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Five Lions that can maul the Wallabies
Andy Farrell has named his British and Irish Lions squad for the 2025 tour to Australia to play the Wallabies, and it is a great squad.
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As an Australian rugby journo, you naturally spend more time analysing the talent in your own backyard than that of four nations on the other side of the world, this also means that one becomes acutely aware of the Wallabies’ shortcomings.
Looking at the squad, there were several alarm bells going off about particular players who could really expose the underbelly of a Wallabies side still trying to find its centre of gravity under head coach Joe Schmidt.
So, coming from an Australian perspective, here is a list of the five Lions players that the Wallabies should be most concerned about, heading into the series.
1. Sione Tuipulotu – Inside Centre – Scotland
The Scottish captain is a giant of world centres, not literally, at 178cm and 103kgs, he’s by no means the biggest No.12 in the world game, but it’s compactness and power which makes him such a threat.
You only need to cast your mind back to November last year when a 196cm, 98kg Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii came off second best when the Wallabies rookie lined him up for an almighty tackle.
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Suaalii left the field with a lame arm, mouthing off to the Scottish captain, his countryman, as he left, but Tuipulotu remained and forged ahead, leading his side to a strong victory over the Wallabies.
Should Suaalii and Tuipulotu clash in the centres again, it would be worth the price of admission alone, but the stone-cold fact of the matter is the 30-cap Scotsman is better than the young Aussie superstar.
Tuipulotu with either of the Irish duo of Gary Ringrose, Bundee Aki or fellow Scotsman Huw Jones could put Suaalii or any other Wallaby centre combination under serious pressure.
In attack, Tuipulotu is likely to be outside maverick flyhalf and countryman Finn Russell, meaning there will be a Scottish axis with a deep understanding of how each other plays.
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Together, they could instinctively and at a moment’s notice change their tack to expose an inexperienced Wallabies centre combination.
Tuipulotu has a Langi Gleeson-esque ability to accelerate into contact, and has a leg drive to match. He alone will be a massive handful for the Wallaby defenders, and he’s a strong defender without the ball.
The Australian, the one who got away, has a complete skillset, and now all that remains to see is if he will come back to haunt his home nation.
2. Maro Itoje (C)– Lock – England
You don’t go on three consecutive Lions tours unless you are one of the most elite players in the world, and Itoje is just that, and he’s been rewarded with the captaincy for his insane consistency at the highest levels.
He has played in every Lions Test since his debut in the 2017 tour of New Zealand against the All Blacks, an awesome feat for any player.
Where Itoje raises massive concerns from the Wallabies’ perspective is his ability at the maul and breakdown.
There are few better in the world at disrupting a maul, and if there is anything we can learn from the stats in Super Rugby Pacific, it’s that the maul has been a massive launchpad for many of the Aussie sides.
The ACT Brumbies, Western Force and Queensland Reds have all scored the bulk of their tries from rolling mauls and/or maul launch plays, and you can bet this is something which Schmidt and his coaching staff will try to manifest in the national set-up.
If Farrell and Itoje and co can take this launchpad away from the Wallabies, then that heaps pressure on the backs to garner go forward and shifts the pressure point to their attacking breakdown, rushing from a pressured first-phase ball.
The breakdown is another area many will look to Itoje for leadership, and he is elite in that part of the game; he’s almost Richie McCaw-esque in the way he can skirt the law and disrupt the flow of opposition attacks.
His ‘living life on the edge’ approach to discipline has been a criticism of his game in the past, but some fear having him named as captain will nullify one of his superpowers. As an Aussie looking in, this almost makes him more dangerous.
Captaincy, if managed right, can offer a cloak of immunity when it comes to small transgressions and with the right charm, charm which Itoje has in spades, he could have the refs turning a blind eye to his dark arts at the ruck and maul.
3. Duhan van der Merwe – wing – Scotland
The Scottish-South African cyborg has been chosen on the wing by Farrell, and it is a lead selection, which headlines a wing contingent that has one key factor in common: size.
Let’s make this clear: there are no 106kg, 193cm wingers in the Australian ecosystem, and that’s exactly how big Duhan is.
Only Suaalii comes close to the size and stature, not since Mark Nawaqanitwase or Jordan Petaia have Australia had a winger of that size, and he’s not only big but he’s rapid.
Van der Merwe has been selected alongside Irish power winger James Lowe and tall English timber Tommy Freeman, as well as currently injured Aussie-Irish Mack Hansen.
