I'm not a sentimentalist,' Joe Schmidt claimed, after naming his Australia team to face the Lions but it should have been Andy Farrell saying the same thing about himself. While the head coach of the Wallabies was defending his decision to hand a farewell start to retiring scrum-half Nic White, his counterpart in charge of the British & Irish tourists was showing not the faintest trace of sentiment with his final selection Down Under. Farrell could have rotated his squad, to ensure various worthy candidates overlooked for the first two Tests could earn the reward for all their selfless commitment over the course of a gruelling campaign. He did not. Two changes represented an extremely modest reshuffle in the circumstances. The Lions are 2-0 up but Farrell is not wavering from the grand ambition; a 3-0 series whitewash. So, apart from promoting Blair Kinghorn and James Ryan to his starting XV, he kept the rest of the side just the same. Weary chosen men will have to front up again, while the under-used remain hidden in the background - making light of any personal dejection to keep working for the common cause. Ever since his days as a rugby league icon at Wigan, Farrell has been utterly committed to winning. There was no thought of making an exception this week, which meant he saw no need to make team changes to pander to individual ambitions. This is the Lions fully loaded and primed to prove their hunger for success has not diminished after going 2-0 up. Farrell seems genuinely perplexed whenever asked to consider wider objectives for the Lions, such as how they leave a positive legacy in the way they engage with the public in the host nation and beyond. In his eyes, capturing hearts and minds is done by stockpiling victories - anything else is secondary. Hence the selection ruthlessness. His job is not about engaging in a nicey-nicey, even-handed, soft and fluffy popularity project, to keep everyone on-side. It is a cold, hard business of winning the next game and to hell with the wider ramifications for now. Farrell has been his own man and made a series of tough calls, not least by keeping so many good options on the margins during the series. In the three Tests, he will have used 27 players, a remarkably limited number. For a dead rubber - with the series already in the bag - the head coach could have used this final fixture as an opportunity to rotate and placate, but he did not take it. He has reinforced his established hierarchies. So, a long season will end with the same core of players being asked to go to the well one more time. There had already been an emphatic demonstration of Farrell's ruthless streak in Melbourne last week. He knew it was a home-coming occasion for Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu and a precious chance to play in front of his family and friends in the city he grew up in. Yet, despite the centre's fine, try-scoring performance in the series opener in Brisbane, he was cut. A minor hamstring strain was a factor, but Farrell made clear that he had already resolved to demote him. Brutal. At least Tuipulotu has played in a Test. Many other have not and the door has been slammed shut on any remaining hope of doing so in Sydney. From the original squad of 38, a dozen men have not had a single second of series game-time. Elliot Daly and Tomos Williams went home early due to injury. The others are Mack Hansen, Garry Ringrose, Duhan van der Merwe, Fin Smith, Pierre Schoeman, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Finlay Bealham, Henry Pollock, Scott Cummings and Josh van der Flier. That lot nearly make up a decent Test team, but they are restricted to providing opposition in training and in-camp support. In contrast, 11 players will have started all three Tests; captain Maro Itoje plus Hugo Keenan, Tommy Freeman, Huw Jones, Finn Russell, Jamison Gibson-Park, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong, Tadhg Beirne, Tom Curry and Jack Conan. Farrell has been overwhelmed by the selflessness in the Lions ranks, which has allowed those frustrated by omissions to respond in the right way. 'It touches you how much it means to them,' he said. 'When we announced the team (internally) on Wednesday morning, you see people reacting and congratulating each other and you get the type of training session we got yesterday afternoon. It says a lot about the squad.' Scotland centre Jones will have been a starter in all three Tests after earning a dramatic reprieve in Melbourne when Ringrose was preferred at 13, only to withdraw with concussion symptoms. He admitted the players who miss out have to put on a brave face to hide how much it hurts to be denied a chance to play in the series, in front of loved ones who have travelled thousands of miles to watch them in action. 'I can understand it'll be tough,' he said. 'Everyone's got their families out here and if you've not been involved in a Test that'll be very disappointing, but the guys have been brilliant. They've turned up in training, they've been the same great personalities and that's a testament to what we've achieved internally as a squad. 'What's most important is the team that plays on the weekend is fully aware of who they are representing; the rest of the boys who don't get a chance to pull on the shirt. That's the most important thing - doing it for them. They'd give anything to be in your shoes, so it's putting in a performance worthy of those guys and the rest of the squad.' While Jones referred to Farrell Sr as an 'intimidating' figure, the head coach has also forged a spirit which has prevented the Lions from becoming a divided group. In years past, splits have occurred between the chosen ones and the rest. Not this time. Down the line, there will be issues to address in light of selections here. Farrell himself, back in his day job in charge of Ireland, will have to ensure that Van der Flier's confidence is not knocked from his bit-part involvement on this tour. And England may feel the impact of Fin Smith being another player who has not earned the opportunities he might have realistically hoped for. But that is for another day. For Farrell, it is all about the here-and-now target of the whitewash.