Jones, Tuipulotu & Kinghorn start for Lions v Waratahs

British and Irish Lions vs. New South Wales Waratahs

Date: Saturday, July 5th, 2019 Kick-off: 11:00 BST

Hugo Keenan will start at full-back for the Lions, while Blair Kinghorn will make his Lions debut, making 14 changes from the one that defeated the Queensland Reds in Brisbane. Kinghorn, a natural 15-year-old, was chosen on the left wing after his season-winning debut with Toulouse.

The Lions will play backs and forwards on the bench for the first time on tour.

After Tomos Williams was forced out last weekend, Scotland’s scrum-half, Ben White, will make his Lions debut in Sydney. White replaces it.

For the first time on tour, Huw Jones joins his Scotland midfield partner Sione Tuipulotu alongside him, the only player returning from Brisbane.

Fin Smith and Alex Mitchell replace Finn Russell and Jamison Gibson-Park as Northampton halfbacks. Henry Pollock, a different saint, is back in the lineup for blind-side flanker.

The majority of Farrell’s press conference for the team announcement was dominated by questions about his son in downtown Sydney. When the coach was eventually inquired about the upcoming game between the Waratahs and his new captain, Beirne, he replied, “I’m delighted for Tadhg.”

“The squad that was chosen (to play the Waratahs) is an exciting one,” said Owen, “even though the sad news about Elliot and the news about Owen coming is the big one.” Tadhg serves as captain at the top of that list. He feels both proud and proud. When I told him, he was taken aback, which is exactly what you want.

The Lions packed up and left for Sydney, where Farrell’s call-up announcement began to surface. Farrell, a fly-half-cum-insider, took the place of the deeply unlucky Daly, a wing-cum-full-back-cum-outsider.

Given that he isn’t exactly a like-for-like switch, his father and his fellow coaches make a very contented call. If this tour was gliding along without edge or controversy, it would have ended on Thursday night, Sydney-time.

When Farrell was questioned about the negative way his son’s promotion went, Farrell replied, “Look, I hope people can get past that.” “That nonsense has been around for a while. That was a long time ago. All we need to do is move and accept both the Lions’ goals and the ones that lie ahead.

It was a plain cry. In rugbyland, it appeared that the news wasn’t all that positive. Farrell, 33, recently left Racing and made a comeback to Saracens following a disappointing time in France. Since being concussed in a match against Lyon on May 4, he hasn’t played rugby. He didn’t play since he only had 18 minutes that day.

Farrell, who was unquestionably a great player in his day, hasn’t played Test rugby since the incredible 615 days that he spent playing for England against Argentina at the World Cup in October 2023. He claimed at the time that he was deciding to leave the test field to concentrate on his and his family’s mental well-being.

Keenan, Hansen, Jones, Tuipulotu, Kinghorn, Smith, Mitchell, Schoeman, Cowan-Dickie, Bealham, Beirne, Ryan, Pollock, Van der Flier, Earl, Keenan, Hansen, Jones, Tuipulotu,