Overview

• The Lions landed in Perth this week following a narrow 28-24 defeat to Argentina and will open their Australia tour against Western Force on June 28 at Optus Stadium.
• Lions CEO Ben Calveley has demanded Test stars be released for competitive tour fixtures while Rugby Australia maintains the agreement only requires a good-faith effort to provide quality opposition.
• Australia coach Joe Schmidt has freed hooker Matt Faessler and centre Hunter Paisami to face the Queensland Reds and allowed five Western Force players into Saturday’s squad as part of his build-up strategy.
• Hoskins Sotutu is poised to join the AUNZ Invitational side in Adelaide on July 12 under coach Les Kiss once his insurance clearance is secured.
• The Wallabies will finalise preparations with a July 6 warm-up test against Fiji before hosting the first Lions Test at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium on July 19.