Owen Farrell will start on the bench against Australia in the second Test - Getty Images/David Rogers

British and Irish Lions head coach Andy Farrell was forced into a dramatic last-minute reshuffle of his midfield after Garry Ringrose reported concussion symptoms, with Owen Farrell among the replacements for the second Test against Australia.

Farrell had planned on naming an all-Ireland midfield combination of Bundee Aki and Ringrose, who missed the first-Test victory because of a concussion he suffered in the warm-up match against the Brumbies. They were due to replace the Scottish pair of Sione Tuipulotu, who has a tight hamstring, and Huw Jones for Saturday’s match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which is expected to attract a crowd of more than 90,000.

After completing his return-to-play protocols, Ringrose came off the bench to play 65 minutes in Tuesday’s match against a First Nations & Pasifika (FNP) XV. Yet having pencilled him in as one of four potential changes from the first Test starting XV, along with prop Andrew Porter and second row Ollie Chessum, Ringrose told Farrell that he was suffering a recurrence of concussion symptoms.

Garry Ringrose in action against the First Nations & Pasifika XV - Getty Images/William West

So just minutes before announcing his team, Farrell handed a reprieve to Jones who starts alongside Aki for just the second time on the tour. Asked if it was unselfish of Ringrose to pull out of potentially the biggest game of his career, Farrell said: “I thought exactly the same the minute that he mentioned it because it’s tough to do that. It’s very easy to keep it to yourself and lie and not be honest and open. It was very big of him and the right thing to do, 100 per cent. For the team as well, not just for Garry.

“Garry was actually selected and unfortunately, in training today, he’s had to pull out. It’s head-related again. I actually don’t know at this stage. It was literally as I was walking off the field, he came to me, and once it’s mentioned, that’s that. So there was no incident. He was feeling good, well in advance of Tuesday, and fit and ready to play. No incident through the game at all, nothing yesterday and nothing this morning at all, but with these type of things, players are getting very good at telling the truth of how they feel, so it was a no-brainer to make the change straight away.”

Melbourne-born Tuipulotu, meanwhile, misses out on playing in his hometown after reporting stiffness in his hamstring. “He’ll be absolutely gutted,” Farrell said. “But he also knows that that’s rugby. The fairy tale is not always written.”

In an echo of Warren Gatland’s controversial selection of 10 Welsh players for the third Test in the 2013 series, Farrell has largely turned to his tried-and-trusted options from the Irish national team who boast a record nine players in the starting XV, including seven from Leinster.

Alongside Owen Farrell, who captained the Lions in the 24-19 victory against FNP on Tuesday, Ireland second row James Ryan, Wales’s Jac Morgan and Scotland playmaker Blair Kinghorn are added to the bench. The English pair of Ben Earl and Marcus Smith, who were replacements in the first Test, drop out of the match-day squad.

“With Blair back fit, it gives you a different dynamic on the bench covering the back three, which is pretty important,” Farrell said. “Owen giving you the option there to cover 10-12.”

The Lions are aiming to wrap up their first series win since 2013 with victory at the Melbourne Cricket Ground against a Wallabies team who welcome back second row Will Skelton and back-rower Rob Valetini. Joe Schmidt, the Australia head coach, has also named six forwards on his bench and Farrell is expecting an increased physical challenge from the Wallabies.

“Well, I mean, it is what it says on the tin,” Farrell said. “It’s obvious what they’re going to bring and why they’re selected, so I suppose they’re delighted with that, and the 6-2 bench just backs that up a little bit, doesn’t it? So it’s not unexpected.”

Ellis Genge’s demotion to the bench is surprising after an effective display in the first Test while Farrell has previously described him as the “emotional driver” of the team. “Ports had the role reversal last week and came on and did a great job,” Farrell said. “He’s used to starting with a bang and the nature of Ellis and how he plays the game, he’ll add to us, certainly dynamically, when he comes onto the field.”

