𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Away from the Lions briefly, and Wales finally have a new head coach: Steve Tandy was always a strong contender for the role and has been appointed as Warren Gatland’s permanent successor.

Keeping track of all of those called up is quite the exercise – luckily, our player-by-player guide to the Lions squad has you covered:

It’s a bloated group training with the British and Irish Lions at Melbourne’s Xavier College this week, neither of Mack Hansen nor Joe McCarthy able to be involved yesterday but 43 squad members up on their feet and about with the tourists preparing both for tonight’s action and Saturday’s second Test. Gregor Brown, the Scotland lock, is the latest call-up:

Rob Valetini was a teammate growing up of Sione Tuipulotu, the Melburnian centre now at the heart of the British and Irish Lions squad. It’s going to be an emotional and fulfilling week for Tuipulotu as he catches up with family and friends:

There was good news, too, from Wallabies camp yesterday – Rob Valetini has declared himself “good to go” and is in line to bolster the back row at the MCG this weekend in his home city.

All is not lost for Australia, with the Wallabies taking plenty of heart from the spirit showed in their second-half fightback. Here are three key areas they’ll be looking to target to fight back into the series:

Tadhg Beirne was in an honest mood post-match, admitting that he had heard the noise around him and that he hadn’t been at his best on tour. A word in the ear from Andy Farrell helped focus the mind, too…

Any questions about the selection of Tom Curry and Tadhg Beirne on the flanks were answered rather emphatically by the pair, among the tourists’ best in Brisbane:

We’ll build up to tonight’s action in a bit, but let’s begin with a look back at the first Test, when Jamison Gibson-Park and Finn Russell were excellent in controlling affairs as the Lions went 1-0 up in the series:

Blair Kinghorn gets an opportunity to stake a claim for the full-back shirt after overcoming a knee injury, while Garry Ringrose is back involved on the bench after a concussion.