Andy Farrell says idea of scrapping Lions tours to Australia is ‘insulting’
Andy Farrell has described suggestions the Wallabies are not worthy opponents of the British & Irish Lions as “insulting” and believes it would be a mistake to scrap tours of Australia,The Lions can wrap up their first clean sweep since 1927 if they beat the Wallabies in Saturday’s third Test in Sydney and become the first Lions side to go unbeaten since 1974,The Lions have already made history by becoming the first touring side to clinch a second straight series win over the same opponent and are odds-on favourites to secure a 3-0 whitewash,The Wallabies are languishing at sixth in the world rankings and although they came within 50 seconds of levelling the series in Melbourne were well beaten in the Brisbane opener,The six warm-up victories have been largely one-sided – the five-point win over the First Nations & Pasifika XV notwithstanding – raising questions as to whether the Lions should continue to tour Australia or seek different opponents, such as France or Argentina.
The French federation vice-president Abdel Benazzi said this month that he intended to discuss a “new business model” with the Lions.Benazzi was adamant he did not want to do so at the expense of Australia, but Sir Clive Woodward, who coached the Lions in 2005, and Brian Moore, who featured on two tours, have said consideration should be given to scheduling different opponents.Australia’s head coach, Joe Schmidt, chose not to release a number of his players to feature in the warm-up games and this provided more ammunition.The 2029 tour of New Zealand is all but signed off, but there is no agreement in place over future tours.The Lions captain, Maro Itoje, said on Tuesday that his preference would be to stick with the traditional opponents and on Thursday Farrell said: “I don’t think [touring Australia] was ever off the agenda.
Every single team, country, province, has their ups and downs, but Australia – the sporting nation they are – are always going to come back.“That [performance last] weekend is no surprise to us and why we expect them to be better.Have a look at the year they’ve got coming up.They’re going to be a force to be reckoned with, 100%, with all their experiences, come the World Cup in 2027 [in Australia].“Hopefully, [this tour] will be remembered for the type of rugby we played and the way that we went about it.
We came here and wanted to win a series,We’ve achieved that, but we have a massive responsibility to make sure we finish this off with something we promised ourselves with,“It’s a big ask, but it’s something that we’re determined to do,[Winning 3-0 is] something we’ve talked about from day one and we’ve put ourselves in a position to put that on the line, so that’s why it means so much to us,”Sign up to The BreakdownThe latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewedafter newsletter promotionDespite already securing the series, Farrell has resisted making wholesale changes for the final Test with just two to the starting lineup.
Blair Kinghorn replaces James Lowe on the left wing while James Ryan comes in at second-row.Ollie Chessum drops to a 6-2 bench that includes Jac Morgan and Ben Earl.Morgan’s clearout on Carlo Tizzano in the buildup to Hugo Keenan’s last-minute try last week has been hotly debated with the Wallabies adamant the score ought to have been chalked off.Tizzano, for his part, has been accused of playacting, but Schmidt revealed on Thursday that the clearout registered a force of 54G.Schmidt has chosen to omit the flanker for the third Test and said “he’s copped a lot of online abuse”.
Farrell, who lashed out when his son Owen was targeted after his red card against Wales in a 2023 World Cup warm-up match, said: “Online abuse is clear and obvious.It’s disgusting.It shouldn’t be that way.”
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Trump threatens drug giants with crackdown over prices
Donald Trump has threatened to use “every tool in our arsenal” to crack down on pharmaceutical giants if they fail to cut drug prices for Americans within 60 days.The president wrote to executives at 17 companies on Thursday, demanding they match their US prices for prescription drugs with the lowest price offered in other developed nations.Current prices were an “unacceptable burden” on US families, Trump said, claiming they could be up to three times higher than in other countries.After returning to the White House earlier this year and pledging to bring down drug prices, the president claimed that “most proposals” from the pharmaceutical industry amounted to “more of the same”, accusing firms of seeking to shift blame and requesting policies that would pave the way for handouts worths billions of dollars for the sector.“Make no mistake: a collaborative effort towards achieving global pricing parity would be the most effective path for companies, the government, and American patients,” Trump wrote
Apple quietens Wall Street’s fears of China struggles and slow AI progress
Apple has been under pressure this year. It’s playing catch-up to its fellow tech giants on artificial intelligence, it’s seen its stock fall by double digits since the year began, it closed a store in China for the first time ever this week, and looming US tariffs on Beijing threaten its supply chain. On Thursday, the company released its third-quarter earnings of the fiscal year as investors scrutinize how the iPhone maker might turn things around.Despite the gloomy outlook, the company is still worth more than $3tn, and it beat Wall Street’s expectations for profit and revenue this quarter. Apple reported a massive 10% year-over-year increase in revenue to $94
Amazon fails to calm tariff worries with worse-than-expected financial outlook
Amazon failed to quiet concerns over how Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs would affect its e-commerce business as it reported its latest quarterly results on Thursday. Wall Street’s affinity for the tech giant faltered in response.The top line numbers from Amazon’s second quarter earnings report exceeded Wall Street’s projections. The tech company beat expectations with its revenue up 13.3% year over year to $167
Chess: 10-year-old targets world record alongside grandmasters at British Championship
England’s grandmasters are in action on Saturday, as round one of the British Championship gets under way at St George’s Hall in the centre of Liverpool. Former Russian Nikita Vitiugov, 38, the national No 1, is top seeded while the No3 and world senior champion, Michael Adams, is the man in form after the 53-year-old from Taunton, Somerset, won the English title in July.The continuing chess boom, reflecting the easy availability of online blitz games, the popularity of the world No 1, Magnus Carlsen, and the success of Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit, have combined to spark a record entry of more than 1,600 players for the championship and its subsidiary tournaments.Vitiugov, who switched federations in response to the invasion of Ukraine, and Adams, who defies the years and was impressive when winning the English title at Kenilworth, can expect several challenges to appear during the nine-round tournament, which finishes on Sunday week.Gawain Jones, 37, is the defending champion and No 3 seed
Wallabies ready to rip into Lions after moving on from second Test controversy
Australian captain Harry Wilson has declared the Wallabies have “flipped the switch” and are primed to overcome the disappointment of last week’s loss in Melbourne to prevent a British & Irish Lions series sweep in front of a sell-out 83,000 crowd in Sydney on Saturday.But the hosts’ camp has been rocked by late injuries to hooker David Porecki and backup Matt Faessler during training after the team for the third Test was announced on Thursday, and an 11th-hour SOS has been sent for Brandon Paenga-Amosa.Billy Pollard moves from the bench into the starting XV, while the man teammates call “BPA” is set for another chance at the Lions having played them three times already, including for both the AUNZ Invitational XV and the First Nations & Pasifika side.Wilson said he was “gutted” to lose Porecki and Faessler but Paenga-Amosa – having represented the Wallabies as recently as last year – has fitted in quickly.“He’s been around this group for quite a long time over the last year, year and a half, and he’s obviously versed [played against] the Lions already three times, so he’s got a lot of confidence,” he said
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