FILE PHOTO: Rugby Union - Rugby World Cup 2023 - Third Place Play-Off - Argentina v England - Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France - October 27, 2023 England's Owen Farrell in action REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier/File Photo
MELBOURNE (Reuters) -Former England captain Owen Farrell has been named among the replacements for the British & Irish Lions' tour match against an Australia-New Zealand Invitational XV in Adelaide on Saturday.
The Lions also announced that Scotland fullback Blair Kinghorn had "received positive news" following a scan on a knee injury sustained early in the victory over the Brumbies on Wednesday.
There were fears that the injury might be serious, causing head coach Andy Farrell a potential headache at fullback following the fractured arm that ended Elliot Daly's tour and the scratchy form of Ireland's Hugo Keenan.
Jamie Osborne, currently with the Ireland squad in Portugal, will join the Lions to provide additional training cover.
Andy Farrell brought son Owen into the squad last week following the injury that ruled versatile back Daly out of the three-match test series against the Wallabies.
Though boasting 112 England caps and three previous Lions tours, the 33-year-old flyhalf/centre's inclusion was polarising given he has not played a test since 2023 and is coming off an injury-plagued season in French club rugby.
Andy Farrell, who defended Owen's inclusion last week, said on Thursday his son was no different to other teammates in needing to catch up fast to the Lions' playbook.
"He's the same as everyone else who's had to get up to speed pretty quickly," Farrell told a press conference in Adelaide on Thursday.
"Everyone had to at the start and a few have come in since. I think the art of this stage of the tour is mentally being as switched on as you possibly can.
"There's not that much training that you can do. We're at a captain's run tomorrow and that's the preparation for this game."
With only a couple of days' break following the laboured 36-24 win over the ACT Brumbies, Farrell has overhauled his squad while retaining a few players from Canberra.
Winger Mack Hansen and loose forward Henry Pollock, who each played off the bench against the Brumbies, were included in the starting 15.
England's Marcus Smith has also been retained on the bench after replacing Kinghorn in the first half in Canberra, with Keenan starting in the number 15 jersey Adelaide. Lock Tadhg Beirne will captain the side as Maro Itoje is rested.
Farrell's team will face 14 test players in the AUNZ line-up coached by Les Kiss at Adelaide Oval, their final run-out before the first test on July 19.
"As a unit, how they gel together, there's a little bit of unknown there," Farrell said of their opponents.
"It looks like a formidable side, doesn't it, that's going to be hard to stop."
Team:
15-Hugo Keenan, 14-Mack Hansen, 13-Huw Jones, 12-Sione Tuipulotu, 11-Duhan van der Merwe, 10-Fin Smith, 9-Ben White, 8-Ben Earl, 7-Jac Morgan, 6-Henry Pollock, 5-Tadhg Beirne (capt), 4-James Ryan, 3-Will Stuart, 2-Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1-Pierre Schoeman
Replacements:
16-Ronan Kelleher, 17-Andrew Porter, 18-Finlay Bealham, 19-Scott Cummings, 20-Josh van der Flier, 21-Alex Mitchell, 22-Marcus Smith, 23-Owen Farrell
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
