‘We’re not playing a pub team’: Itoje warns Lions of wounded Wallabies at MCG
Maro Itoje has urged the British & Irish Lions to beware the wounded Wallabies, insisting they are “not a pub team” before calling on his side to create special memories as they seek to wrap up the series at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday.The tourists are red-hot favourites to clinch the second Test and thereby earn the Lions’ first back-to-back series win against the same opponents, after Sam Warburton guided them to victory over the Wallabies in 2013.The head coach, Andy Farrell, has already described the fixture, in front of an expected crowd of about 95,000, as “the biggest game of our lives”, with the Lions seeking only a second series win since 1997. On Thursday night the squad were given a call to arms by the two-times Lions captain and 2003 World Cup winner Martin Johnson, who presented the selected 23 with their jerseys.The Lions are 4-1 on favourites to clinch the series after blowing the Wallabies away in the first half of last weekend’s 27-19 win in Brisbane, but a second-half rally and the return from injury of Will Skelton and Rob Valetini has given the home side a degree of hope.Citing how England were beaten 42-37 by the Wallabies last November in a thrilling contest at Twickenham, Itoje is adamant that the Lions must not underestimate Joe Schmidt’s Australia. “We know we are not playing a pub team,” the Lions captain said. “The Wallabies are a proper team, I played them last year in the autumn and we lost to them when we were supposed to win. They are a team that can punish you if you don’t approach the game properly.”View image in fullscreen Tom Wright scores Australia’s first try during the Wallabies’ Autumn Nations Series defeat of England at Twickenham last November. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The GuardianItoje is poised to win his eighth Lions Test cap and is one of only three players in Farrell’s squad to have been on three or more tours for the combined side. He was voted the Lions’ player of the series in 2021 and enjoyed a stunning performance in the second Test win against the All Blacks in 2017, while for England he has appeared in the 2019 World Cup final and fell agonisingly short of repeating the trick four years later. “These are the sorts of games, these are almost the reason why you want to play rugby,” he added.“You want to be a part of these huge occasions, huge games with maybe a little bit of jeopardy on the line, but more so the opportunity to do something special, the opportunity to be a part of something special, the opportunity to do something that lives long in the memory, and create special memories with your friends and colleagues and family. So I try to focus on the opportunity. Then I also just try to focus on the process of what I need to do to get myself in the right space.“Given the magnitude of the game and the weeks, there’s a higher level of focus. As a professional athlete, there’s always focus on what you do, but not all games are equal. Not all games mean the same thing. And this game, last week, these games aren’t equal to normal games of rugby. They’re special.skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to The Breakdown Free weekly newsletter The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewed Enter your email address Sign up Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion“So naturally, there’s a higher level of focus. It requires a higher level of intensity and a higher level of diligence to what you want to do. It goes without saying we need to play the game with a huge amount of intensity and that should be reflected in our buildup and how we approach the game.”
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