Archive June 27, 2025

The British and Irish Lions have been living in a bit of a parallel universe in Perth this past week, in a city rife with the coughs and splutters of Australian rules football teams like the Fremantle Dockers and West Coast Eagles.

No matter how much the rest of us care about them, the local media is aware of what presses change, and it’s not just the tourists.

Pages about AFL, more pages about ABL (baseball), the Matildas football team, and the newest entries from Northam and Bendigo, Hawkesbury and Mandurah.

and rehanes about the 17-year-old flying machine, a new Australian athletics sprint sensation, Gout Gout. You’ll miss him, it seems, if you blink.

The Western Force versus the Lions command seven paragraphs on page 65 of the Perth daily newspaper on Friday, including rumors that Harry Potter might have experienced the Evanesco vanishing spell before leaving for the Waratahs the following season.

No Lions player was mentioned. Wearing concealments, many of them.

There are a number of incredible natural and man-made wonders that can make your jaw drop to the floor in Australia, including a world that is unfathomable.

Which, in a way that resembles Alan Partridge with a hint of David Brent, is a quality that David Campese still possesses in rugby.

The once-great wing occasionally has a seemingly unremarkable air that makes you stand back in confusion at some of the things he’s prepared to do for air or print.

He has since resumed his work after the Lions’ loss to Argentina. He remarked with a bang that Maro Itoje is not a captain. Although it turns out that a good leader is not actually a leader at all when compared to the Force player, Itoje is not in the squad.

“I don’t know why you play [Marcus] Smith at full-back]versus the Pumas], but [Blair] Kinghorn is a much better player.” Kinghorn’s continued presence with Toulouse, Campo is the only drawback to that searing contribution.

He continued, “There is no]Brian] O’Driscoll at thirteen. Er, you’ve seen it. He claims that Andy Farrell is using rugby league strategies that could cause him a lot of trouble against the Wallabies. Hmm. The Wallabies were defeated by Farrell’s Ireland last autumn, right?

Campo is, to be fair, an assassin who targets Joe Schmidt for his “Joe Schmidt rugby” interests. versus …

His musings are included in an Australian Lions show. You’d be foolish to check his pulse if he weren’t, to be honest. Of course, nothing in his or anyone else’s words on the outside matters.

Performance is the only thing that currently counts. Perform the Lions Must if this tour is going to begin on Saturday.

A soaring Lions victory is expected. That is being realistic rather than disrespectful to the Force. The Force, one of four Australian franchises, finished the season with a Super Rugby score of ninth out of 11.

They are “hard to beat,” asserted Farrell. Really, not. They won four, lost nine, and drawn one.

Farrell attempted to persuade them that they weren’t far off in Super Rugby and that receiving nine losing bonus points proves that they “don’t go away.” But they frequently do. There were only four losing bonus points, in reality. In two games, they gave up more than 50 points, and in three more.

With Sione Tuipulotu restored inside center and Garry Ringrose making his Lions debut outside of him, Farrell has chosen a stellar backline with his diligent and clever wings, James Lowe and Mack Hansen.

At ten, Finn Russell is. On Friday, Farrell elatedly praised the Scot. People have long since been wondering if Johnny Sexton’s inclusion on the coaching ticket meant anything, especially since we’ve come a long way. On that front, everything is light and sweet.

Farrell wants his team to play creatively and quickly. Within a fundamental framework, there is a game of heads-up rugby. To Russell, that means meat and drink. According to the Lions coaches, the vision of what lies ahead is being partially based on the fly-half’s brilliance. We’ll see.

Finn can think more quickly than most people, according to Farrell. He comprehends everything. He’s the 10. He belongs to the “generals” category.

This is a likely last chance, in Russell’s opinion. He excelled at Bath and won numerous awards.

His game management has lost track of his natural flair in recent years, but his outrageous ability to unlock defenses in ways that opponents simply don’t see coming is alive and well. He ranks among the top ten.

He joined the Lions for third time in 2017, but his first two were completely unfulfilling: he was a Geography Six member in 2017 and a largely wasted asset during the Lions’ most gloomy tour of the modern era in 2021. Covid was ineffective. The stifling, risk-averse, and bleeding-eye stuff from the Test series was not attained either.

The most impressive moment cameo from Russell in the third Test against South Africa, but now it’s time for him to shine.

He has everything in order. Brilliant in every way. A fantastic pack to support. A strong wallabies’ defense and a strong backline behind him.

He has defeated Scotland four times in a row, including one of his best games for his country in Sydney in 2017. Both of his losses were a pointless. He shouldn’t be alarmed by the gold jersey or any other jerseys from this trip.

Mack Hansen couldn’t stop himself from reflecting on the lessons learned from last Friday night’s defeat by Argentina and looking forward to his first start for the British and Irish Lions against Western Force on Saturday.

An arresting line from a compelling character, “The only team that can beat us is us,” he says. “We’re going to let us down if we’re not on it and we’re not doing things to the best of our ability.”

You couldn’t tell from Hansen’s demeanor when he spoke about it that he had a strong impact when he came off the bench against Argentina. The Ireland wing is undoubtedly laid-back, but only a small percentage of who he is thanks to his eccentricity and relaxed personality.

He also has a deadly seriousness. We lost, so it was a really strange feeling because I’ve officially become a Lion, which is incredible and everything. Regardless of the team you’re playing, we are four of the best in the world.

The ACT Brumbies team, which includes his former house-mate Bayley Kuenzle, who starts on the bench for the hosts in Perth, will start with the Australian-born winger starting on Saturday against the Force, a team that includes three of his old friends from the ACT Brumbies.

Hansen’s self-assured attitude is widely praised, but he also reveals a different side. Does he experience anxiety? Will he be concerned before leaving Saturday’s Optus Stadium?

