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Most of Australia is watching the State of Origin opener tonight, but it is really only the second most important footy match taking place tonight as Western Force host the British and Irish Lions. We’ll have live scores and a blog of the action from 8.00pm AEST.
The Lions have a brutal schedule, after playing the Barbarians in Hong Kong on Saturday they landed in Perth on Monday morning and are flying to Brisbane tomorrow in preparation for the Saturday night game against the Reds.
That means we are likely to see many of the players that didn’t feature against the Barbarians tonight.
Coach Warren Gatland will be keen to test out some of the players who had been involved in European football and so didn’t take the field in Hong Kong.
He may also want to put some more game time into players who are coming back from injury and haven’t had much rugby in recent times.
There is a good chance that the majority of the First XV will be seen at Suncorp on Saturday and the performance of some players in Perth tonight will alter that lineup.
For the Western Force, this game was slated to see the return of Hugh McMeniman who needs to come through unscathed to earn a call up to the Wallaby squad when Robbie Deans names the five additional players (Beale already has one spot).
They are missing Nick Cummins and Ben McCalman but all Australian eyes will be on Kyle Godwin.
No matter who lines up for the Lions, Godwin will be opposite a world class flyhalf and centre combination and it will be a great test of just how far the 20 year old has come.
As always the set piece will be a weapon for the Lions, but is their attack that will be tested tonight, the Western Force do not have great firepower themselves but they do have a very good defensive system and should provide the Lions with a solid workout.
Expect this game to be much tighter and tougher than the Barbarians game, something that will probably suit the Lions, but I still expect a relatively tight match – less than 14 points in it.
Join the discussion here from 7.30pm AEST when Rugby Central starts on Fox Sports.
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