"Completely wretched" - Telegraph brutally ranks the Five worst Lions

Sunday, 03 August 2025 at 14:18

byRugby Rucker

didn’t sugarcoat it. The Telegraph called it “wretched” — and frankly, that’s generous.

The 2025 Lions may have returned with a series win, but not every player left Australia with credit in the bank. Some were passengers. Some were liabilities. Some never even got off the runway.

in handing out its most savage ratings — and the quietly backed the criticism for two underperformers. This is the ugly end of Lions legacy.

Telegraph didn’t hold back

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Here are the five worst-rated players, from bad to absolutely brutal.

? 5. Luke Cowan-Dickie

Telegraph wrote: “Was knocked out in the AUNZ match in Adelaide and played no further part.”

? RUCK says: No blame here — just misfortune. LCD barely got going before one heavy hit ruled him out of the tour. Still, when others were scrapping for Test shirts, he was stuck watching from the stands. Harsh, but you can’t rate what you don’t see.

? 4. Ronan Kelleher

Telegraph wrote: “Not angry, just disappointed. As soon as he came on in all three Tests, the line-out started wobbling like a jelly.”

? RUCK says: The kind of performance that doesn’t always make headlines — but wrecks Test matches. Kelleher’s throwing unravelled the Lions' set-piece each time he stepped in. A hooker’s bread and butter? Gone soggy.

? 3. Duhan van der Merwe

Telegraph wrote: “Underlined his reputation as a ferocious bully of flat-tracks (and England) by finishing as top tryscorer. Susceptible to any sort of high or bouncing ball sent in his direction.”

? RUCK says: Yes, he scored. No, he didn’t convince. Duhan bulldozed his way to tries against soft defences but fell to pieces under pressure. The high ball? A horror show. A one-dimensional weapon — devastating on his terms, disastrous on anyone else’s.

? 2. James Lowe

Telegraph wrote: “The Lions wing options were not great (see Van der Merwe) but surely they were better than this? Defensively all over the shop and handling was not great either.”
BBC added: “By his lofty standards, a poor tour. He had a fantastic moment when setting up Beirne for an important score in the second Test, but Lowe could not find his confidence.”

? RUCK says: Lowe normally oozes class — but this tour, he looked like he’d left his confidence at Heathrow. Loose hands, worse tackling, and one highlight that couldn’t paper over the cracks. The BBC didn’t hold back either. A poor showing from a usually reliable flyer.

? 1. Bundee Aki

Telegraph wrote: “Urgh. Farrell was vindicated in some of his controversial picks (Curry, Beirne) but his faith in 35-year-old Aki was utterly misplaced. Completely wretched in the third Test.”
BBC added: “Finished the second Test strongly but was ineffective for much of the rest of it. He was desperately off form in the third Test and, in fairness, he used some agricultural language of his own to describe his performance.”

? RUCK says: The worst-rated Lion — and few could argue. Aki was sluggish, blunt in attack, and out of sync defensively. Farrell’s loyalty backfired big time. His third Test display was so poor, even he