The British & Irish Lions have suffered a major injury scare that could rule Luke Cowan-Dickie out of the first Test against Australia next week. Cowan-Dickie went down after attempting a tackle against the AUNZ Invitational XV, in the final warm-up before the first Test against the Wallabies.

O’Connor’s headline return to the international scene following a three-year absence comes after first-choice Australia fly-half Noah Lolesio was ruled out of the Lions series having undergone surgery on a neck injury sustained in last weekend’s last-gasp win over Fiji in Newcastle - their only warm-up match before facing the Lions.

Australia veteran James O'Connor is the surprise inclusion in Joe Schmidt's Wallabies squad to tackle the British and Irish Lions in the three-Test series.