With the British and Irish Lions now in Australia, the speculation over who will make up Andy Farrell’s first Test side to face the Wallabies is only set to ramp up. Having named the first team Down Under to face Australia’s lowest-ranked Super Rugby side, Western Force, there’s a sense that many involved in Saturday could well be front-runners to feature against Australia in Brisbane on July 19. It’s an Irish-heavy squad named by Farrell, providing familiarity with the style of rugby he wants to play. There’s also the factor with every Lions tour – with team selections on the Saturday rotation, rather than midweek sides, tending to be geared towards Test candidates. It’s not an exact science of course, but it’s why tour captain Maro Itoje’s absence from the side to face Western Force is still noteworthy. “I suppose, for us all now, we’ve only been together for a few weeks,” said Farrell after naming his second team of the tour. “But that’s almost not even relevant to us. “It’s not what we see or how we see it. It just happens to be that way as far as the numbers are concerned. If you look at it, there are key positions that have not played together before. “All of that makes it interesting for us to see how cohesive we can be as a whole.” One of the key positions that have not played together before are the half-backs. In fact, it’s the only part of this team to not feature any Irish stars. Finn Russell, the mercurial Scottish fly-half, is – like the vast number of Irish players in this team – seen as the likeliest Test candidate ahead of the English Smiths, Fin and Marcus. The 10, fresh from leading Bath to their first Premiership title since 1996, is quite honestly box office. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby. Four years ago, the excitement from the small travelling press pack was clear to see in the empty Cape Town Stadium when Russell was introduced in the third Test against the Springboks and proceeded to pick holes in the world champions’ aggressive blitz defence – a rare moment of positivity on the pitch in a dour tour off the field. Now, on his second tour, he’s the clear favourite to wear the 10 jersey against the Wallabies and, alongside English phenom Henry Pollock, he tends to dominate headlines. When Farrell was asked on Thursday if he’d given the pair any specific instructions for this weekend, he said: “I don’t need to ask them to do anything but be themselves. “That’s why they’re selected. They understand how we’re going to play, how we want to play, how they want to play, how they get their own points of difference out there because that’s why they’re selected as well. So they’re as excited as everyone else is.” The same will go for Russell’s half-back partner, Tomos Williams. The Wales scrum-half will make his first start for the Lions, after impressing off the bench against Argentina last Friday. After replacing England scrum-half Alex Mitchell in Dublin last week, the former Cardiff man upped the tempo – with his eye for a flat miss-pass suiting the style of play Farrell wants. Having put Ellis Genge through a gap, he then picked out Tadhg Beirne as the third option out from the breakdown to put the Irish second-row over for a second-half try. With Ireland’s four-man pod, possession-heavy system heavily dependent on the passing range and accuracy of Jamison Gibson-Park. However, the Leinster scrum-half has yet to feature on the tour so far through injury. All being well, he should be available for next week’s midweek clash with the Queensland Reds. The smart money would still be on Gibson-Park being the Test scrum-half, such has been Farrell’s dependence on him in recent years with Ireland. However, before he even gets the chance to pull on the red jersey, Williams will get a start and a chance to push his case even further. While Russell might have been the catalyst to Bath’s Premiership glory, it was Williams who was voted the league’s best player this season after a campaign of eye-catching moments. Alongside each other, the pair could certainly shine. Rugby chaos is a term that only brings derision in Wales and it would certainly be unfair to suggest both half-backs are just cavalier spirits throwing caution to the wind and abandoning all common sense. But, within the detailed framework of Farrell’s gameplan, there’s room to improvise – more so than his Ireland predecessor and current Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt’s game. Russell should thrive in a Farrell gameplan, with options to stretch his vast range of passing and wonderfully delayed decision-making. But Williams should also have ample opportunity to show what he can do. Maybe, just maybe, it could end up being the Test half-back partnership. Russell, as everyone knows, is box office. Don’t rule out Williams alongside him being so too.