 Miles Amatosero, 4 Fergus Lee-Warner, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Ethan Dobbins, 1 Tom Lambert.
Replacements: 16 Mahe Vailanu, 17 Jack Barrett, 18 Daniel Botha, 19 Matt Philip, 20 Jamie Adamson, 21 Jack Grant, 22 Tane Edmed, 23 Henry O’Donnell.

British and Irish Lions: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Blair Kinghorn, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Henry Pollock, 5 James Ryan, 4 Tadhg Beirne (captain), 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Dan Sheehan, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Joe McCarthy, 20 Scott Cummings, 21 Jac Morgan, 22 Ben White, 23 Marcus Smith.

Date: Saturday, June 5
Venue: Aussie Stadium, Sydney
Kick-off: 20.00 (11.00 UK time; 10.00 GMT)
Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: James Doleman (New Zealand), Angus Mabey (New Zealand)
TMO: Richard Kelly (New Zealand)

AAP & @rugby365com


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