Wallabies release Faessler and Paisami amid Lions tour pressure
Hunter Paisami has been released to join Queensland Reds
©Steve Haag
The British & Irish Lions have successfully pushed for more Australian players to be released for their tour matches, with Wallabies squad members Matt Faessler and Hunter Paisami set to play for Queensland Reds.
Reports from Perth on Wednesday morning confirmed that after a meeting between Lions CEO Ben Calveley and Rugby Australia’s CEO, it was agreed that Faessler and Paisami would return to Brisbane to represent the Reds against the Lions on July 2nd.
This decision will be seen as a win for the Lions and Calveley, especially after he suggested that Australia risked breaching the tour agreement by withholding players from provincial matches.
The inclusion of Faessler and Paisami should enhance the competitiveness of the Reds and provide the Lions with a decent examination following this Saturday's fixture with Western Force, who themselves have named five Wallabies in their squad.
Australia boss Joe Schmidt had been keen on retaining around 25 of his key players, but now it looks like that won't be the case. Whether this trend continues for the Lions' matches against the Waratahs (July 5th) and Brumbies (July 9th) remains to be seen.
Speaking to the media over in Australia, Lions attack coach Andrew Goodman said: "It’s exciting. Hunter is a great player. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for most of those guys, so the intensity is going to be through the roof.”
Meanwhile, the Lions are set to name their side on Thursday for Saturday's meeting with Western Force in Perth. The fitness of Ireland full-back Hugo Keenan remains a doubt, but the positive news for boss Andy Farrell is that scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park is expected to be available.
Goodman said: "Jamison trained pretty much fully today. Hugo continued with a bit of rehab, and James Ryan was doing some bits and pieces. It’s all tracking well.”
He noted that while some players are still in return-to-play protocols, most were able to take part in training and will be reassessed following their next session on Friday.
The Lions will be aiming to kick off their tour of Australia with a victory, following their 28-24 defeat to Argentina last Friday.
"We want to play good rugby," Goodman added. "The group we’ve got here want to come over to Australia and play a nice, attractive brand of rugby.
"It will help grow the game if there are two teams attacking. When it comes to a Test match, it’s about winning, but we are going to develop our game so we can play at speed and give something to the fans who, as we’ve talked about, have paid a lot of money to come over here and watch us."
