British and Irish Lions: Ronan O’Gara reveals Test squad – ‘I’d leave best players like Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong on bench’

Three-time British and Irish Lions tourist Ronan O’Gara has revealed his first Test XV to take on Australia, saying he would leave the best players on the bench in order to have them finish the match: namely Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong.

O’Gara, part of Sky Sports’ exclusive coverage of this summer’s Lions tour, was a player on the 2001, 2005 and 2009 tours.

Off the back of fellow Sky Sports analysts Sir Ian McGeechan, Will Greenwood and Sam Warburton picking their Lions Test sides, current La Rochelle head coach O’Gara shook things up with his left-field take, starting hooker Ronan Kelleher, tighthead Will Stuart and an all-Ireland back-row.

“I suppose the first thing is, where’s Tadhg Furlong and where’s Dan Sheehan?” O’Gara said on Sky Sports.

“For me, they’re the two best in the world in their position so I’d like to finish the game with them just to have that security to know that a Test game is usually won in the last eight to 12 minutes, because a team is rarely two scores ahead.

“In that regard, I went with that logic.

“It can be picked apart, obviously, but I just think for me, I prefer to finish with the strongest 15 as opposed to starting with it. But maybe Sheehan and Furlong can go 80 minutes, there are tiny margins.

“Andrew Porter is an exceptional loosehead, I think that’s an area of massive strength. I’ve gone with familiarity in the back-row [Ireland trio Beirne, Van der Flier, Conan], because I think the bench impact of Ben Earl and Henry Pollock just adds an awful lot to it, with probably the benefit of them covering as centres as well. I like what they do as hybrids.”

Into the backline, former fly-half O’Gara went with a very similar lineup to previous selections with one big change: instead of going all-Scotland or all-Ireland at centre, he mix and matched the midfield pairing to go with Huw Jones and Bundee Aki.

“In the backs, it’s pretty straightforward. There’s obviously a big debate in terms of who do you play at 12 if you’re going with Huw Jones at 13, as Garry Ringrose is ruled out through injury,” he said.

“Do you go Sione Tuipulotu? Do you go Bundee Aki? You could go either way.

“Do you back yourself and just go: ‘Go boy, go play. Show what you’re good at.’ I think Aki’s the best in the world at winning gain-line. He gives front foot ball.

“He makes the front-five get on the ball in the second phase with winning a gain-line. The game is so much easier when you win collisions.”

In terms of his tactical selection, O’Gara admits there are potential pitfalls and he can’t see Lions head coach Andy Farrell going down the same route.

The Irishman also reveals he would have picked two France-based players in Toulouse flanker Jack Willis and Toulon tighthead Kyle Sinckler in his Lions Test 23 were he the selector.

“The danger with it is if Australia start fast and they go 10-0 up, you’re kind of going: where’s Furlong, Sheehan and Porter? Because if you get on top of the scrum, it puts a different picture in the referee’s head.

“Scrum dominance usually equals game dominance, which means you probably get the advantage in creating your mauls. I don’t know Will Stuart and Ellis Genge particularly well, but as players they look very, very impressive.

“Andy Farrell won’t go with this, but when you look into someone’s eyes in a Test game after 43 minutes and you see Dan Sheehan come on – imagine what that does to the opposition? Imagine the loosehead seeing Furlong after 42 minutes. Imagine the tighthead seeing Porter.

“Imagine you’ve got Ben Earl carrying the ball. You’ve just got to make sure you know what the role of the starters is when you’ve got a 6-2 split.

“If Blair Kinghorn was available, I would have gone 7-1 with him being able to cover the No 10 position because he goal kicks really well for Toulouse.

“If I was picking the team, I would also have had Jack Willis starting and Kyle Sinckler in the 23 as well.”

Biggar: I expect the Lions to pick their strongest XV from the start

Fellow Sky Sports analyst and former Lions fly-half Dan Biggar gave his thoughts on O’Gara’s selection on Saturday, and admitted he thinks Andy Farrell and his staff will go in a different route.

“Just a little bit on ROG’s team in terms of who you start with. The logic in what ROG is saying is absolutely top-notch, but I think Australia have got a really good record at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.

“They tend to start really well there, get on top, and I think the Lions won’t want to give the Aussies any ins to the game.

“That’s why I think they will start with their strongest possible front-row, second-row, back-row, and try and take the game away from them. Try and eke out a few scrum penalties, breakdown penalties, rather than potentially invite them into the game a little bit.

“If you pick Owen Farrell on a 6-2 bench, you are light in terms of your back-three cover. If you get a back-three injury, you haven’t got Gary Ringrose to go and cover the wing, so you’re relying on a little bit of luck from an injury point of view whenever you go 6-2 or 7-1.

“But he [Owen Farrell] looked good. Clearly next Saturday is going to be a huge step up compared to today.”

British and Irish Lions tour of Australia on Sky Sports

Sky Sports will exclusively show the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, with all three Tests against the Wallabies and six warm-up matches to be shown exclusively live.

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