Hooker Dan Sheehan reckons the time for chat is over and the Lions have to do their talking on the pitch – starting with Saturday’s first Test in Brisbane. The party have made headlines down under with comments from back row Henry Pollock claiming a 3-0 whitewash of the Wallabies is on the table in the series. And Ben Earl said last week this squad wanted to be known as one of the best Lions teams ever which wound up former Australian full-back Chris Latham who branded Andy Farrell’s men cocky.
Latham added the Wallabies will be even more fired up than usual come kick-off this weekend and Ireland’s Sheehan has said the Lions now have to deliver on their promise. The 26-year-old said: “It gives you a responsibility to go out and do it. It’s the way I was brought up in my career, to be very clear in what you want out of a campaign and then you have to attack it.
“There’s a bit of a responsibility on you, you’ve said it out loud so you have to go and do it. No one is going to shy away from it, our aim is a Test series win and I don’t think anyone should be afraid of saying it.
“I don’t think any team really goes in saying ‘oh yeah, one game at a time’, ‘hopefully we’ll win the next one, the next one’… there’s a clear gameplan to have a dominant series and win.
“The way rugby has evolved, every team should be better than the last, and it’s a massive goal of ours to make sure we reach our potential. If we do reach our potential, we have the possibility to be one of the best teams. They’re fair comments.”
Andy Farrell will name his matchday squad for Saturday this THursday morning UK time from the team hotel in the heart of Brisbane.
Interest in this tour finally took off when Farrell called up son Owen as a replacement for Elliot Daly and said he was in contention for a Test spot or he would not have bothered bringing him in.
However, Owen is not likely to make the 23 for the weekend but has made a big impression on Sheehan, who has been coached by his old man with Ireland, since landing in Australia.
And Sheehan is expecting the same from veteran England hooker Jamie George who arrived here as cover on Tuesday night.
Sheehan added: “This is the first time I’ve met him. He came in and instantly he’s like a player-coach. The experience that he has and the mental attitude he has towards Test games and these big Lions Test games has been amazing. He’s just very detailed and understands the game incredibly well.
“He’s quite a chip off the old block in some ways and it’s nice to see how strong he is mentally. He doesn’t settle for s*** and nor should he. And to have someone like Jamie in the camp will be extra special, especially from a forwards perspective in terms of set-piece and doing the dirty work.”
Wallaby assistant coach Geoff Parling has told his side to expect an invasion of the Red Army in Brisbane this week ahead of Saturday’s first Test. Englishman and former lock Parling knows all about Lions tours down under as he was a star of Warren Gatland’s side who beat the hosts 2-1 in 2013.
Parling, who will take over as Leicester boss after this series, witnessed at first hand as Lions fans took over the Queensland capital ahead of their 23-21 first Test victory and has warned his side another Sea of Red is coming their way.
The 41-year-old said: “I shared some things with the team in the training camp in January. I am very aware it is not about me but if I can give something valuable to our players, I will.
“It is still the same game but the circus around it is bigger and from Thursday more people will be arriving in Brisbane. Maybe our players have not seen it yet, the amount of support that will be around but I am expecting that to really kick on if our lads go for a walk in the city.”
The Lions have not hit their straps on this tour so far but Parling, coached by touring boss Andy Farrell at England, reckons it is only a matter of time until they get into their stride.
He added: “I know their coaches very well and they are a quality coaching team. Any Lions team can take a bit of time to click and as they go on.”