British & Irish Lions Tour. Outright Preview – Copybet
The British & Irish Lions have landed in Australia, with Andy Farrell's side tasked with building momentum ahead of the opening Test against the Wallabies on July 19.
Farrell's squad have faced plenty of criticism already after losing their first match against Argentina in Dublin on Friday and the coach himself questioned those selected following a string of unforced errors.
However, the last time the Lions lost their first match was in 1971, when they recovered to record their only ever series victory in New Zealand.
They have also won two out of the three trips to Australia since the institution started touring the country exclusively again in 1989 and are the 1/3 favourites to win the series.
Tip: The 28-24 defeat to the Pumas was the latest example of the South Americans being underestimated. However, the Lions also had themselves to blame, attempting frivolous offloads, kicking poorly and conceding careless penalties, notably Tadhg Beirne's late infringement for a neck roll when they looked close to a game-winning score.
Farrell is expected to name a much-changed side for Saturday's second match, his team's first in Australia, against Western Force in Perth.They are 3/100 to win but the Force could be good enough to get inside 18.5 points, available at 6/5.
There are four further warm-up matches before the opening Test on July 19 but regardless of their form, the Lions will head into the opener with history on their side, having won their last three Tests in Brisbane - in 1989, 2001 and 2013.
However, they lost in Melbourne in both 2001 and 2013 and that game on July 26 could see the hosts level the series before a showdown in Sydney on August 2.
The tourists need to be far sharper against an improving Australia team, who will admittedly need to come through a bruising warm-up game against Fiji but who have improved significantly since Joe Schmidt took over.
The 59-year-old came in after Eddie Jones' second spell coaching Australia ended in tears as they were eliminated in the pool stages of the 2023 World Cup but it could be argued that Jones laid the groundwork by shifting out some established yet underperforming stars and replacing them with fresh talent.
Schmidt also has several indirect connections to the Lions. He coached Leinster and Ireland before being part of the All Blacks staff that nullified the Irish in the quarter-finals of the last World Cup.
The Kiwi also guided the Wallabies to a win at Twickenham last year and has the added motivation of wanting to leave a legacy due to him stepping down at the end of this year's Rugby Championship to focus on his family.
Emotion rarely comes into it for Schmidt and like he did during his time in Ireland, he will be dialling in on the details.
Australia are the 5/2 underdogs to win the series, with a draw, as was the case in New Zealand in 2017, available at 28/1.
Lions tours are rarely one-sided and both teams have won a Test in eight of the last nine series, making 2-1 a popular scoreline in these quadrennial contests.
That was the outcome in Australia in 1989, 2001 and 2013 and looks a likely outcome again in 2025.