The British & Irish Lions have touched down in Australia with the head coach, Andy Farrell, revealing there are lingering injury concerns over Jamison Gibson-Park and Hugo Keenan.
Farrell’s squad arrived into Perth after a 20-hour journey from Dublin via Doha, before their opening fixture on Australian soil against the Western Force on Saturday. There is doubt over whether the Ireland duo will be able to take part at Optus Stadium because of respective glute and calf problems, but Scotland centre Huw Jones has recovered from an Achilles issue and is available.
The Lions in Dublin - what to expect?
“We’ll see how they pull up in midweek,” Farrell said of Gibson-Park and Keenan. “Huw Jones is good, he’s been training. He trained fully with us last week so he’s up and running.”
Farrell confirmed the team against Western Force will mostly be made up of players from Leinster, Bath and Leicester, who joined the Lions after the URC and Premiership finals last Saturday. There were no fresh injuries arising from Friday’s 28-24 defeat by Argentina in Dublin, with Farrell keen not to dwell on the disappointing Tour send-off.
Tom Curry says Lions need to be more clinical with ball in Australia
Fitness concerns for Jamison Gibson-Park and Hugo Keenan as Lions land in Australia
Finn Russell: ‘It’s been funny being on the same training side as Johnny Sexton’
Andy Farrell says Lions must improve after ‘too many errors’ against Argentina
[ Five things we learned from the Lions’ loss to ArgentinaOpens in new window ]
“We’re here to build for what’s going to be a fantastic Test series. We want to play some good rugby along the way,” he said. “We’ll find out more about each other as we keep on going. Of course we’ll analyse what went on against Argentina and why, but that’s all part of the journey, to understand where we need to go next.
“It’s great to be here, this is what it’s all about. We’re here for a good time. Hopefully we can start this part of the Tour off really well on Saturday.”
