'Will Australia be competitive?’

Ireland legend Jonathan Sexton has identified the main reason why Australia could pose a major threat when the two sides go head-to-head next month.

The excitement surrounding the 2025 tour is ramping up this week with the Lions playing Argentina in Friday’s 1888 Cup match at the Twickenham Stadium, and Schmidt set to name a provisional Wallabies squad on Thursday.

Australia may sit eighth in the World Rugby Rankings at present, but their improved performances and results over the last year suggest they are a team on the rise, and dangerous opponents, especially in front of their home support.

Getting the better of the Lions would represent a big scalp for them, and in the process, both avenge the 2013 series defeat and provide massive momentum two years out from the next World Cup in Australia.

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“You can see the impact Joe [Schmidt] has had already,”  said Sexton, one of six assistant coaches in the British & Irish Lions camp

“The narrative at the start of the year was, ‘Will Australia be competitive?’, and then they go and beat Wales, beat England, and come very, very close to beating Ireland, and suddenly the narrative changes – ‘It’s going to be an incredibly hard tour’.

“You always knew it was going to be a hard tour, and particularly with Joe in there. He’s a smart coach and a smart man.

“He’ll have them well prepared, and it’s important that we just get ourselves in a place where we can get into the Test series and attack it. It’s going to be a great one, I think.”

Along with Sexton’s close ties with Schmidt – he even admitted to playing games at the end of his career ‘with Joe’s voice in my head’, fellow Lions assistant coaches, John Fogarty and Andrew Goodman, also played under the Kiwi at Leinster.

Simon Easterby, who was Ireland’s interim head coach in Farrell’s absence for this year’s Six Nations, first joined the national set-up in 2014 when he came on board as forwards coach, leading to five years working alongside Schmidt.

A friend and mentor to many in Irish Rugby, the 59-year-old former schoolteacher remains one of the best coaches in the world, and as well as ensuring the Wallabies have regained their competitive edge, he must be privately proud of his involvement in the careers of those in the Lions camp.

Sexton was asked about the record Irish representation in this year’s Lions squad, with prop Finlay Bealham called up to replace the injured Zander Fagerson, taking that number to 16.

Back-to-back champions Ireland were unable to match their achievements from recent seasons when finishing third in the 2025 Six Nations whilst winning another Triple Crown, but their former captain says the players selected to tour Australia have been rewarded for their form over a longer period.

“Well Ireland have done pretty well over the last few years, I think, having won the Championship last year, the Grand Slam the year before,” said Sexton, who is the Lions kicking coach for their trip Down Under.

“So you’re probably looking at form over the last three years. With some players, I think the coaches probably look at form over seven, eight, nine years. It’s not just if you played well in a couple of games in the Six Nations.

“You can force your way in but sometimes you take a bigger picture look with players, and obviously they know the way Andy coaches, they know the system, so it didn’t surprise me

“I can go through the players and think, ‘Who are you talking about that you wouldn’t have picked?’, because for me, in the last three or four years, they’ve been consistently performing well.

“Sometimes you can be swayed by how the Six Nations finished when the first game, Ireland versus England, that was a great performance, and that still comes into consideration.

“I have never seen as thorough a process in terms of all the combinations, the number of players that were considered, the number of players that were talked about.

“Andy did all of those players justice in terms of putting enough research, work, and asking relevant people, and he’s picked the squad that he thinks gives him the best chance to win the tour.”

Meanwhile, Leicester Tigers and England scrumhalf Jack van Poortvliet flew into Dublin today to train with the Lions as they build towards their opening fixture of their tour schedule against Argentina.

Van Poortvliet, who had been included in England’s squad ahead of this week’s match against a France XV, joins the Lions group as cover ahead of the game on Friday.

The recently turned 24-year-old made his England debut against Australia in Perth in July 2022 and has since won 15 caps for his country.

Sexton also spoke about how a ‘tough week in Portugal has been good for the group’, which has now swelled from 24 to 38 players with the addition of those involved in the league final wins for Leinster and Bath last weekend.

It provides an interesting dynamic with the players involved in last week’s warm-weather training camp set to lead the charge against the Pumas on a historic night at the home of Irish Rugby.

“The guys that have been in camp will get a chance to play on Friday and put a marker down so those Leinster and Bath boys will be going, ‘Wow, we’re a little bit behind here’.

“There’s an advantage, but also the environment Andy creates demands that these guys who have been here for a good week in Portugal fill the guys in, make sure they know what’s going on.

“Those coming in will be keen to get out on the pitch and make an impression as well because the players that have been here have really made an impression so far,” he added.