Ellis Genge must make do with a place on the bench - Getty Images/David Rogers

Porter forms an all-Irish front row alongside hooker Dan Sheehan and tighthead prop Tadhg Furlong. Chessum partners captain Maro Itoje in the second row. Jamison Gibson-Park continues at scrum-half while the back three of James Lowe, Tommy Freeman and full-back Hugo Keenan is unchanged. The back row of Tadhg Beirne, Tom Curry and Jack Conan also remains the same.

Accusations of favouritism are bound to be levelled at Farrell who has kept faith with Ireland wing Lowe in the side, despite a poor individual performance, and promoting Ryan, who has had a nondescript tour to date. However, Farrell was vindicated by his selections of flankers Curry and Beirne who delivered outstanding performances in the first Test despite quiet tours coming into the series. Winning, in Farrell’s eyes, is all that matters.

“No other Lions have done back-to-back victories in tours of the same country,” Farrell said. “Due to the good work of the 2013 touring party, we get the privilege to be in a position to try and accomplish that.”

Ringrose shows real courage in self-reporting concussion

Ringrose self-reported a recurrence of concussion symptoms - Getty Images/Brendan Moran

Rugby players used to be considered brave for playing through injuries, including concussions, yet by effectively standing himself down for the Lions’ second Test, Garry Ringrose has proven what real courage looks like.

As of Thursday morning, Ringrose’s name was on the team sheet to play the biggest game of his life. The Ireland centre had missed out on selection for the tours in 2013 and 2017 and was absent for the first Test having first reported delayed concussion symptoms following the midweek match against the Brumbies.

But following a training session on Thursday morning, Ringrose self-reported a recurrence of concussion symptoms. Andy Farrell was unsure about what the return-to-play protocols would entail but in all probability, Ringrose’s honesty has cost him his only chance of playing a Test for the Lions. At 30 years old, it would seem highly improbable that he would make another tour.

Speaking after the victory over the First Nations & Pasifika side on Tuesday night, Ringrose made clear how much representing the Lions meant to him. “Any chance to represent the Lions, it’s still I’ve got to pinch myself,” Ringrose said. “It’s something I would have dreamed of and everyone in there dreams of doing, so to get a chance to be out on the pitch was brilliant.”

Ringrose could easily have maintained that dream by saying nothing and hoping the symptoms dispersed by themselves. As Farrell says,“It’s very easy to keep it to yourself and lie.”

Instead, he chose to sacrifice his dream, not just to protect his own long-term health but to protect the team as well, which commanded the instant respect of all his team-mates. “You know how much everyone in this camp wants to be involved with this game at the weekend and it would have taken absolutely everything from him to pull himself out,” Ollie Chessum, the England lock, said. “That’s just testament to Garry’s character and the type of person that he is.”

All elite players play hurt to some degree. Tom Curry effectively limps from Monday to Friday before becoming what Farrell calls the “machine” on match day. But there is a difference between players taking the field with aching limbs or bruised bodies and playing with a brain injury.

Yet this is exactly what dozens, if not hundreds, of players have done down the years, dismissing a concussion as just a “head knock”, which has led to the mass lawsuit against rugby’s authorities. That this legal action now appears destined for a messy end in no way diminishes the idea that so many players’ lives – and their families’ – have been ruined by the repeated concussions they suffered in their careers, often with the implicit knowledge of their teams.

Perhaps the unfortunate nadir of rugby’s willingness to turn a blind eye to the dangers of concussion came in this corresponding Lions series in 2013 when in the fourth minute of the third Test George Smith was knocked out in a head-on-head collision with hooker Richard Hibbard. Scandalously, horrifically, the great Australian flanker returned to the field five minutes later having “passed” concussion protocols which virtually every player knew how to cheat. That proved to be a watershed moment for journalists such as Sam Peters and myself to investigate and raise awareness around this previously neglected subject.

Twelve years on, the landscape is very different and hopefully Ringrose’s actions will prove a watershed moment of a different kind by demonstrating that the effects of concussion should not be hidden or glossed over. The example that sets is more powerful than any amount of messaging from World Rugby.

Lions tours always produce unexpected heroes. Ringrose might just be the greatest of them all in 2025.

Gavin Mairs

Nine Irish and his son: Andy Farrell is not afraid to make big calls

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