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We've come this Farr & yet we're not really that wiser about what Test team looks like

Irish Daily Star

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July 07, 2025

THE decisions will have to come hard and fast from Andy Farrell as the reality begins to sink in.

We've come this Farr & yet we're not really that wiser about what Test team looks like

He has learned little from assembly, travel and four games to here and some of what he has learned has had to be revised.

This Lions squad assembled in Dublin 28 days ago before losing to a highly-motivated opponent in Argentina.

They left for Australia the day after and set about what was hoped would be a learning curve aimed at sorting Test selection with facile wins over Western Force and Queensland Reds.

But they slid down a greasy pole with an unnervingly listless display against Waratahs on Saturday, another team they were supposed to have a handy training spin against.

On Friday night there was a list of eight players who were not going to be involved in the first Test, they had played and weren't up to scratch.

Then came the game in Sydney and four played themselves back into contention in face of almost everyone else in the starting lineup looking like they were there after a night on the town.

The eight who had dropped off the radar were Marcus Smith, Huw Jones, Pierre Schoeman, Scott Cummins, James Ryan, Tom Curry, Ben Earls and Ben White, called in for the unfortunate Tomas Williams.

So imagine the confusion as the done-to-there jigsaw gets tipped over.

Cummins and Jones along with Alex Mitchell looked the best Lions on the pitch, Schoeman wins four penalties from eight scrums and Earls rehabilites himself as a contender for No.8.

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