Owen Farrell to captain Lions for first time in Melbourne clash

By Duncan Bech, PA Rugby Union Correspondent, Melbourne

Owen Farrell will lead the British and Irish Lions for the first time in Tuesday’s match against the First Nations & Pasifika XV at Marvel Stadium.

Farrell is given his maiden start of the tour 17 days after he joined the Lions squad as a call-up for Elliot Daly and forges a midfield partnership with fellow late arrival Jamie Osborne.

The former England captain came on as a second-half replacement against AUNZ on July 12th and produced some eye-catching moments in attack as he blew away the cobwebs in his first appearance since May 4th.

It will be the first time in four tours that he has skippered the Lions and his selection presents the opportunity to play his way into contention for Saturday’s second Test against the Wallabies.

Blair Kinghorn has the chance to prove his fitness for the Melbourne Cricket Ground showdown after missing the series opener in Brisbane with a knee injury, lining up at full-back.

Alex Mitchell is set to continue his remarkable run of having played in every match on tour after being picked on the bench, where he is joined by Ben Earl and Marcus Smith, who are also backing up, having been involved in Saturday’s 27-19 win against Australia.

Garry Ringrose has recovered from the concussion that forced him to miss out at Suncorp Stadium to secure a replacement’s role for the final midweek game of the tour.

The Ireland star was favourite to start the Test series at outside centre until he suffered his head injury, resulting in Huw Jones and Sione Tuipulotu being paired together in their tried and tested all-Scotland combination.

There are three specialist opensides in the back row in Jac Morgan, Josh van der Flier and Henry Pollock, each of whom has an outside chance of winning a place on the bench for the second Test.

Apart from Farrell and Osborne, there are seven further late additions to the squad involved in Darcy Graham, Ben White, Jamie George, Ewan Ashman, Rory Sutherland, Tom Clarkson and Gregor Brown.

“This fixture gives players another opportunity to put their hand up for selection for the final two Tests,” Lions head coach Andy Farrell said.

“The coaches’ minds are open when it comes to selection, they have to be with so many players performing and pushing for places and we want that to continue for the remaining two Tests.

“This group know the level of performance that we will require against a First Nations Pasifika team that is packed with talent and power.”

Lions team: B Kinghorn (Toulouse/Scotland); D Graham (Edinburgh Rugby/Scotland), J Osborne (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), O Farrell (Saracens/England, capt), D van der Merwe (Edinburgh Rugby/Scotland); F Smith (Northampton Saints/England), B White (Toulon/Scotland); P Schoeman (Edinburgh Rugby/Scotland), J George (Saracens/England), F Bealham (Connacht Rugby/Ireland), J Ryan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), S Cummings (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), J Morgan (Ospreys/Wales), J van der Flier (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), H Pollock (Northampton Saints/England).

Replacements: E Ashman (Edinburgh Rugby/Scotland), R Sutherland (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), T Clarkson (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), G Brown (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), B Earl (Saracens/England), A Mitchell (Northampton Saints/England), M Smith (Harlequins/England), G Ringrose (Leinster Rugby/Ireland).