Kinghorn starts on the wing with the Lions making minimal changes to their side
Blair Kinghorn will start on the wing for the British and Irish Lions in the third Test against Australia rugby in Sydney as Andy Farrell’s side bid to seal a 3-0 clean sweep.
Kinghorn impressed off the bench after recovering from a knee injury to feature in the second Test at the MCG last weekend, and takes the place of James Lowe, who drops out of the matchday squad entirely.
James Ryan, who also made a strong impact as a replacement in Melbourne, steps in for Ollie Chessum alongside captain Maro Itoje in the second row, while Tadhg Furlong starts a ninth consecutive Lions Test at tighthead.
On the bench, Ben Earl returns to the squad as one of six forwards, with Alex Mitchell and Owen Farrell providing backline cover.
Joe McCarthy, Mack Hansen and Sione Tuipulotu are not present despite returning to training after injuries earlier this week, and Farrell has resisted the urge to rotate heavily at the end of a long tour.
“We have put ourselves in a great position to finish this Tour with our best performance to date and create our own piece of history,” the head coach said.
“Last weekend’s Test match in Melbourne was an incredible spectacle and illustrated how special Lions Tours are and what they mean to both the players and the supporters.
“We are expecting another epic battle this weekend against a Wallaby side that showed their quality last week.”
The Lions have not won every match of a Test series since touring Argentina in 1927, though the “Invincibles” of 1974 beat South Africa 3-0 and drew the final Test.
Lions XV to face Australia in Sydney (Saturday 2 August, 11am BST): 1 Andrew Porter, 2 Dan Sheehan, 3 Tadhg Furlong; 4 Maro Itoje (capt.), 5 James Ryan; 6 Tadhg Beirne, 7 Tom Curry, 8 Jack Conan; 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 10 Finn Russell; 11 Blair Kinghorn, 12 Bundee Aki, 13 Huw Jones, 14 Tommy Freeman; 15 Hugo Keenan.
Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Jac Morgan, 21 Ben Earl; 22 Alex Mitchell, 23 Owen Farrell.
Category: General Sports
