British and Irish Lions hooker Jamie George predicts Saturday’s second Test against Australia in Melbourne will “go nuclear”.
The Lions seized a 1-0 lead in the series after prevailing 27-19 at Suncorp Stadium but are braced for the backlash with bulldozing forwards Will Skelton and Rob Valetini set to return from calf injuries to reinforce the Wallabies.
George starts against the First Nations and Pasifika XV on Tuesday in an opportunity to force his way into Andy Farrell’s Test plans in what will be the first appearance of his third Lions tour.
“In my eyes, I don’t see a world where Australia looked like winning the first Test,” said George, a late call-up from England’s tour of Argentina.
“In the first half of that Test, the physicality that I saw from the Lions team was something else. Tom Curry was on jet fuel. It was crazy. There were some seriously good performances.
“We’re 1-0 up in the series and the potential of the team is huge, but I’m expecting a much better Australia team.
“I think they would have been disappointed with the way they played. There’s talk of them bringing in some pretty big hitters.
“That means they’re going to be a much better team. Is Test two going to go nuclear? I imagine so, from both sides.”
