Huw Jones explains how coach’s intensity and nurturing of team spirit has the tourists on verge of a 3-0 win in Australia
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itting in a car-wash with the windows jammed open would be marginally drier than walking the streets of Sydney this week. The forecast rain stayed away for the decisive second Test in Melbourne, but the outlook for the Accor Stadium on Saturday is properly damp. Not that the Lions are overly bothered as they seek to squeeze every last drop of joy out of their tour of Australia.
From the moment they met up the mantra of this party has been based on showing the absolute best of themselves in the Test matches and winning this series 3-0. Nothing has changed in that regard, as reflected in Farrell’s largely rinse-and-repeat final-Test selection with the exception of Blair Kinghorn and James Ryan being elevated to the starting XV and a forward-loaded 6-2 bench split.
As anyone with knowledge of Farrell’s competitive instincts will be aware, the chances of him easing off the downcast Wallabies at this late juncture were always on the non-existent side of slim. A final flourish is not always easily achieved at the end of a long, punishing season but, in this case, all the most influential Lions are fit and hungry and motivation is not a problem.
