Pollock-mania and 4 other talking points heading into the Lions tour

The British and Irish Lions will head to Australia with high hopes of repeating the triumph they recorded Down Under 12 years ago.

Andy Farrell’s squad are widely backed to emerge victorious against the Wallabies over three Tests in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.

Here, the PA news agency looks at some key talking points ahead of the tour.

Test series success non-negotiable

The Lions have embarked on seven tours during rugby union’s 31-year professional era, but on four of those occasions they returned home as a beaten Test team. They famously toppled world champions South Africa in 1997, then saw off Australia 16 years later, but that 2013 triumph masterminded by Warren Gatland was their last overseas success. Farrell’s squad will encounter a team gradually finding its feet following a dismal 2023 World Cup campaign that saw them knocked out in the pool stage, yet the Wallabies only have a world ranking of eighth and the Lions are justifiably red-hot favourites.

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Mighty Maro will lead from the front

The Lions captaincy race was viewed as a straight contest between England skipper Maro Itoje and Ireland talisman Caelan Doris. They were head and shoulders above anyone else as contenders, and while Doris’ horrible luck subsequently sidelined him from the tour due to injury, Itoje becomes England’s first Lions leader since Martin Johnson – also in Australia – 24 years ago. He was guaranteed to be among the first names on Farrell’s Test team-sheet and he will relish the additional responsibility bestowed on him, with every chance that his stock as a modern-day playing great could rise even further.

Farrell ticks all the right boxes

When the Lions power-brokers sat down to choose their head coach for this summer’s expedition, it would undoubtedly have been one of the shortest selection meetings in rugby history. Andy Farrell was not so much knocking on the door as their stand-out candidate, but smashing it down. During a six-year stint as Ireland boss, he has overseen Six Nations title and Grand Slam success, a first Test series win against the All Blacks in New Zealand and an historic victory over the Springboks on South African soil. He was also part of the 2013 Lions coaching staff, so knows the ropes. Appears a perfect choice.

Pollock-mania unlikely to relent

Henry Pollock was just eight years old when the Lions last won a Test series, but he travels Down Under as a player who could take Australia by storm. The England and Northampton back-row has played only 32 minutes of Test rugby, but he scored two tries during that memorable cameo against Wales and was a key part of Saints’ march to this season’s Champions Cup final. Pollock will not turn 21 until January 2026 and it is hard to recall in recent times a young player making so big an impact during such a short period of time. Having made the Lions squad he will now target a Test team place – and it might be wise not to bet against it.

Australia coach is no ordinary Joe

Joe Schmidt set a high bar for Farrell to follow as Ireland head coach, overseeing three Six Nations title-winning campaigns among other notable achievements. He took charge of Australia post-2023 World Cup, succeeding Eddie Jones, and while plotting the Lions’ downfall is a tough assignment, Schmidt will be tuned in to what it might require. As former Lions captain Brian O’Driscoll recently told the PA news agency: “Joe will absolutely have them organised, he will have them competitive and this landslide victory stuff (for the Lions) that some people are talking about, I don’t subscribe to it.”