These are the rugby stories making headlines on the morning of Thursday, June 26.
These are your headlines on the morning of Thursday, June 26.
Farrell appoints new skipper
Andy Farrell has appointed Dan Sheehan captain for the first Lions match Down Under this summer.
With Maro Itoje rested for the game against Western Force on Saturday, Irishman Sheehan will lead the side for the first time on his debut for the tourists.
In total Farrell has made 13 changes to the team that lost against Argentina last Friday, with Tomos Williams promoted from the bench in Dublin to start in Perth. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
England youngster Henry Pollock is also put into the starting XV.
Farrell said: “We have had a good week of training and all of the travel and time zone changes have been managed really well, so we are good to go.
“Dan Sheehan gets the opportunity to lead the side against Western Force, which is a great honour for him and his family – so congratulations to Dan as he captains the side on his Lions debut. “We know the quality and experience the Force have and the opportunity to play against the Lions always brings out special performances from the Super Rugby sides, so we expect them to be at their best.”
You can read the full team news here.
Wales stars ‘taken to the well’
Wales loosehead Gareth Thomas has hailed the impact of prop legends Adam Jones and Gethin Jenkins in their coaching staff for Japan as he admitted their fitness work ahead of this summer’s two-Test series had taken players “to the well”.
Matt Sherratt’s side flew out to Japan on Wednesday ahead of the Test matches against the Brave Blossoms in Kitakyushu and Kobe next month, with players having been working in heat chambers to prepare for Japan’s humid conditions.
“It has been a tough block but it’s been really good to be fair,” said Thomas. “A lot of hard work and good prep to go to Japan I think.
“I love it, I do. You go to the well in it to be fair, it’s hard. It’s good when you’ve got the whole squad in there so you’re pretty much touching someone the whole time.
“The most I have lost 3kg of fluid and we have to make sure we replace that because otherwise we would be dehydrated and struggling.
“Those chamber sessions take you to the well and we have to make sure we enjoy them.
“It is tough but it’s good to see how hard the boys are working in there and it’s going to be hard out there as well. I think Benny [Huw Bennett] and the S&C team have done a real good job in prepping us for what’s to come.”
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The Ospreys front-row also touched upon what it was like having two of Wales’ greatest props in the coaching ticket this summer.
“We had Bomb in the Six Nations, I think he’s been class for us and he’s been awesome for the front rowers, he’s bringing scrum time,” said Thomas.
“He’s up there with the best scrum coaches I’ve worked with and just has a bloke to have around as well, he’s a great bloke as well.
“And then obviously Gethin is one of the best loose-heads who’s played for Wales so it’s great for us boys to have to work with him and try and just, you know, his mindset stuff is great as well so try and work with that as well.
I’m just looking forward to getting some good defensive stuff going in Japan because we’re going to need it and a lot of this stuff is about effort and we’re going to need a lot of that as well.
North provides inspiration
Tommy Freeman says George North’s performance on the 2013 Lions tour of Australia is providing him with inspiration ahead of this year’s series.
Wales star North lit up the second Test against the Wallabies with a superb score and a fireman’s lift on Israel Folau the standout moments.
Freeman, a fellow Saint, like North was at the time, says following the Welshman’s lead would be an ideal summer for him.
He said: “That 2013 tour with George North, he had a monumental impact on that Lions tour. If I can follow in his footsteps, it would be pretty good.
“You want to make the best of what you can on the pitch and be involved in as many moments as you can and create those memories. The likes of George North in 2013, we all remember that, how special that was. If we can create something like that, it would be unbelievable.”
On the series itself, Freeman added: “Australia have got a lot of connections growing and they are building something quite nice. They have got some special talents, Sua’ali’i obviously is a star man for them. Andrew Kellaway, I used to play with at Northampton so it will be good to go up against him. I’m really buzzing for it and it will be good to get stuck into the best.”
