The 2025 British and Irish Lions arrived in Perth on Sunday for their tour of Australia
Verbal jousting on British and Irish Lions tours is as much a part of the deal as the rugby itself - and the mind games started anew in recent days.
Wallaby coach Joe Schmidt (a Kiwi) on one side and Lions general manager of performance David Nucifora (an Australian) on the other. The psychological bunfights have begun.
Schmidt described Sione Tuipulotu (Melbourne-born) and Bundee Aki (Auckland-born) as the "southern hemisphere centre partnership" in the Lions' opener against Argentina on Friday night. And they are. But was it an innocent remark or one with a bit of edge? Bet the house on the latter.
He would know well that this is a touchy subject for some in Lionsland, most notably the great Willie John McBride, who is not on board with so many 'foreigners' playing for the Lions. In the squad there are two South African-born players, three born in Australia and four born in New Zealand.
