British & Irish Lions coach Andy Farrell has snubbed SA-born winger Duhan van der Merwe, selecting Blair Kinghorn to face Australia in Sydney on Saturday in the final Test of the series.
Farrell has made two changes to the starting lineup that clinched the series in Melbourne last week, replacing James Lowe on the left wing with Kinghorn in a back-three combination with Tommy Freeman and Hugo Keenan.
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In the other change, James Ryan takes over from Ollie Chessum in a locking duo with captain Maro Itoje, retaining the all-Irish Leinster front row of Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong – the latter starting his ninth consecutive Lions Test.
The tried and tested loose trio of Tom Curry, Jack Conan and Tadhg Beirne is also unchanged, as is the halfback pairing of Jamison Gibson-Park and Finn Russell.
Our team for Saturday’s third Test in Sydney!
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— British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) July 31, 2025
In midfield, Bundee Aki continues his combination with Huw Jones.
Lions head coach Andy Farrell said: “We’ve put ourselves in a great position to finish this Tour with our best performance yet and create our own piece of history. Last weekend showed how special Lions Tours are – we’re expecting another epic battle against a quality Wallabies side.”
The Lions last sealed a series win in Sydney in 2013 with a 41-16 victory over the Wallabies at the same venue.
LIONS — 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Blair Kinghorn, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Tadhg Beirne, 5 James Ryan, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Bench: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Jac Morgan, 21 Ben Earl, 22 Alex Mitchell, 23 Owen Farrell
Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images
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