Summary

  • Duhan van der Merwe hat-trick as Lions produce best display of tour in final match before first Test against Australia - match report

  • Garry Ringrose to miss first Test after suffering concussion on Wednesday

  • Head coach Andy Farrell says "it looks like" he'll have to call up a hooker to cover Luke Cowan-Dickie following head injury in first half

  • Owen Farrell replaces centre Huw Jones in 50th minute for his tour debut

  1. Team news - AUNZ Invitational XVpublished at 10:10 British Summer Time

    AUNZ Invitational XV v Lions (11:00 BST)

    The full team news is below.

    Queensland Reds players Jeffery Toomaga-Allen and Jock Campbell will also get another crack at the tourists.

    Tane Edmed, who made his Australia debut off the bench against Ireland in November, is at fly-half.

    AUNZ XV: Stevenson; Lam, Laumape, Havili (co-capt), Koroibete; Edmed, Fakatava; Ross, Paenga-Amosa, Toomaga-Allen, Salakaia-Loto (co-capt), Blyth, Frizell, Samu, Sotutu.

    Replacements: Eklund, Fusitu'a, Dyer, Philip, Brial, Thomas, McLaughlin-Phillips, Campbell.

  2. Team news - AUNZ Invitational XVpublished at 10:07 British Summer Time

    AUNZ Invitational XV v Lions (11:00 BST)

    Incoming Wallabies head coach Les Kiss has named 17 internationals in his matchday squad.

    Here are the big hitters:

    • 63-cap Australia wing Marika Koroibete
    • 14-cap All Blacks number eight Hoskins Sotutu - Super Rugby's most valuable player in 2024
    • Flanker Pete Samu - 33 caps for the Wallabies and recently played an influential role in the back row for European champions Bordeaux-Begles
    • Crusaders captain David Havili - 30 caps for New Zealand
    • Shannon Frizell - 33 All Blacks caps and started the 2023 Rugby World Cup final

    That's some decent talent.

    Marika KoroibeteImage source, Getty Images
  3. Fun factspublished at 10:03 British Summer Time

    AUNZ Invitational XV v Lions (11:00 BST)

    • The game will take place at the 50,000-capacity Adelaide Oval
    • The tourists have not played in Adelaide since 1888
    • AUNZ Invitational XV brings about a revival of a combined team which last played when the Lions toured in 1989
  4. One more to gopublished at 10:00 British Summer Time

    AUNZ Invitational XV v Lions (11:00 BST)

    Well, this will be fun. The Lions play their final warm-up game against the Australia and New Zealand Invitational XV in Adelaide.

    That team, coached by incoming Wallabies head coach Les Kiss and former All Blacks head coach Ian Foster, contains selected players from Australia and New Zealand.

    A rare and unique fixture that will certainly bring some excitement.

    The Test series against Australia starts in Brisbane next Saturday. Time to shine!

    Adelaide OvalImage source, Getty Images