17 July 2025
Good Morning GAGRs and welcome to Thursday, apologies in advance for the double outing this week, the rest of the crew are busy or have commitments, so here we go.
Of course, in the week before a Lions test, the first Lions test in Australia for 12 years, these is plenty of Rugby news to be had, there are Lions team forecasts, player updates, and Wallabies team forecasts to go through.
We’ll update the page throughout the day as the teams get announced, or we’ll create a separate page, but either way, team announcements will be posted on
Possible Lions Side
Officially, the Lions side gets named on Thursday, but as with everything, sites around the world are putting up exclusive leaks or views on who should make the side. Rather than go with one of their selections, we have reached out to our in house Welsh rugby expert, so here is Eloise Pasteur;s forecast side.
- Ellis Genge
- Dan Sheehan
- Tadhg Furlong
- Maro Itoje (c)
- Joe McCarthy
- Jack Conan
- Jac Morgan
- Henry Pollock
- Jamison Gibson-Park
- Finn Russell
- Tommy Freeman
- Sione Tuipulotu
- Huw Jones
- James Lowe
- Kinghorn
- Ronan Kelleher
- Finlay Bealham
- Pierre Schoeman
- Ollie Chessum
- Ben Earls
- Ben White
- Marcus Smith
- Osbourne, or a loose forward.
Which looks like a pretty good squad. We’ll update the GAGR site once the team is officially announced.
Wallabies news
There’s a persistent rumour that the Wallabies will be without Bob Valetini, who has been the Wallabies best over the last 2 years hasn’t recovered enough from his calf injury and will miss selection. It’s also rumoured that Langi Gleeson is carrying a niggle and might miss out. It will make for some interesting choices for Joe Schmidt and the coaching team as they try to get off to a winning start on Saturday night at Lang Park.
Possible Wallabies Squad
We ran a bit of a poll within the GAGR crew and came up with our thoughts on who should make the team, so here goes.
| Position | Hoss | Nutta | RAWF |
| 1. | Angus Bell | Angus Bell | Angus Bell |
| 2. | Dave Porecki | Matt Faessler | Matt Faessler |
| 3. | Allan Alaalatoa | Taniela Tupou | Taniela Tupou |
| 4. | Nick Frost | Will Skelton | Nick Frost |
| 5. | Will Skelton | Nick Frost | Will Skelton |
| 6. | Nick Champion De Crespigny | Tom Hooper | Nick Champion De Crespigny |
| 7. | Fraser McReight | Fraser McReight | Fraser McReight |
| 8. | Harry Wilson | Harry Wilson | Harry Wilson |
| 9. | Jake Gordon | Ryan Lonergan | Jake Gordon |
| 10. | Tom Lynagh | Tom Lynagh | Tom Lynagh |
| 11. | Max Jorgensen | Dylan Pietsch | Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii |
| 12. | Hunter Paisami | Hunter Paisami | Hunter Paisami |
| 13. | Len Ikitau | Len Ikitau | Len Ikitau |
| 14. | Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii | Max Jorgensen | Harry Potter |
| 15. | Tom Wright | Tom Wright | Tom Wright |
| 16. | Billy Pollard | Billy Pollard | Billy Pollard |
| 17. | James Slipper | James Slipper | James Slipper |
| 18. | Taniela Tupou | Allan Alaalatoa | Allan Alaalatoa |
| 19. | Jeremy Williams | Lukhan Salakai-Loto | Jeremy Williams |
| 20. | Tom Hooper | Nick Champion De Crespigny | Tom Hooper |
| 21. | Tate McDermott | Tate McDermott | Carlo Tizzano |
| 22. | James O’Connor | James O’Connor | Tate McDermott |
| 23. | Andrew Kellaway | Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii | James O’Connor |
I’m sure there’s a few selections above that you will all disagree with, I know there is risk with a 6:2 bench, but I think they might, and it’s the perfect opportunity for JOC to shine. Hoss and I had similar views on JAS, I just think that Harry Potter has had a better season than Max Jorgensen. I think that you need to start with Tupou, or give Zane Nonggorr a crack off the bench.
Anyway, it will of course be interesting to see which way it all goes. and always, look forward to the comments.
Cheers
RAWF
