Lions drop James Lowe for third Test as Andy Farrell makes two changes

Scotland wing Blair Kinghorn and Ireland lock James Ryan have been promoted into the Lions starting XV as Andy Farrell resists the temptation to make sweeping changes for the final Test against Australia.

Kinghorn replaces James Lowe on the left wing while Ryan, who enjoyed an impressive cameo off the bench in the second Test, comes in for Ollie Chessum who drops to the bench where Farrell has gone for a 6-2 split of forwards and backs.

That means Owen Farrell, who has played exclusively at fly-half and centre, is the sole backline cover outside of scrum-half Alex Mitchell.

Head coach Farrell has made clear that his ambition is to pull off a 3-0 series whitewash over Australia, and to that end he has picked his strongest team rather than rotate to give other players a chance to pick up first Test caps.

The all-Leinster front row of Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong start again. Furlong, the tighthead prop, will equal Alun Wyn Jones’ record of starting in nine consecutive Lions Tests matches, while captain Maro Itoje will play in his ninth successive match having come off the bench for his Lions debut against New Zealand in 2017. The back row of Tadhg Beirne, Tom Curry and Jack Conan is also unchanged for a third successive Test as is the half-back pairing of Jamison Gibson-Park and Finn Russell.

Bundee Aki continues at inside centre alongside Scotland’s Huw Jones while Kinghorn comes into the back three alongside full-back Hugo Keenan and wing Tommy Freeman, who is one of just three English players in the starting XV. Ireland boast nine players for a second successive Test while Kinghorn’s inclusion boosts Scotland’s representation to three.

Versatile loose forward Ben Earl comes on to the bench alongside fellow forwards Ronan Kelleher, Ellis Genge, Will Stuart, Chessum and Welsh flanker Jac Morgan.

Neither of Farrell’s changes to his starting XV are surprising. Despite his huge faith in Lowe, the Ireland wing has underwhelmed in his first two starts and Kinghorn immediately added thrust to the Lions attack when he came off the bench in the second Test at the MCG. The Scottish playmaker was one of the form players coming into the tour, but arrived late owing to his commitments with Top 14 champions Toulouse, and also picked up a knee injury.

Chessum, too, pays the price for a quiet performance in the second Test with Ryan catching the eye with his destructive carrying and tackling in the Lions 29-26 victory in Melbourne.

“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,” Farrell 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.”

Meanwhile, Australia head coach Joe Schmidt has handed surprise starts to scrum-half Nic White and prop Taniela Tupou.

White did not feature in the first two Tests but the veteran comes straight into the starting XV in his final Test, replacing Jake Gordon in the No 9 shirt. Rugby Australia had already announced this will be the 35-year-old’s final Test match for the Wallabies and he will add a wealth of experience alongside 22-year-old fly-half Tom Lynagh, as well as a well-earned reputation for sledging.

Tupou, too, appeared to be out of favour with Schmidt after a disappointing individual performance in the Lions’ warm-up match against the Waratahs. However, Tupou redeemed himself with a positive display for the First Nations & Pasifika XV and replaces the injured Allan Alaalatoa in the starting XV.

There are two other enforced changes to the side that lost in Melbourne as Exeter-bound flanker Tom Hooper and wing Dylan Pietsch replace Rob Valentini and Harry Potter, who both picked up injuries in the second Test.

“The squad was certainly deflated after the gut-wrenching end to last week’s test in Melbourne,” Schmidt said, “but they have started to gather momentum in the back half of the week and will be ready to go again on Saturday.”

Lions want to finish series off in a brutal fashion

Andy Farrell is intent on going for the jugular. In making just two changes to the starting XV that clinched the series in such dramatic fashion in Melbourne last Saturday, he has once again shown there is no place for sentimentality on this tour.

With a 2-0 series lead, Farrell could have used the third Test as an opportunity to reward some players who have yet to feature in the series with a cap. But instead, he is asking the majority of those who have done the job for him to go again.

The two changes are form-based. Blair Kinghorn deserves his chance to start on the left wing ahead of James Lowe, who has not managed to show anywhere near his top form on the tour. Kinghorn showed in the dramatic final exchanges in Melbourne, as the Lions attempted to successfully snatch victory with Hugo Keenan’s last-minute try, his game-breaking ability, stretching the Wallabies defensive line when it was at its most desperate.

James Ryan also made a vital contribution in the Lions’ late push for glory with a ferociously physical cameo, both in smashing into the breakdown and a vital carry in the build-up to Keenan’s try.

I had expected that Farrell might rest Tom Curry, given the toll his immense physical contribution seems to have taken on his body, but the Sale Sharks flanker has been asked to go again. Significantly though, Farrell has for the first time on the tour opted to go for a 6-2 split on his bench, adding Ben Earl to his replacements.

It is another sign that the Lions want to finish off this series in a brutal fashion, and attempt to counter the significant step-up in physicality that the Wallabies brought to their game in the second Test, having raced into a 23-5 lead thanks in large part to the impact of Rob Valetini and Will Skelton.

No Lions side has won a series 3-0 in the professional era, and you have to go back to 1927 for their last whitewash series, a 4-0 triumph against Argentina. Farrell has backed his men to lift themselves for one last massive effort. History beckons.