
Rugby
Share
Published 11:23 4 Jul 2025 BST
Updated 12:11 4 Jul 2025 BST

This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a commission on any sales generated from it.
It is two out of two for the British and Irish Lions on Australian soil after big wins against Western Force and Queensland Reds in the opening two warm up games.
Next up are New South Wales Waratahs at the Allianz Stadium in Sydney on Saturday 5 July at 11am (8pm local time) and fans in Ireland can watch the game on Sky Sports.
The broadcaster has secured the rights to all Lions games for the tour and if you do not have a Sky Sports subscription you can buy a one-day NowTV pass to access the game here.
The game against Waratahs will be the third Lions game of the summer. Defeat to Argentina in Dublin has been followed by dominant victories over Western Force and Reds. Last time out Andy Farrell's men ran out 52-12 winners with a much-changed side that included new captain Maro Itoje and a handful of Irish stars.
There will be 14 changes again for the trip to Sydney and a new captain as Irish international Tadhg Beirne will lead the team. Farrell faced several questions about calling up his son Owen to replace injured Elliot Daly but he did take some time to speak about Beirne's role.
He said: "I know there's the sad news about Elliot and the news about Owen coming is the big one, but the squad that's been picked (to play the Waratahs) is an exciting one. At the top of that is Tadhg as captain. He's honoured and delighted. It took him aback when I told him and that's exactly the type of reaction you want."
Fellow Irish internationals Finlay Bealham, Josh Van Der Flier, Mack Hansen, Hugo Keenan and James Ryan line up alongside Beirne in a much-changed Lions side.
The Lions team will be:
British and Irish Lions: Keenan, Hansen, Jones, Tuipulotu, Kinghorn, Smith, Mitchell; Schoeman, Cowan-Dickie, Bealham, Beirne, Ryan, Pollock, Van der Flier, Earl
Replacements: Sheehan, Genge, Furlong, McCarthy, Cummings. Morgan, White, M Smith
The Lions will face ACT Brumbies on 9 July followed by an invitational Australia and New Zealand side on 12 July. The first test against the Wallabies will be on Saturday 19 July at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
Peter O’Mahony open to Munster role after huge criticism of province
Fascinating insights from POM. Peter O’Mahony became the latest ex-player to criticise the management of Munster rugby; first in extracts from his new autobiography, All In, and now from a revealing chat with the Irish Independent. Last year, former scrum-half Conor Murray made headlines when he lambasted the Munster hierarchy. When asked whether he felt […]
Rugby
2 days ago
Ex-England star in frame for Ireland squad after superb Munster debut
A quality signing it seems! The signing of Kieran Brookes was met with scepticism by some Munster supporters, earlier this year; and, indeed, the signing of a 36-year-old, who hadn’t played international rugby since 2016 – bar an appearance for the Barbarians – didn’t seem on par with the signing of hooker, and South Africa […]
Rugby
3 days ago
Rugby
Rugby