Elliot Daly of the British & Irish Lions breaks with the ball against Argentina at the Aviva Stadium on 20 June 2025 in Dublin, Ireland. (Photo: David Rogers / Getty Images) 
The British & Irish Lions have often set off on tour with confidence, but it is rare that they arrive in the southern hemisphere as heavily favoured as they are to beat Australia in their Test series in late July and August.
Australian rugby has been in varying stages of crisis for the past decade and the Wallabies, World Cup winners in 1991 and 1999, are currently ranked eighth in the world beneath three of the four nations that contribute to the Lions.
The band of Irish, English, Scottish and Welshmen who arrived in Perth with captain Maro Itoje and coach Andy Farrell at the weekend are therefore expected to emulate the tourists of 1989 and 2013 by triumphing Down Under.
The expectations of a one-sided series were so high last year that former England scrumhalf Ben Youngs questioned whether Australia still deserved its place in the quadrennial Lions touring cycle along with South Africa and New Zealand.
His comments came after Australia had been thumped 67-27 by Argentina in the Rugby Championship, but signs that progress was being made under wily coach Joe Schmidt came when the Wallabies beat England 42-37 at Twickenham in November.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/2221888149.jpg "Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt. (Photo: Darrian Traynor / Getty Images)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/2221354153.jpg "Andy Farrell, the British & Irish Lions head coach. (Photo: David Rogers / Getty Images)")
When they followed that with a 52-20 win over Wales and got within three points of Ireland in Dublin, Australian hopes soared that the Wallabies would at least be competitive against the Lions.
Schmidt would never wittingly leave a hostage to fortune and has, at best, expressed qualified ambition for his team to be within a few points of the Lions towards the end of the Tests.
“Then we’ve a chance,” the New Zealander said in April. “But we’ve got to give ourselves that chance by being really good in our performance behaviours.’
Read more: 2025 British & Irish Lions jet off to Australia in vastly different atmosphere
Many of the Lions squad are well aware of Schmidt’s quality as a coach from his transformative time in charge of Ireland, when Farrell was his defence coach before becoming his successor.
Farrell was also assistant to Warren Gatland on the 2013 tour of Australia and the 2017 tour of New Zealand, when the Test series was drawn 1-1, so is more than familiar with the challenges facing a Lions coach.
The former rugby league international has just a few weeks to forge players more used to knocking seven bells out of each other into a cohesive unit ready to play three matches at the highest level of the game.
Wake-up call
The tour games, although far fewer than in the days when the Lions tramped around small provincial towns for three months or more, are key to that process.
Farrell got the ball rolling with less than a full squad against Argentina in Dublin last weekend, and received the wake-up call of a 28-24 defeat that swiftly ended his hopes that they would go through the 10-match tour undefeated.
“That’s all part of the journey — to understand where we need to go next,” the Englishman said on his arrival in Perth.
“We’re here to build for what’s going to be a fantastic Test series. We want to play some good rugby along the way and we’ll find out more about each other.”
The Lions are unlikely to play a team as good as the Pumas until the first Test in Brisbane on 19 July 2025, with four matches against Super Rugby teams and one against an Australia-New Zealand XV before that.
Farrell gets his second chance to put a team out on the park on Saturday at Perth Stadium against Western Force, a gritty team but the weakest of the four Australian Super Rugby sides.
Lions chief executive Ben Calveley has already fired a shot across the bows of Rugby Australia, insisting that Wallabies players should be released for tour games for fear that they will otherwise be uncompetitive.
Western Australia, and the Force since 2006, have never provided that stiff of an opposition, losing 44-0 to the Lions in 1989, 116-10 in 2001 and 69-17 in 2013.
The match will, however, give Australia a first glimpse of the army of up to 40,000 red-shirted British and Irish rugby enthusiasts who will descend on the country to cheer on the Lions.
Sheehan to lead
Ireland hooker Dan Sheehan will captain the British & Irish Lions on debut in their tour match against Western Force, while young England loose forward Henry Pollock has been named to start at number eight.
Farrell has completely overhauled his team with only Sione Tuipulotu and Tadhg Beirne surviving in the starting line-up from the side that lost to Argentina in Dublin last week.
Beirne moves from lock into a back row also featuring 20-year-old Pollock and openside Josh van der Flier, while Australia-born Tuipulotu shifts from outside to inside centre in a midfield partnership with Garry Ringrose.
Finn Russell starts at flyhalf in his first appearance on his third Lions tour and is paired with Wales scrumhalf Tomos Williams, who made his debut off the bench against Argentina.
Marcus Smith, who played at fullback against the Pumas, drops to the bench with his England teammate Elliot Daly handed the number 15 shirt.
Another Australia-born player, Mack Hansen, makes his first Lions start on the right wing with James Lowe replacing Duhan van der Merwe on the left.
Sheehan and his Leinster teammates Ringrose, Lowe, Joe McCarthy and Van der Flier will all play their first Lions match at Perth Stadium, having joined the squad late after their URC Championship triumph.
“Dan Sheehan gets the opportunity to lead the side against Western Force, which is a great honour for him and his family — so congratulations to Dan as he captains the side on his Lions debut,” Farrell said in a statement.
A further four players — lock Ollie Chessum, centre Huw Jones and props Andrew Porter and Will Stuart — could make their Lions debut off the bench.
The Force named a team studded with Test players earlier on Thursday, reinforced at the last minute by the release from the Wallabies camp of playmaker Ben Donaldson.
“We know the quality and experience the Force have, and the opportunity to play against the Lions always brings out special performances from the Super Rugby sides, so we expect them to be at their best,” Farrell said. Reuters/DM
British & Irish Lions team vs Western Force
15 Elliot Daly, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 James Lowe, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Henry Pollock, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Tadhg Beirne, 5 Joe McCarthy, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan (captain), 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Andrew Porter, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Alex Mitchell, 22 Huw Jones, 23 Marcus Smith.