Whenever the British and Irish Lions and Australia go head to head, they deliver mouth-watering individual battles and explosive incidents.
And the Lions’ opening test against the Wallabies in Brisbane this Saturday, live on talkSPORT, is poised to deliver another potential headline grabber.
Lions head coach Andy Farrell revealed his side for Saturday’s first test with Tom Curry and Sione Tuipulotu both included.
Curry starts in a back-row alongside Tadhg Beirne and Jack Conan, with Tuipulotu being preferred at 12 ahead of Bundee Aki.
Neither Owen Farrell, the head coach’s son, or Henry Pollock will take part in Brisbane with Fly-half Marcus Smith named as a replacement.
Tommy Freeman and James Lowe join Hugo Keenan in the back-three, with Huw Jones at outside-centre.
Finn Russell and Jamison Gibson-Park occupy the roles of half-backs, with Ellis Genge, Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong making up the front-row.
Saturday’s clash evokes memories of past clashes in Queensland that live long in the memory.
First came the Battle of Ballymore in 1989 in Brisbane when the Lions battered the Wallabies in a brutal second test, followed by David Campese’s moment of madness giving away a try that handed the Lions the test series.
In 2001, Austin Healey called Wallaby lock Justin Harrison a ‘plank’ and then watched as his bitter rival stole a last ditch third test line out to ruin the Lions bid for victory and test series glory.
Then 2013 delivered George North versus Israel Folau, the two greatest wingers in the world at the time. Their pulsating back and forth battle is the closest rugby has ever got to delivering its own version of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer’s immortal 2008 Wimbledon final.
In the first test in Brisbane 12 years ago, Folau scored the opening try of the series and North responded with arguably one of the best individual tries in Lions history.
Then in Melbourne a week later, on the 60 minute mark, North broke the internet for the second time, carrying the ball into contact and fireman lifting arch-rival Folau, pumping his legs and driving the Australian backwards. The iconic image of North carrying Folau with the ball in hand will forever live in the memories of Lions fans.
And 12 years later, 21-year-old Wallabies superstar Joseph Suaalii and Lions inside centre Sione Tuipulotu are expected to go another 12 rounds in Brisbane on Saturday, following a ferocious Autumn Nations meeting in November which saw Australia’s poster boy hit Scotland centre Tuipulotu harder than he had ever been tackled before.
Generational talent Suaalii switched codes from rugby league to the 15-a-side union game in 2023 in pursuit of starring in the 2025 Lions test series and the upcoming home Rugby World Cup in 2027.
And it was the Autumn Nations series in November 2024 where Suaalii announced his talent to the global union audience. Half an hour into Australia’s loss against Scotland, Suaalii folded Scotland captain Tuipulotu in half with an earth-shattering tackle.
Suaalii came off worse, hurting his arm and was then sledged by Tuipulotu, a former Junior Wallaby, and tempers began to flare between the two inside centres.
During the heated confrontation, Suaalii was heard on the referee’s mic saying, ‘see you next time’ to his opposite number. Evidently, a rematch in Australia in the Lions series was exactly what the young star had in mind.
With Jamison Gibson-Park, Finn Russell and Huw Jones reportedly nailed on to start in the back line for Brisbane, Tuipulotu is expected to reform the ‘Huwipulotu’ centre partnership that has served the Lions and Scotland so well.
If this is the case, Tuipulotu and Suaalii will be set to face off in the second instalment of their battle.
But earlier this week Suaalii tried to downplay the ‘beef’ ahead of the test opener this weekend, saying: “I feel like there’s been a lot of talk around that moment but at the end of the day it’s just a game of footy. I’m a big believer that whatever’s said on the field stays on the field.
“I’m just focused on what I can do for the team, that’s it. I’m not going to speak on it, to be fair.
“I always focus on myself first before I put my energy into someone else, and obviously fans want to see a rivalry and all that but at the end of the day, it’s a team sport and I’m just trying to do the best for the team.”
Tuipulotu has been warned to steer clear of reminding Suaalii of their previous beef and said: “I know Eoin Toolan, who is the analyst at the Wallabies, and he used to be our analyst at Melbourne.
“He’s told me to stop talking on these podcasts about Joey [Suaalii) cause he says he’s raring to go. I don’t want to put any targets on my back from big Joey.”
However, giant Wallabies lock Will Skelton wants to see more fireworks and said: “Yeah, that’s what you want, no?
“You want our 12s going against their 12s, you want our 13s going against their 13s – I think no matter what, it’s going to be a physical battle and we’re up for the challenge.”
Lions team to face Australia on Saturday
Starting XV: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 James Lowe, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Dan Sheehan, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 5 Joe McCarthy, 6 Tadhg Beirne, 7 Tom Curry, 8 Jack Conan.
Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Andrew Porter, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Ben Earl, 21 Alex Mitchell, 22 Marcus Smith, 23 Bundee Aki.