“There’s a big thing that we’ve been speaking about, about being one of the best Lions teams ever,” Earl said last week.

The current Lions squad have set their sights on becoming the first touring team in history, dating back to 1888, to return home having won every game. The mighty 1974 team, containing Wales’ galaxy of stars, remained undefeated, but after winning 21 games in a row, they drew the fourth Test with the All Blacks.

The 2025 team’s claim would come with the caveat of having lost to Argentina in Dublin before they left, however.

The Lions’ first Test side will be named on Thursday, and it could contain two Australian-raised former Junior Wallabies in the starting side – winger Mack Hansen and inside centre Sione Tuipulotu.

Though he didn’t start in the stronger sides used against Queensland and the Brumbies, Hansen is admired by Lions coach Andy Farrell for his work rate and capacity to influence games.

And a concussion to Irish centre Garry Ringrose has lifted Tuipulotu’s chances, given his Scottish centre partner Huw Jones is favoured to take the No.13. The “Huwipulotu” partnership is well established and in-form, and it could see the Melbourne-raised Tuipulotu given the nod over Bundee Aki for.

“I thought Hugh and Sione were very good so we’ve got a nice cover there,” Farrell said in Adelaide. “Obviously, we had a discussion to be had after this game anyway, so who knows which way we would have gone because it was true what we said about leaving it open.

“I know that people think that you’ve got a fixed mind after Wednesday’s game, but that’s not the truth so we’ll sit down and assess that game and then have a tough task in picking what’s going to be a good Test side to take on Australia in the first one.”

Asked if he looked at the Scottish duo as a pair, when it comes to selection, Farrell said: “No, honestly, we don’t.

“We look at what’s right for the team. I can’t remember ever looking at a sheet over the last three or four weeks and thinking that combination has to happen because of the country that it’s from. That doesn’t exist in the group and rightly so,” he said.

After the furore created early in the tour when Lions chief executive Ben Calveley warned Rugby Australia to release Wallabies to the Super Rugby sides, the Lions have won most games comfortably.

The Waratahs and Brumbies held the Lions to 11 and 12-point wins, respectively.

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Asked if the tour games had been sufficiently testing to prepare the Lions for Test matches, Farrell said: “The games that we’ve had have been testing, and if we win with 50 points the competition is not strong enough, but then if somebody puts a tough performance on us, it’s us that’s not good enough.”

All nine matches of The British & Irish Lions Tour to Australia are live & on demand on Stan Sport, with Wallabies Tests in 4K. All Test matches live and free on Channel 9 & 9Now.