Jonathan Joseph's 2025 Lions column: We want drama on a Lions Tour
Former England centre and 2017 British & Irish Lions tourist, Jonathan Joseph, analyses the 2025 Lions Tour to Australia so far as they prepare to face the Wallabies in the second Test, following the Lions' 29-17 win.
Lions were dominant despite scoreline
The Lions started the first Test against Australia really well; there was a real focus and they were very direct. They were physical, dominant, and brought the game to the Wallabies, who were a little shocked.
In that first half the Lions kind of blew Australia away and you could almost say that the game was done at that point. They were 17-5 up at half-time and then Dan Sheehan scored early in the second half to give them a comfortable buffer.
I was really hoping Australia would show up and, even though the scoreline didn’t look as dominant at full-time, it’s disappointing for a Lions Test series to start in this way.
The team can only beat what is in front of them, but as rugby fans we want to be entertained and we want drama, especially when it comes to a Lions Tour.
I imagine a lot of supporters were willing Australia on to make it a bit more competitive, but they didn’t look very threatening ball in hand and the Lions’ defence was phenomenal for the majority of the game.
Tom Curry in particular was an animal on Saturday and completely justified his selection. His energy and willingness to get off the line and smoke someone was exactly what we expect from him.
Ellis Genge was also really good. Some people thought he was a bit off but for me his intent was brilliant, especially in defence, and forced people back inside.
Andy Farrell will want more from the Lions
As good as the Lions were in that first half, I still think Andy Farrell will be looking for a lot more in the second Test on Saturday.
His mindset is that no matter what is in front of you, standards don’t drop, he’ll want them to keep pushing and improving, so he will probably have got into them this week.
He’ll have a real emphasis on putting in a full 80-minute performance and I expect the Lions to turn it up another gear this week.
Midweek game was last real opportunity
They also played their final midweek game against a pretty impressive First Nations & Pasifika XV, winning 24-19. I played in the equivalent game against the Hurricanes in 2017 and there is definitely an element of trying to play yourself into the Test side.
For the likes of Owen Farrell and Blair Kinghorn, it would have been a chance to force their way in from a playing perspective.
My experience was a little bit different because Jonathan Davies played unbelievably well in the first Test. I obviously wanted to put my best foot forward but realistically I knew that there was little chance of me playing unless something went wrong.
Some players managed to work their way into the Test team like Courtney Lawes and Jack Nowell, but all you can do is control what you can control and you never know what might happen.
Looking ahead to Saturday, I’m hanging on to the fact that Australia have some big hitters coming back in Will Skelton and Rob Valetini. I would also have liked a bit more experience at fly-half, because for Tom Lynagh to have made his first Test start against the Lions was a real baptism of fire.
That might make things more competitive, but I think something has to go drastically wrong for the Lions to not win this game, either a red card or multiple injuries. I still think the Lions will have too much for Australia.
