Warburton: Curry under pressure to take 'big shot' at sealing Lions Test place

Former British and Irish Lions captain Sam Warburton says flanker Tom Curry is under pressure to perform having been given a "big shot" at securing a fiercely contested starting spot in the back row for the first Test against Australia next weekend.

England's Curry was on Monday named in the starting XV for the Lions' penultimate warm-up fixture, against the ACT Brumbies in Canberra on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports.

The matchday squad named by Farrell is widely considered to be the closest thing to a first-choice line-up he has picked across the opening five games of the tour.

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Warburton, who captained the Lions on their last tour of Australia in 2013, singled out Curry as a player who needs to perform well on Wednesday to nail down his place to face the Wallabies on July 19.

Warburton told Sky Sports News: "The one who I think has got a big shot, a big one on Wednesday without putting too much pressure, is Tom Curry.

"He played in the Test series four years ago for the Lions as a starter, and he is one of the Lions' world-class players."

Former Wales captain Warburton believes his compatriot Jac Morgan is the other player pushing hardest for the No 7 jersey, but he missed out on a place on the bench with Farrell selecting Josh van der Flier and Henry Pollock as his back-row replacements.

"Curry probably hasn't had as much game time at the back end of this season as some of the other sevens," he added.

"Jac Morgan has played exceptionally well at number seven, which is always a hotly-contested position.

"Curry, if he has a big game, and he does have world class in him, he's got a massive opportunity."

Warburton described a similar situation facing tighthead prop Tadhg Furlong, who has been selected over Will Stuart for the Brumbies fixture.

He said: "I think a lot of people think Will Stuart is the number one at the minute. But Furlong, this is his third Lions tour. He's very well known as being one of the Lions' world-class players, but has had his injury troubles.

"He's got an opportunity to start a second game on tour. So, it's a massive one for him because I think the Lions want him to be hitting his top-class levels because he is one of the world's best tightheads when he's on form. So, he's got a huge opportunity."

Warburton praises 'really smart' move from Farrell

Warburton also praised Farrell's "really smart" decision to unleash his strongest side to date for Wednesday's match against the Brumbies, rather than Saturday's final warm-up against AUNZ.

Lions head coaches have traditionally begun to roll out their strongest sides on the final couple of Saturdays before the first Test of a tour, but Farrell appears to have chosen the final Wednesday fixture to allow his likely starters more time to rest before the opener.

"On traditional tours, the Saturday team normally gets closely linked to the Test team," Warburton said. "But this Wednesday side, it feels like that's the Test team, and then they're going to have potentially a 10-11 day preparation turnaround period to help them prepare rather than play this Saturday, then only have a seven-day turnaround.

"It's slightly different to what has happened on tours traditionally.

"When I've played international rugby, sometimes the hardest campaigns are not the Six Nations, because you play five games across seven weeks. It's actually the autumn internationals in November, when you play four top teams four Saturdays in a row. To play that intensity for four weeks in a row is very difficult actually, emotionally and physically.

"I think it's actually really smart from Andy, if that is part of the masterplan. Because if you ended up playing the Test team two Saturdays together before the Test series, then a possible five Saturdays in a row is so emotionally and physically draining.

"So I think it's smart to play the majority of the team now, if we are second guessing that is the team, which it looks it very strongly is.

"And then they're going to have a nice run into that first Test. They can have a little bit of a break between this game and potentially Test number one, presuming that those players are picked on Wednesday all go well."

Highlights: Lions' tour so far

British and Irish Lions tour of Australia on Sky Sports

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