He says, “Definitely, yeah, yeah,” “yes.” I can’t even eat anything, you know, before the game. You have butterflies, you feel sick, and you are undoubtedly carrying all of that, but you are aware that this is the best job there is. I’d rather be in the moment than waiting for them to vanish.

To be honest, anyone who claims they don’t feel anxious is lying. Because there are so many things at stake, playing at those levels is exactly what comes with doing so. There is a meaning to it.

Hansen, 27, has an odd side. He doesn’t score try-scorers very often for his wing. Only once has he ever been an elite player with double-figures. He is not very tall, he isn’t very quick by modern standards, and he isn’t as powerful as many people think. He is not exactly a physical specimen.

However, his entire package is a remarkable package. The secret is in his intelligence. Andy Farrell, his Ireland and Lions coach, enjoys that aspect of it. His game awareness, his decision-making, his work ethic, his sense of space, and his adage, “Do you know what you’re doing right at the right time” are all traits.

“I suppose the other guys, Tommy Freeman, and James Lowe,” would be a little quicker and more aggressive than I am. Simply put, that’s not my style. I make an effort to assist wherever I can, whether that means getting the ball in my hands, playing back, or anything else.

My main focus is on my off-the-ball work, which is why I do it so frequently. Keep working, and wherever I can, try to be as interested in the game. That is a modest assessment. Hanzen is an exceptional player.

He makes some interesting observations about the players’ likely mindsets for Saturday in the Force. That team will undoubtedly be able to prepare for that when you’re facing a large team like ours, he says.

They only have one game until vacation. You can improve. No, we don’t expect anything simple. They aren’t playing the Force this week, and they are saying, “All right, boys, let’s go out here and lose by 40.”

They believe we can cause an uproar, they say.

similar to what the Brumbies did in June 2013. The Canberra boys won 14-12 after Tevita Kuridrani scored the only try.

Hansen, who was born and raised in Canberra and has an Irish mother, recalls, “I was at the Brumbies game and the Brumbies beat the Lions.”

“Things do occur,” he declared. I vividly recall the excitement surrounding that tour, seeing these players you never really get to see. It just seemed so amazing to me and was cool. I’m actually living a dream right now that it’s here and I’m doing it.

Once upon a time, Brumbies’ victory was a glorious memory, but now he’s turning it into a salutary tale and an experience to keep his toes afloat. Fear of failure can be suffocating, but when used wisely, it can be a powerful force for good.

“I attended the Brumbies game with my dad and my brother.” He claims that we were seated in the backseat. You don’t expect anyone to actually do it, so it was a mad thing. Afterward, I spoke with some guys who were enthusiastic about that. They had spent weeks anticipating that game.

Hansen anticipates that the Force will not change. This is a chance for them to bounce back from a bad season, and it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to turn over the Lions.

After leading team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri to a McLaren one-two in Friday practice at the Austrian Grand Prix, Lando Norris predicted a “tight” qualifying period.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was third fastest, 0. 318 seconds off the pace, behind Piastri, who was 0. 157 seconds quicker.

Lance Stroll from Aston Martin came in fourth place, ahead of George Russell’s Mercedes and Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari.

This weekend, all of the McLaren, Red Bull, and Ferrari models will receive upgrades.

McLaren has updated its front suspension shaping to work with a brand-new front wing that was first tested at the most recent Canadian race.

Norris concluded the session by saying that the car “felt good from the beginning.”

Verstappen claimed that Red Bull had a new floor edge and that the car “lacks a little pace” and “a little too much understeer in the car” in addition to short run and long runs. We must make an effort to eliminate that.

Ferrari’s new floor, which was Lewis Hamilton’s 10th fastest, is their first upgrade since Bahrain in April, completely redesigned.

“A lot of work was put in place to bring the floor, but as you can see, it hasn’t necessarily affected our competitiveness. Hamilton remarked. The car actually doesn’t feel bad; it just moves very slowly, “we.” We must examine that.

Yuki Tsunoda of Red Bull placed seventh, followed by Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin, Fernando Alonso of Sauber, and Hamilton of Aston Martin.

The later stages of the race simulation gave a complex picture, with the leading drivers choosing various tire types.

Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes, who is 11th fastest on the list of headline lap times, appeared to have a slight advantage over Norris and Leclerc on the medium tyre.

Verstappen ran a short distance on a soft tyre while Piastri ran a long distance on a hard tyre, slightly quicker than Hamilton.

We may have moved a little slower than some of the others, but I’m confident that they will eventually catch up. Max is close behind, and Red Bull’s performance tends to improve significantly going into Saturday.

“I anticipate a good day tomorrow, and I’m confident that some things will change,” he said. Tomorrow will still be tense. It is always that way.

Verstappen is the driver who has the best chance of posing as the McLarens, according to Piastri, the championship leader. This weekend, he’ll undoubtedly pose a threat, the Australian warned.

“The car is feeling good, and I think it’s a really good day,” the driver said.

Russell, who won the Canadian Grand Prix two weeks ago, claimed Mercedes was completely surprised by his time that had topped first practice.

We need to consider why we didn’t have the same pace as we did in the qualifying runs this morning, and the race pace was significantly slower than it did in the qualifying runs, he continued.

McLaren’s Alexander Dunne made an impressive F1 debut in the first session.

The 19-year-old Irishman finished fourth fastest behind Piastri, who is leading the Formula 2 championship this year and who had his first taste of an F1 car on a grand prix weekend.

In order to prepare for his race at the Red Bull Ring, Dunne recently had a test in McLaren’s 2023 car in Austin, Texas.

In addition to then McLaren driver Alonso, Dunne’s performance can be seen as being comparable to Norris’ similar pace when he drove in practice at the 2018 Italian Grand Prix.