Ex-England boss calls for Australia to ‘physically upset’ Lions in second Test response

Australia must revise their gameplan from the get-go to defeat the British and Irish Lions in their second Test clash.

That’s according to former Red Roses and Wallabies boss Eddie Jones after their opening loss against Andy Farrell’s travelling side.

A 27-19 victory over Australia saw the Lions continue their excellent 2025 tour run and kickstart their three-match Test series.

They could have extended the scoreline even further, but a laboured second half performance ensured it ended with an eight-point gap.

On Tuesday, the Lions will face a First Nations and Pasifika XV, live on talkSPORT 2, in their seventh match on Australian soil.

Two final Test matches against their hosts will then follow, and Jones believes they must unbalance the series leaders’ plans to fight back.

“Well I think Australia have got to do something at the start of the game to take the Lions out of their comfort [zone]…,” he said on talkSPORT Breakfast.

“The Lions, if it becomes a structured game, the Lions are just too powerful and too clinical for Australia, that’s the first thing.

“Australia have to do something in the first 20 minutes to upset the apple cart, so to speak, do something a little bit different with their kick-off, their first lineout play.

“They’ve got to try to mix it up a little bit, come up with something that’s just going to psychologically and physically upset the Lions, to try to get a lead.

“And if they can get the lead, they can maybe make the Lions play differently.”

Jones was then asked about how the Lions can go one step further in the second Test and claim another huge victory in the series.

“I think the Lions will double down on what they’ve been doing,” he said. “They’ll be really powerful around the ruck.

“I thought [Ellis] Genge and [Tadhg] Furlong particularly at the start of the game were points of difference for the Lions.

“Then you throw in [Jamison] Gibson-Park at half-back, he was a maestro, picking out his runners, kicking accurately, keeping the Lions on the front foot.

“The area the Lions will be disappointed in, they didn’t get an advantage in the scrum and the referee in a lot of ways took the contest out of the scrum.

“So, I think they’ll be looking to up the ante in that area, particularly with the Italian referee.”

After playing against the First Nations & Pasifika XV, the Lions will remain in Melbourne for their next Australia Test on Saturday.

Their third and final clash in the series will then come a week later on August 2 in Sydney.

Should the Lions win, they will beat Australia for the second such tour in a row.