The British & Irish Lions’ last three-nil series victory in Australia was in 1904, but the heavily fancied tourists already have one eye on replicating that feat. Lions back-rower Henry Pollock, in all the wisdom of his 20 years, boasted this week that a whitewash “is definitely on the table”.
But in the coming feast of rugby, Australia’s forwards will have read the menu differently. They are led by Rob Valetini, perhaps Australia’s only truly world-class player. Last year he won a second successive John Eales Medal – Australian rugby’s most prestigious individual accolade – becoming the third player after Michael Hooper and Israel Folau to achieve the feat.
The 26-year-old has been nursing a calf injury in the lead-up to Saturday’s first Test but Australians and neutrals alike hope he can play. “It’d be a huge blow if he wasn’t there,” Australia’s former No 8 Toutai Kefu said on Tuesday. “He’s been one of our most consistent players for the last three to five years.”
The man they call “Bobby V” offers power in his 113kg frame, as a defender, ball-runner or operating around the ruck. “I really love the way he plays,” Kefu said. “He’s aggressive, he’s direct and we certainly need his brutality around the ball carrier and the defence.”
Faced with the athleticism, speed and skill of the Lions’ varied array of forwards, the Australian rugby community hopes strength can provide a counter. Former Wallaby Matt Burke said the 140kg-plus Will Skelton must start in the second row, even if only for 50 minutes. “Get him in there, the bigger the better,” Burke told Stan Sport. “That concept of size is such a crucial part of rugby and to be able to dominate.”
Skelton, who – like Valetini – also missed the Fiji Test with a calf injury declared himself fit on Monday. “I just want to try to be myself,” said the 33-year-old, who was captain at the 2023 World Cup. “They’ve got some great players, but we’ve also got some weapons in this team.”
Much of the hope in the broader Australian sporting community for the Lions’ series has been pinned on centre Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, given his high-profile switch from rugby league and promising showing against England at Twickenham on debut last year.
But in truth the Wallabies must match the tourists at the breakdown if there is to be any chance of an upset given their back-row is – at least on paper – one of Australia’s few areas of relative strength. Alongside Valetini, the two other finalists for the 2024 John Eales Medal were also loose forwards.
No 8 Harry Wilson was captain against Fiji two weeks ago, and scored the winning try in the dying stages. That display represented a new peak in the 25-year-old’s slow-but-steady revival after he was overlooked by Eddie Jones for the 2023 World Cup. Reds and Wallabies scrum-half Tate McDermott said playing alongside Wilson gives him confidence. “He’s quick up off the deck, he’s flying into contact, he wants to run the ball, so he gets himself always in a position to either run the ball or be there,” McDermott said.
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Their Reds team-mate, breakaway Fraser McReight, has been on a similar trajectory to Wilson. The 26-year-old was dropped from the starting line-up for the World Cup pool match against Wales in 2023 following the shock less to Fiji the week before, but since then has emerged as the man most likely to become the next great Australian flanker in the tradition of David Pocock and Hooper. “[Wilson] and Fraser and that combination that we’ve developed over a number of years is a real strength of his, and ours as well,” McDermott said.
In this part of the field Australia boasts perhaps more depth than in any other. The Brumbies’ Tom Hooper and the Force’s Carlo Tizzano were part of the Super Rugby Pacific team of the season. Kefu wants another man, Waratahs No 8 Langi Gleeson, to get his chance before either of them. “Langi Gleeson has had an unbelievable year,” Kefu said. “I just thought his work rate’s improved a lot, his ball carrying has been really good this year for Waratahs, I thought he’s been fantastic.”
Gleeson was uninvited from a Wallabies’ training camp early in the year, prompting a period of introspection for the 23-year-old, but his subsequent form has won back his place. His inclusion in the Australian side may be contentious given his commitment to move to French rugby next year. But the future of the Wallabies, and players’ appetite for overseas money and opportunity, is the topic for another day. The Lions are here now, and they’re hungry.