Western Force 7 B&I Lions 54 (FT)
Here are the player ratings for the match, check out how Johnny Watterson rated the Irish bunch in Perth.
[ Lions player ratingsOpens in new window ]
Andy Farrell singled out Mack Hansen’s kick chase which led to a turnover as the moment of the day. He loves players that work hard.
That might be the best single moment, as far as he is concerned, but the best stat is as follows:
12 22 entres, 4.5 points scored per entry. After the profligacy of the Argentina game, this time out the attack was clinical. Russell has a lot to do with that, but so does the calibre of opposition.
If they learn how to catch a restart between now and the next game, they’ll be in a very good spot.
Inevitably when he’s chipping and chasing, or throwing offloads for tries, Henry Pollock lived up to the hype. As far as the Australians are concerned at least.
Discipline was an issue for the Lions in the first half. But once that improved, and the structured attack started clicking in conjunction with the wonder scores inspired by Russell and Pollock, the Lions looked a more complete outfit.
Pollock and McCarthy will get plenty of platitudes, but a word for Elliot Daly. He was solid under the high ball and brought others into the game beautifully. He is a classy footballer. Got on the end of a pair of tries to boot. With Hugo Keenan still nursing a niggle and Blair Kinghorn unlikely to play on Wednesday, he has emerged as a dark horse for the Test 15 shirt.
Hear from Dan Sheehan:
A decent day for the Irish involved. Joe McCarthy was quietly excellent, dominating collisions close to the breakdown. He gave away one maul penalty but then disrupted another. Risk reward and all that. He finished his try well and was named player of the match.
Dan Sheehan was quiet after his early try but should be better for it having played for the first time in a while.
Garry Ringrose made one bad defensive error but otherwise was his usual self, rushing out of the line to end a few attacks. Another who took a try.
James Lowe was excellent, offloading to bring others into the game. His assist for Sheehan’s try was one of the better one-handers you’ll see.
Josh van der Flier was quiet in attack but made 22 tackles, comfortably the highest of anyone in the game.
Tadhg Beirne wasn’t as prominent in attack playing at 6 as he is when in the secondrow. A quiet evening for him.
Mack Hansen worked very, very hard both in attack and defence. A few nice touches, offloads etc combined with a try assist. He also forced a turnover when chasing a kick. Farrell name-checked him post match, praising that chase. Fielding kicks, though, was an issue. The Force targeted him and got plenty of joy winning the ball back.
A quiet one for Tadhg Furlong. No glaring errors but he’s another who should be better for start under the belt.
Full-time: Western Force 7 Lions 54
The main takeaways?
- Much more ruthless attack this week compared to Argentina defeat
- Restart struggles
- Concerns for Tomos Williams’ hamstring
TRY LIONS
ALEX MITCHELL
80 mins: The game ends with the Lions bringing up their half-century. Lowe is heavily involved, as is Daly as his flat ball takes out a defender and allows Tuipulotu to break. He feeds Hansen who draws the fullback, setting up Mitchell under the sticks.
Smith adds the extras with the last kick of the game.
Western Force 7 Lions 54
78 mins: Now the Force give away a free-kick for an early lift at the lineout. This has been a very low quality final quarter.
76 mins: Hansen spills while trying to gather a grubber in behind. He’s been brilliant ball in hand, coming in off his wing to overload defenders as is his wont, but he has struggled when fielding kicks.
75 mins: This game does feel like a bit of a damp squib now. The Force are offering nothing in attack, just acting as tackle bags at this stage. The Lions are better, but not significantly. Conan drops a pass at his bootlaces, Tuipulotu doing him no favours there.
73 mins: The Lions let another restart bounce into the 22. That area of the game has been a complete shambles, being honest. Tough to say anything has been poor when there are nearly 50 points on the board, but it will be looked at.
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ELLIOT DALY
72 mins: Clinical. The forwards suck in too many Force defenders. Marcus Smith goes wide, sitting deep waiting for a defender to bite. Once he does, it’s a simple pass to send Daly in under the sticks.
