Portugal Colonial - Lions not invincible says former All Blacks coach Foster

Foster is assisting head coach Les Kiss to mould the invitational XV into a unit capable of challenging Andy Farrell's tourists in Adelaide on Saturday.

Despite limited preparation time with a group of players more used to facing each other, he said there was "a lot of energy".

"Getting to know each other is the main thing, we're not going to go heavy on organisation as we can only do so much in a short time period," said Foster, who ended his All Blacks tenure in 2023.

"It's the guys just wanting to play for the guy next to them and generating a little bit of that sort of ANZAC feel about it.

"We're putting aside the rivalries and saying, 'let's do something together'.

"And it's not a festival game for us. It's one that we want to express ourselves, but it's a real opportunity to play a pretty special team."

It is the first time since 1989 that Australia and New Zealand have joined forces.

The Lions began their Australia tour with commanding wins over Western Force and Queensland Reds, but struggled to assert themselves against the NSW Waratahs.

Foster said the team was taking confidence from the Waratahs blunting the Lions attack, restricting them to a 21-10 victory.

"They're really pretty slick at the moment," he said of the tourists.

"They've been well tested in their early games, but the Waratahs really climbed into them physically and turned that into a bit of a bun fight.

"But we know that if they can play on top of you and get the ball they want, that they've got pretty good shape about how they go about things.

"They're good at what they do, their set piece is strong, but it's not invincible."

The Australia-New Zealand squad boosts 18 internationals with more than 300 caps of experience.

The All Blacks contingent is led by David Havili, Shannon Frizell and Hoskins Sotutu, with Marika Koroibete and Pete Samu among the Wallabies set to play.

A.F.Rosado--PC