It was always likely Garry Ringrose and Bundee Aki would form the Lions midfield for this match since their direct rivals, Huw Jones and Sione Tuipulotu, both started against the Waratahs on Saturday. The Ireland centres now look like they are in the box-seat for the first Test.

British & Irish Lions coach Andy Farrell has named eight Irishmen in his starting side to face the ACT Brumbies on Wednesday, the tour match for which he was expected to select a line-up close to his first-choice team for the test series.

Andy Farrell has named his strongest British and Irish team Lions team yet with Wednesday's match against the ACT Brumbies in Canberra shaping up to be a dry run for the first Test against Australia.