British and Irish Lions vs Western Force: Dan Sheehan captains side as Andy Farrell rings changes | Rugby Union News

Dan Sheehan will captain the British and Irish Lions on his debut for the side as head coach Andy Farrell makes 13 changes to the starting XV for Saturday’s clash vs Western Force in Perth.

The Lions squad of 2025 suffered defeat in their first tour game against Argentina in Dublin last week, with centre Sione Tuipulotu and forward Tadhg Beirne the only players to maintain their places – the latter swapping from lock to blindside flanker.

The first starting side in Australia sees eight Irish players, four Scottish, two English and one Welshman – scrum-half Tomos Williams.

Of the 38-player travelling party, only four players will have failed to have had an involvement for the Lions in the opening two games: full-back Hugo Keenan (calf) and scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park (glute) – who both currently have knocks – full-back Blair Kinghorn, who plays for Toulouse in Saturday’s Top 14 final, and lock James Ryan.

The side for Perth sees Elliot Daly start at full-back, linking up with Irish wings Mack Hansen and James Lowe in an all-new back-three.

Garry Ringrose comes into the midfield to partner Tuipulotu – who shifts to inside-centre from the 13 channel – while Finn Russell is brought in to start at fly-half alongside Williams.

Into the forwards, loosehead Pierre Schoeman and tighthead Tadhg Furlong come in to start either side of Sheehan, while the second row sees Scott Cummings and Joe McCarthy paired together.

Henry Pollock is named to start at No 8 in the back-row, with openside Josh van der Flier completing the unit with Beirne at 6.

The replacements bench sees a further three Irishmen, three Englishmen and one Scot: Ronan Kelleher, Andrew Porter, Will Stuart, Ollie Chessum, Jack Conan, Alex Mitchell, Huw Jones and Marcus Smith.

“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,” Farrell said.

“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.”

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.

Western Force: 15 Ben Donaldson, 14 Mac Grealy, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Hamish Stewart, 11 Dylan Pietsch, 10 Alex Harford, 9 Nic White (captain); 1 Tom Robertson, 2 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 3 Ollie Hoskins, 4 Sam Carter, 5 Darcy Swain, 6 Will Harris, 7 Nick Champion de Crespigny, 8 Vaiolini Ekuasi.

Replacements: 16 Nic Dolly, 17 Marley Pearce, 18 Tiaan Tauakipulu, 19 Lopeti Faifua, 20 Reed Prinsep, 21 Henry Robertson, 22 Max Burey, 23 Bayley Kuenzle.

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.