The outspoken rugby great has hit out at Andy Farrell’s side with a withering attack
Outspoken Wallabies legend David Campese has launched a scathing attack on the British and Irish Lions, mocking the make-up of their squad and questioning head coach Andy Farrell’s selections ahead of Saturday’s clash with Western Force in Perth.
Speaking to talkSPOR, the outspoken former Australia winger criticised the number of players in the Lions squad with Southern Hemisphere heritage, dubbing the side the “British and Irish and Pacific Island Lions”.
“It’s hard when you’ve got four nations in one team,” Campese said.
“The Irish Lions – sorry, the British and Irish and Pacific Island Lions, I’m going to call them – because you’ve got so many Australian Islanders in there. It’s going to be a very interesting game.”
Campese didn’t stop there. He singled out Lions captain Maro Itoje, claiming the England lock “fails to lead by example” and could prove a liability during the tour. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
The 1991 World Cup winner also cast doubt over Farrell’s squad selections following their recent loss to Argentina and took aim at the state of the game in his homeland.
“In Australian rugby, we haven’t got any culture, no one cares, no one knows who we are,” he said.
“If you haven’t got culture and history, you haven’t got anything. Unfortunately, that’s where we are in Australia.”
Campese also criticised current Wallabies boss Joe Schmidt, questioning his connection to the Australian game.
“We’ve got Joe Schmidt as our coach, who still doesn’t know about our culture and history. Now he’s got Les Kiss involved, who’s a rugby league guy who went out and played and coached in Ireland,” he said.
“We’ve got to try and play a style of rugby that people want to watch. At the moment, it’s a very, very up and down defensive game.”
It’s not the first time Campese has had the Lions in his crosshairs over the last few days. After Farrell’s side’s opening defeat by Argentina in Dublin last week, the 62-year-old tore individual Lions apart in a withering assessment.
In a no-holds-barred column, Campese questioned the physicality, tactical nous and positional selections of Farrell’s side, saying bluntly in his PlanetRugby column: “If they perform like they did in Dublin during the Test series, they’ll be toast Down Under.
“I’d go so far as to say they’ll lose 3–0 unless they can fix a few things and fix them quickly.”
He also issued a stark warning that unless the Lions rediscover that fire, they will be blown away in Australia: “Wearing the Lions shirt carries with it a weight of expectation. Those challenges were not met on Friday night.”
The Lions begin their 2025 tour of Australia on Saturday against Western Force, with the first Test against the Wallabies taking place on July 19 at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
