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31st July 2025
12:29pm BST
With the Test series won for the Lions, following their victory over Australia last Saturday to make it 2-0, some fans were calling for head coach Andy Farrell to make wholesale changes to the match-day 23 for the third Test.
Although Farrell rightly wants to do everything he can to win 3-0, there was a strong argument to bring in a few players who have performed well so far and have been on the wrong end of some close selection calls.
An obvious example is Josh van der Flier, who not only has performed brilliantly in the warm-up games, but it one of Faz's 'undroppables' with Ireland.
As the 2022 World Rugby Player of the Year and one of the most consistent performers in the game, it is a pity and a surprise that van der Flier will likely never get a Lions Test cap.
Fans of his were quick to voice their displeasure on social media.
JVDF has been very hard done by on this tour
— jc (@carrolj_john) July 31, 2025
An absolute disgrace that JVDF didn’t see a test minute. No reason for Beirne and Curry there again with the series won.
— jonathan o neill (@snookeramerica) July 31, 2025
Speaking with media after the team announcement, Farrell pointed out that those who have missed out on the Tests have nonetheless been incredibly supportive.
He said: "[I’ve learned] just how much they care. How much they care about the Lions, the Lions dream. How much it means to them.
"When you package all that together of what it takes to come together as a top-class outfit as far as a rugby team, that’s at the heart of it.
"It actually touches you. It does. It touches you in the sense of how much it means to them.
"For example, you come in after such a big victory on Saturday night, and I just left them to it because I couldn’t get a word in.
"The ones that were celebrating most were the ones who hadn’t put the shirt on. It says it all, to be honest.
"When we met back up on Tuesday and announced the team on Wednesday morning, and you see the same again – people reacting and congratulating each other. You get the type of training session we got yesterday afternoon, it says a lot about the squad."
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