Ex-Ireland star questions ‘undercooked’ Wallabies as ‘costly’ preparation for Lions series under spotlight

Adam Kyriacou
Alan Quinlan questions Wallabies' preparations for British & Irish Lions series.

Alan Quinlan questions Wallabies' preparations for British & Irish Lions series.

Former Ireland flanker Alan Quinlan has questioned the Wallabies’ lack of pre-series fixtures as they came up short in the first two British and Irish Lions games.

Australia were blown out of the water in the Brisbane opener before the Lions clawed their way back into the game to claim the second Test in dramatic fashion in Melbourne.

That ultimately means the 2025 series is secured with a match to spare as this week’s clash in Sydney will be a dead-rubber, with the hosts desperate to end the series 2-1.

‘Undercooked’

The British & Irish Lions, in contrast, will hope to wrap up the 3-0 scoreline in what would be the icing on the cake of a successful tour that has seen them win every game.

However, Quinlan has spoken about the 2025 series thus far and thinks the Wallabies missed a trick in not scheduling further games before the Suncorp Stadium opener.

“If Australia had the same number of games or even three or four games before the series they are much better prepared,” the ex-Munster back-rower told Off The Ball.

“It’s a pity that happened because they were undercooked. That’s not necessarily saying they would have won either of the Tests but that first Test they were very slow out of the blocks and it was costly for them.”

Australia were much-improved in the second clash as Rob Valetini’s and Will Skelton’s return to the XV gave them a much-needed injection of power and intensity up front.

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“Valetini and Skelton possibly could have made the first two Tests but their match fitness was probably down a little bit and that was an issue for them the other night,” Quinlan continued.

“The hope would have been getting 60 to 70 minutes out of them, but they were brilliant and, yeah, credit to the Lions, the way they kept going.

“As I said, all the stats would suggest that Australia should have won this game. (It’s) very small margins but that little bit of power and probably territorial control in that second half was on the Lions’ side.”

He added: “Tadhg Beirne’s try was obviously a massive moment and they had a couple of chances. Australia you think with a couple of minutes to go are going to hang on and do this, but they stayed calm and the Lions deserve a lot of credit for that.”

Selection calls

Now all eyes are on the third and final Test between the sides and the ex-Ireland flanker is intrigued to see who boss Andy Farrell selects as they look to sweep Australia.

“People have been asking a lot, will there be changes? Will people be getting kind of a run? Obviously everyone wants to play,” he said.

“You were splitting hairs between some of the selections beforehand so it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out.”

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