Western Force 7 Lions 47
70 mins: A maul penalty allows Marcus Smith to kick into the corner.
68 mins: The Force butcher a lineout inside their own 22. Kelleher is the fastest to it as he carries up to the line. They play a few phases but the ball squirts out of the ruck as the Force clear.
13 handling errors for the Lions thus far. Rust is still there, despite the scoreline.
Rónan Kelleher has replaced his Leinster teammate Sheehan.
66 mins: In the first half, the Lions were subject to a series of unlucky bounces when chasing kicks. This time, Harford’s cross-kick should have sat up beautifully for the chaser, only for it to deflect wickedly into touch.
Marcus Smith is on now at 10. Russell didn’t have the structured attack purring in the same way Fin Smith did last week, but his ability to find scores out of nothing was sensational in that first half.
63 mins: CLOSE! Huipulotu nearly combine. Tuipulotu feeds Jones with a no-look pass. Because why not? He is just about held onto by Stewart, the 12 doing enough to force Jones to spill as he comes to deck.
Certain try if he held onto the ball.
60 mins: End-to-end stuff here at the minute. Van der Flier finds space at a ruck and he’s off. One pass is needed to score. The fullback gambles for the intercept and makes it, denying Pollock a run under the sticks (imagine what that celebration would have been).
Then the Force kick down the other end and cause issues in the Lions backfield. Daly just about recovers, and then another kick leads to carnage. Hansen chases into the 22 and gets the reward for his work-rate, forcing a Force forward pass deep inside the 22.
58 mins: Huw Jones is on for Ringrose and his first act is to intercept a pass, kick into the 22 and sprint off in chase. Fortunately for the Force, it rolls over the tryline and is grounded by a blue - not a red - shirt. Goal-line drop.
56 mins: The Force really are targeting Hansen’s wing on kick-offs. And he is struggling, another spill under pressure leading to a Force scrum.
TRY LIONS
JOE MCCARTHY
55 mins: A try scored by McCarthy but created by Pollock. The Englishman gathers a spill in midfield, chipping ahead into the 22. He really is fast, beating the fullback to the bouncing ball. The tackle is made close to the line, but once the Lions go wide, van der Flier feeds McCarthy for the simple finish. Russell converts.
Western Force 7 Lions 40
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GARRY RINGROSE
52 mins: Ringrose marks his Lions debut with a score. Daly’s hands are brilliant to suck in the wing and send Hansen into space. Tuipulotu and Russell were also involved, picking off defenders. Hansen cuts inside, drawing in the fullback before feeding Ringrose for the score.
Western Force 7 Lions 33
50 mins: Pollock is back on as his card expires. Meanwhile Tadhg Beirne is replaced by Jack Conan, Furlong goes for Stuart, Schoeman is off for Porter, Cummings is replaced by Chessum.
49 mins: Williams limps off with that dodgy hammy. Alex Mitchell is on. That doesn’t look great for the Welshman. Given he has already been in the squad as cover for Gibson-Park, one suspects Jack van Portvliet’s phone may well be ringing soon.
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TOMOS WILLIAMS
47 mins: A belter. An absolute belter. Once again the Lions score from nothing. A turnover inside the 22 is ran out, Hansen finding a soft shoulder and offloading to Lowe. He beats one defender before passing to Williams. From Williams back to Lowe, to Williams again to beat the last pair of defenders. He scores in the corner but comes up feeling his hamstring.
Russell misses the wide conversion.
Western Force 7 Lions 26
46 mins: Pietsch’s kick-chase continues to cause issues. Chasing a box kick, he is blocked from getting into the air from Hansen and a penalty comes. This came off the back of a botched Lions lineout. Not a great start to the half from Farrell’s men.
44 mins: An early Force attack into the 22 comes to an end when the TMO spots a neck roll. Ball in hand, the Force have looked really good. They’re winning collisions, putting on footwork. At times in defence the Lions look jet lagged. Hasn’t translated to the scoreboard.
