British and Irish Lions: Finn Russell, Tomos Williams given chance vs Western Force to stake claims, will Henry Pollock shine at No 8? | Rugby Union News

We look at the major talking points ahead of the British and Irish Lions’ second game of the summer on Saturday against Western Force, live on Sky Sports.

The Lions suffered a 28-24 defeat to Argentina in Dublin last Friday, and next play in Perth for the first of six tour matches in Australia ahead of the three-Test series against the Wallabies.

Andy Farrell announced his side on Thursday and has made 13 changes, with Ireland hooker Dan Sheehan named captain for his Lions debut.

The likes of Finn Russell, Tomos Williams and Henry Pollock are in interesting situations heading into the contest…

Russell’s chance to guide the Lions arrives

Of the three fly-halves selected for the 2025 Lions squad, Scotland’s Finn Russell is by far and away the most experienced.

English duo Fin Smith (23-years-old, 11 Test caps) and Marcus Smith (26, 44 Test caps) are the other options at 10, but 32-year-old Russell holds 87 Test caps for Scotland – several as captain – and became a Test Lion on the last tour in South Africa four years ago.

For that reason, Russell appears to be the man in the driving seat to start the first Test against Australia in Brisbane, and Saturday’s clash against Western Force is his first chance to move closer towards that.

Tremendously talented, Russell has a reputation for being a very loose playmaker, exhibiting a style which could prove costly or match-winning. As such, he will need to continually impress the Lions coaching staff to maintain his place.

Russell missed out against Argentina in Dublin last week due to featuring in Bath’s victorious Premiership final effort six days previously, with Fin Smith instead starting in Lions colours.

Smith did not have a bad game by any means, but potentially did not show the very best of himself either, with glimpses rather than an all-round performance. Marcus Smith began at full-back in Ireland and struggled defensively.

Russell will feel 2025 is his chance to take charge and guide a Lions side. His bid for that starts now.

Williams with unlikely chance to push ahead in scrum-half race?

When the tour squad was picked most observers had the scrum-half battle for a Test place between Ireland’s Jamison Gibson-Park and England’s Alex Mitchell, with Tomos Williams languishing as third choice. That may well have changed already.

Gibson-Park has been struggling with a glute injury, which will see him miss at least the first two games on tour, while Mitchell put in far from his best display against Argentina before Williams emerged from the bench to visibly increase the tempo and impress.

Indeed, many have pushed Williams beyond Mitchell in the pecking order based on their respective performances against the Pumas alone. That can easily change again, of course.

Wales may have endured a dreadful period of late, but Williams enjoyed a superb club season for Gloucester and was named Premiership Player of the Season after his debut campaign, scoring nine tries while ranking highly for offloads and try assists too.

On Saturday, the exciting, nippy 30-year-old will get the chance to start alongside Russell and press his claims further for Test inclusion.

Will Pollock shine at No 8 to increase Test chances?

When powerful Ireland No 8 Caelan Doris was ruled out of potential Lions selection due to a shoulder injury, the make-up of Farrell and co’s back-row picks suddenly narrowed in terms of variety.

Indeed, Tom Curry, Josh van der Flier, Jac Morgan, Ben Earl and Henry Pollock can all be described as fitting the archetypal openside flanker mould: smaller in stature than the rest of the back-row, quicker in terms of pace around the field, with a real focus on breakdown turnovers and jackalling.

As such, Jack Conan is the only out-and-out No 8 in the squad, while locks Tadhg Beirne and Ollie Chessum have been picked with a likely focus on playing at blindside flanker, offering an extra lineout option and increased physicality.

Against Argentina in Dublin the Lions went with a back-row that lacked balance in Curry, Morgan and Earl – the latter at No 8 – and the Pumas earned a big advantage in that area of the game. Each of the Lions trio were quiet, with Morgan subbed early and Earl near anonymous from the back of the scrum.

On Saturday against Western Force Pollock has been handed his chance to show what he can do at No 8. The 20-year-old has played there and impressed for Northampton Saints, but physically lacks the size and carrying impetus of a textbook No 8.

Still, if Pollock can show off his strengths in other areas around the pitch, he could make it hard for the Lions coaches to ignore him.

Beirne starts at No 6 for the Lions, while Van der Flier – a likely Test-place rival to Pollock – begins in the No 7 jersey. Conan is among the replacements.

The battle and competition for Lions Test places will only heat up from here.

British and Irish Lions side to face Western Force – live on Sky Sports

British and Irish Lions: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 James Lowe, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Tomos Williams; 1 Pierre Schoeman, 2 Dan Sheehan, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 4 Scott Cummings, 5 Joe McCarthy, 6 Tadhg Beirne, 7 Josh van der Flier, 8 Henry Pollock.

Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Andrew Porter, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Alex Mitchell, 22 Huw Jones, 23 Marcus Smith.

British & Irish Lions tour of Australia on Sky Sports

Sky Sports will exclusively show the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, with all three Tests against the Wallabies and six warm-up matches to be shown exclusively live.