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The Lions are finally set to unleash the ‘all-singing, all-dancing’ double-act who they hope can guide them to series glory against the Wallabies – if they can hurriedly establish some creative chemistry.
Ireland scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park has recovered from a glute injury and been cleared for his first appearance of the 2025 campaign.
Finn Russell has been retained in the starting XV to face the Reds, so that he can start forming a bond with the half-back partner who is almost certain to line up alongside him for the opening Test here in the state capital of Queensland on July 19.
Leinster’s 33-year-old, tone-setting dynamo must hit the ground running and click with Bath and Scotland’s master conductor, aged 32. Gibson-Park and Russell have all the experience and pedigree to run the show to telling effect for the Lions, but what they don’t have is game-time together, or even much of a build-up operating in tandem behind the scenes.
‘To be honest, I’ve not done that much with him,’ said Gibson-Park, when asked about training with Russell. ‘I’ve thrown a few passes to him here and there, but nothing too crazy at this stage.’
Lions head coach Andy Farrell acknowledged that this new half-back combination will need some time to connect. Asked what he expects from the combination, he said: ‘All-singing, all-dancing and everything going to plan – but that won’t be the case.
Jamison Gibson-Park has recovered from injury and been cleared for his first appearance
Finn Russell has been retained in the starting XV so that the pair can start forming a bond
‘It will be the first time they have played together. The first time they have trained together was probably today and it has only been a walk-through. Allowing them the two days to grab hold of the plan for their team is going to put them in good stead for Wednesday night.
‘We have all sorts of meetings and they’re all set up to get to know each other and talk freely. That’s been going on for some time. They understand one another and understood one and others’ traits even before they got on the plane because that is what players do. They look out for how the best do things. They are two characters and want to see the game from similar eyes. They have attacking mindsets but they both know how important game control is.’
If the pair work each other out in a hurry, they could wreak havoc. Russell was imperious in his first tour appearance against Western Force in Perth on Saturday, picking up where he left off in orchestrating Bath’s historic Treble last season. Gibson-Park holds him in suitably high regard.
‘He’s a hugely impressive player,’ he said. ‘Every team he is in, he has a huge impact. I can only speak from coming up against him and the time it takes for the preparation, to try to limit what he is able to bring. That in itself is a huge compliment to him. I’m looking forward to linking up with him.
‘He plays the game with a smile on his face and it’s refreshing, but in the meeting rooms, there is a serious side to him and I knew that already, coming in, having spoken to guys who have played with him. I would have had that interpretation of Finn as a player.
‘For all the stuff that you see of his ability to break a game open, he’s pretty calculated in the way he manages the game as well, so it’ll make my job easier. I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing hopefully. Myself and Finn have already had conversations around that, so hopefully we don’t have to change too much up, just play footy like we normally do.’
When he joined Bath, Russell is said to have set his stall out for how he wanted to dovetail with club captain Ben Spencer by putting the England scrum-half in a playful head-lock and saying that all he needed was to give the Scot the ball. ‘I have had something similar,’ said Gibson-Park, before adding: ‘No I haven’t! He is good. He understands the impact he can have on a team.
Leinster’s tone-setting dynamo must hit the ground running and click with Russell quickly
‘There is a kind of gelling period with any 9-10 combination. When you’re largely in charge of driving the game, there is going to be a bit of a feeling-out period, but it has been good. The off-field piece is as big. We’ve spent some nice time off the pitch, which is hugely important for the gelling period. It has been good and hopefully we can see it out there on Wednesday.’
However difficult it may be to connect quickly with an unfamiliar side-kick, Gibson-Park is just glad that he has the chance to tackle that challenge. His participation in the Lions tour was briefly in the balance when he suffered an untimely, end-of-season injury which ruled him out of the United Rugby Championship Final with Leinster.
‘It was dicey enough for a few days,’ he said. ‘I had to get a number of scans to clear up what was going on. They had every radiologist in the country trying to read it to figure out what was going on! But it’s ended up being okay. For a few days there, I thought I might miss this altogether, so I’m glad to be here now really.’
In his day-job as Ireland’s head coach, Farrell has built an entire, tried-and-trusted gameplan around Gibson-Park’s ability to ignite the team around him with tempo and vision. So, naturally, the man in charge of the Lions here was elated to welcome back such a valued player and he was emphatic in acclaiming the New Zealander who has emerged as a modern-day Irish icon.
‘I don’t say this lightly, he is 100 per cent a world-class player and he will make any team better and tick,’ said Farrell. ‘His point of difference is his speed of play, and his speed of play is like it is because his speed of thought is ahead of the game the whole time, so he sees things nice and early.
‘Also, he is a calming influence and a different type of leader. He is quiet but when he speaks, it is worth listening because he has done his homework and understands how it is that we want to play.’
Against the Reds at Suncorp Stadium, then against the Wallabies at the same venue 17 days later, the Lions will need a calming influence, leadership, wise words and game understanding from both half-backs. If they’ve both done their homework and are fully up to speed, Australia will struggle to contain them.
