Andy Farrell offers latest British and Irish Lions injury update with new timeline revealed for key duo
British and Irish Lions head coach Andy Farrell prior to his side's game against Argentina in 2025.
British and Irish Lions head coach Andy Farrell has revealed injured duo Jamison Gibson-Park and Hugo Keenan are in line to be back fit before the start of the full Test series against the Wallabies.
The Ireland and Leinster pairing, who are both first-time tourists with the Lions, missed last weekend’s clash with Argentina through injury, and are again sidelined for their upcoming match against Western Force tomorrow (Saturday, 27th June).
Scrum-half Gibson-Park has been suffering from a glute strain picked up prior to Leinster’s URC Final win, while Keenan has been out of action since the end of May with a calf issue.
Fellow back Huw Jones was also an injury concern heading into this weekend’s game, which is the first game of the tour on Australian soil; however, he has been deemed fit to take up a spot on the bench in Perth.
Reds game target for injured pairing
Gibson-Park and Keenan are viewed by many to be leading contenders to feature in the Test side to play against the Wallabies, and Farrell is optimistic they will both get some rugby in the build-up to that first hit out against the Wallabies on July 19th.
“Very well,” Farrell said of the injured duo’s progress. “All being well, they should be fit for the Reds game.”
With the pair now nearing a return to action, it puts even more pressure on the likes of Tomos Williams, Alex Mitchell, Marcus Smith and Elliot Daly to perform against the Force this weekend.
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Those four men have all been included in Farrell’s 23-man squad for the clash in Perth, a squad which sees 13 personnel changes within the starting XV alone. Only Tadhg Beirne and Sione Tuipulotu remain from the starting side that lost to Los Pumas in Dublin, but they have also both changed positions with Beirne moving into the back-row and Tuipulotu over to inside centre.
Around that, nine of the match-day squad will make their Lions debut, in the form of Garry Ringrose, James Lowe, captain Dan Sheehan, Joe McCarthy, Josh van der Flier, Andrew Porter, Will Stuart, Ollie Chessum and Huw Jones, while previously capped Lions Finn Russell and Jack Conan will also play for the first time on this tour.
Commenting on his selection, 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.”
Commenting more on the rotations, he added: “It lends its hand to the way the (domestic) season finished out, where the players are at and getting them up to speed as quickly as we can.
“A lot of people get their opportunity to play their first game on tour, and nine of them will play for the Lions for the first time.”
