Force need to set Lions tour tone by showing some mongrel

For all the money that Rugby Australia trousers along the way, such an outcome would do more harm than good for the game in Australia, but it is not an impossibility given the strength of the Lions.

Consequently, the release of Nic White, Dylan Pietsch, Nick Champion de Crespigny, Darcy Swain and Tom Robertson to the Western Force for their tour opener against the Lions on Saturday week was arguably the most consequential bit of news from Schmidt’s as-expected 36-man squad.

There is probably more chance of Peter FitzSimons becoming the next King of England than the Force beating the Lions in Perth, but the cantankerous nature of many of those individuals should mean that, at the least, the Lions’ first game has real elements of discomfort.

Champion de Crespigny and Swain have to climb into these Lions, and White likewise with some of his trademark verbal offerings.

The spurned Brandon Paenga-Amosa should also have something to prove, while Will Harris and Reed Prinsep are seasoned enough to understand the assignment – hit hard and hit often and get into some faces.

Indeed, the back row is probably the area where Schmidt might be watching most closely in the coming weeks. Interestingly, the Lions have gone straight to Maro Itoje and Tadhg Beirne against Los Pumas, effectively picking three No 7s in the back row.

You would expect Jack Conan to make a real push for the Lions No 8 Test jersey, given his size and outstanding display for Leinster against the Bulls in the United Rugby Championship final last weekend, but judging by Schmidt’s squad he is seriously looking at powering up his back row with Tom Hooper and Rob Valetini as a No 6-No 8 or Valetini and Langi Gleeson as the No 6-No 8.

The absence of Luke Reimer (the bigger Rory Scott is on standby) indicates that Schmidt has no interest in going like-for-like with the Lions half-dozen opensides, and may even spot an opening by doing what the Brumbies did against Peter Lakai and Du’Plessis Kirifi in the Super Rugby Pacific quarterfinal – meeting them with a power and set-piece game.

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The games are therefore well and truly under way on and off the field, and Simon Cron’s Force have the chance to set the tone in Perth. If the Wallabies are to have a chance, the Force have to show the Lions can be vulnerable to more than swipes about where their players came from.

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