ANDY FARRELL has urged his British and Irish Lions to rise to the occasion knowing they enter Saturday’s first Test against Australia as heavy favourites.

Farrell has picked a powerful pack including flankers Tom Curry and Tadhg Beirne for the series opener, with Finn Russell, Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones forming a potent all-Scotland midfield trio.

Ireland dominate the starting XV with an eight-strong contingent, while England provide four players and Scotland three. For the first time since 1896 there is no Welshman in the squad for a Test against traditional opponents Australia, New Zealand or South Africa.

The Lions were expected to seize the initiative by winning even before bulldozing Australia forwards Rob Valetini and Will Skelton were ruled out of the Suncorp Stadium showdown by calf injuries on Thursday.

Ranked eighth in the world, the Wallabies are not the force of old, but a chance meeting in Brisbane between former Great Britain rugby league captain Farrell and his old Kangaroos sparring partner Gordon Tallis highlighted Australia’s fighting spirit.

“I actually saw him in the street. I went ‘Gordy’ and he said ‘flipping heck!’ We had a good 20 minutes in the street and it was good to catch up with him,” Farrell said.

“He said everyone used to talk about Queensland being underdogs. He said we never, ever saw it that way. And Australia will be exactly the same.

“If you’re in a position where it comes down to this every 12 years and you get to pull the shirt on for the Wallabies and the privilege that goes with that, representing your country, they’ll be fighting tooth and nail.

“One hundred per cent we want to embrace being favourites. Why wouldn’t you? There’s no overconfidence at all. It’s having an inner confidence within our group that we are going to execute the plan when it matters.”

Maro Itoje leads the Lions into battle on Saturday but it will be the final message delivered by their head coach that will be ringing in their ears when they take the field.

“Make sure you don’t have regrets and you don’t get in your own way. You don’t want to come off the pitch and think ‘I wish I had another chance.’ You’ve got to make it happen when it matters,” Farrell said.

While the Lions look forward to the first Test with anticipation, Welsh rugby is left reeling from yet more confirmation of its decline after failing to have any representation in the matchday 23.

Jac Morgan is the only Welshman left in Farrell’s 44-man squad following Tomos Williams’s tour-ending hamstring injury and while he has impressed, he is operating in the ferociously competitive openside position.

Ireland’s Josh van der Flier is also unfortunate to miss out — the versatility of England’s Ollie Chessum and Ben Earl have secured their spots on the bench — with Curry’s remarkable work rate, physicality and big-match experience winning the day, even if he has not played as well as his rivals on tour.

When asked if it was a wrench to pick a side with no Wales players, Farrell replied: “Honestly, as far as selection is concerned, we can’t get involved in that. It’s who deserves to get picked.

“Jac was unbelievably close and in great form. There’s not much more he could have done.”