Apart from Hansen, it is clear Farrell has gone for power and size on the flanks, and they are also deadly aerial threats, and that looks to be an area the Lions will target.
All the wingers currently in the conversation for the Wallabies are lighter than 105kgs of Lowe and 103kgs of Freeman, both standing around the 190cm mark.
Schmidt must pick a back three who are safe under the high ball, have good work rate to cover the backfield for the precision kicks the entire Lions backline will be able to launch, and gritty tacklers to deal with these behemoth wingers.
While the Australian wingers may have these selected Lions for pace, it won’t count for anything unless they can get the ball in space.
4. Tadhg Beirne – Backrow/second row utility – Ireland
Farrell has picked a mobile pack focused on work rate, meaning for once the Wallabies could have bigger forwards, and this is a strong indicator of how the Lions will look to attack the Wallabies.
Beirne is a workhorse, but he is also a serial breakdown pest and he, along with the likes of Englishmen Tom Curry, Ben Earl, Henry Pollock as well as sole Welsh forward choice Jac Morgan, and Irish talismanic red headgear wearer Josh van der Flier, there is plenty of players which can steal, pinch, slow, and disrupt the Wallabies’ ball.
The breakdown is going to be a s#*$ fight, plain and simple, and the Wallabies must be ready. The Wallabies can have the deadliest players in the world, the best systems, and most well-devised plans, but without that ball, it will mean nothing.
Beirne looks likely to feature on the side of the scrum at No. 6, rather than the second row, and because he is so versatile, it means Farrell could innovate with his bench and may not need a 6-2 split to deal with the Wallabies pack.
In 2024, the Wallabies lost fewer turnovers than their opponents in more than half their games but were penalised more than their opponents in seven of their 13 games.
This speaks to an improving yet not good enough breakdown security, and it’s something Farrell and his men will have looked at and will be looking to expose.
Whether Beirne is in the second row, on the flank or on the pine, he is just the tip of the iceberg; his motor is massive, like McCaw, being able to play for 80 minutes-plus week in, week out.
Many a Lions Test have been won and lost by a penalty goal kicked late in the match, and Beirne and co will be the one who receives all the pats on the back if he can get those penalties at the breakdown in the clutch moments.
5. Henry Pollock – No.7 – England
Sometimes, better the devil you know, than the one you don’t, and although this wonder kid has been in almost every headline and highlight around, the Australian coaching set-up and the players will know very little about the 20-year-old.
He is tall, athletic and tough, great attributes to have coming off the bench, and an awesome talent to have flying the flag in the midweek games.
His height of 188cm will help in the lineout, and depending on how the set piece is looking for the Lions, perhaps these assets aid him in getting chosen on the pine ahead of fellow Englishmen Earl and Curry, who stand at 183cm and 185cm respectively.
While Pollock’s selection has seemingly defied all odds, it is perhaps a smart move with both he and Earl able to cover no.12 or wing at a pinch if Farrell decides to go with a 6-2 split on the bench.
With the mobile and quick game plan Farrell is expected to employ, and if injury strikes, it may well come to a situation similar to the one outlined above.
While the series needs no more reasons to be watched, heralded or marvelled at, the storyline of ‘which boy wonder lights up the world stage the brightest’, Pollock or Suaalii, both with oodles of swagger, is an awesome side story to an epic series.
Pollock is explosive, bold, and gritty, attributes which Lions tours are built on, and while Schmidt and co worry about the well-known names of Russell, Smith, Lowe, and Kinghorn, they must keep Pollock in their sights.
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Only way a 6:2 bench split works is with Marcus Smith in the 23 shirt and Kinghorn at 15 given Blair plays wing too.
Earl played 10 minutes or so at 12 vs Wales because England ran out of backs subs, and Pollock hasn’t played there at all at top level. It’s more than just a pinch to say he and Earl can cover 12 and wing, it’s madness.
If you have Daly on the bench a Fin/n at 10 and Kinghorn/Smith at 15. You can replace any position outside 12 with Daly and then bring the 15 to 10 if needed. It's not plan A but if you say Russell is your 10 he's playing 80 then you are only looking at cover from the #23.
You plan for contingencies, I don’t think Earl or Pollock should play no.12 but you if you go a 6-2 split you have to be able to have the right players able to step into a role and they are both fast , athletic and powerful enough to do a job, at a pinch, should you have no other option as opposed to a Chessum, Cummings, Curry or Beirne.