An Aussie-Kiwi invitational team aims to upset the British & Irish Lions in the tourists’ final warm-up before the Test series against the Wallabies.
Seventeen internationals are in coach Les Kiss’ match-day 23 for the clash in Adelaide as the two rugby powerhouses join forces for the first time since 1989.
Andy Farrell’s Lions have won all four games so far in Australia and are hot favourites to dominate the opening Test in Brisbane on 19 July.
But Kiss believes his side can spring a surprise despite a limited build-up, leaving the Lions heading to Queensland on the back of a demoralising loss.
“If we got a win, yeah, it’ll definitely light things up, wouldn’t it,” said Kiss, who will take over from Joe Schmidt as Wallabies coach next year.
“The win would be great for us and we’ve already talked about making sure we don’t get lost in that.
“But we know that we have the capacity and the type of play to do that. We just need to make sure we do what we do well, and if we do that well, why not?
“A win, or a loss for the Lions, certainly changes the way that the tour looks.”
TEAM: Havili, Salakaia to lead Aussie-Kiwi XV
Every player in Kiss’ starting XV has international caps, spearheaded by All Blacks David Havili, Shannon Frizell and Hoskins Sotutu.
The Australian contingent is led by Marika Koroibete, Pete Samu and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto.
Kiss said they had been socialising a lot this week, as well as training, to get to know each other, with many in the team never having played together, or even met, before.
“This has been a slow build but there is certainly a lot of ambition and a lot of belief in the group already, you can feel it,” he said. “They want to go out there and show the best of themselves.”
ALSO: O’Connor hops back into Wallabies squad
Havili and Salakaia-Loto are co-captains with the New Zealand inside centre confident they can create problems.
“We all want to win, but it’s about how we do that,” said Havili, who recently led the Crusaders to their 13th Super Rugby title.
“They are a great quality side and we’ve only been together for six or seven days. But we’ve got some awesome opportunities in front of us and we just want to be able to go out there and express ourselves, both as Aussies and Kiwis.
“To wear the green, gold and black [jersey] is pretty cool.”
© Agence France-Presse
Photo: Mark Brake/Getty Images