41 mins: The Force kick off the second half. What is it with the Lions and kick-offs? This one is allowed to bounce, rolling all the way up to the try line. Daly nearly coughs it up right on the line, but his pass is gathered. Eventually, the Lions clear. That was far from convincing.
Where things have not gone as well is in the general phase play, the structured attack. The Force defence has been quick off the line, constantly hitting carriers, be they in the pods or lurking out the back, behind the gainline.
The Lions have also struggled with the Force’s ruck speed. The defensive breakdown has been an issue, with ill-discipline costing Henry Pollock 10 minutes in the bin.
The Lions attack is very different from last week. Not in terms of structure. They’re still running lots of forward pods and strike runners behind those.
But at times, the link between forwards and backs in those areas have been clunky. What is better this time, though, is the off the cuff play. Thanks in the main to Finn Russell.
The Dan Sheehan try came off the back of a pinpoint crosskick. The third try for Daly came from a quick-tap penalty. The Lions haven’t created as many chances as last week, but they’re much better at taking the ones which come their way.
Half-time: Western Force 7 Lions 21
The Force maul is held up and the Lions survive to lead by 14 at the break.
YELLOW CARD
Henry Pollock
The Force will have one last attack of the half, running at 14 men.
Unlike last week, the Lions are being very efficient inside the opposition 22. They’re at 5.3 points per visit, that number was just 1.4 against Argentina.
The attack isn’t as impressive in terms of line breaks and overall metres made, but they’re doing the more important job: getting over the line.
TRY LIONS
ELLIOT DALY
He gets to within 5m of the line, offloading to Daly who powers over.
Western Force 7 Lions 21
The Lions every now and then look a bit disjointed, Russell not always on the same page as his forward pods.
Ringrose rushes up on the next phase, again forcing a loose ball. Hansen could have been away, but again, the Lions spill with the ball rolling awkwardly.
TRY LIONS
TOMOS WILLIAMS
Unlike last week, the Lions are proving very adept at finding scores when the attack looks to be blunted. Flair, call it what you will. It’s very pleasing on the eye.
Western Force 7 Lions 14
Another kick to the corner.
They win a penalty in front of the posts for an offside from Cummings. The Force go to the corner!
TRY FORCE
NIC WHITE
As it is, the officials missed it and White snipes from close range to score. Conversion is good and we’re level.
Western Force 7 Lions 7
TRY LIONS
DAN SHEEHAN
Sheehan is standing out wide to claim, popping the ball off to Lowe. His offload inside, before being tackled into touch, is brilliant. Captain for the day, Sheehan is there to take the pass and cross for the first score.
Western Force 0 Lions 7
They really aren’t letting this go...
Of course, we have an in-depth preview of today’s contest. John O’Sullivan does the honours below.
[ Time of reckoning for Lions as they face Western Force in first tour matchOpens in new window ]
Some more pre-match listening. Tom Court isn’t Ireland’s most high profile Lion, but given his Australian background, scrum expertise and views on a problem position for Ireland, he is one of our more interesting.
He spoke on our rugby podcast.
Tom Court - Ireland's accidental Lion
Today marks Finn Russell’s first audition for the Test 10 jersey. Safe to say he’s not looking too stressed by the occasion.
Gone are the days of local club sides, with no games ahead to be banned for, going in for the kill against the Lions, right? We think so. Don’t expect any dramatic violence on this tour, but there has been plenty on trips gone by. Johnny Watterson digs up the best of them in the below story.
The centre pairing is also fascinating. Bundee Aki and Sione Tuipulotu are skillful link men, but they are also powerful carriers. Today’s midfield pairing is more balanced, Tuipulotu’s brawn and handling combined with the running lines and defensive abilities of Garry Ringrose.
The big-bodied backfield - to an extent - has also been abandoned. Duhan van der Merwe’s power running has been replaced by James Lowe, a big runner himself but his kicking game and handling certainly adds a more rounded skill set.
Elliot Daly comes in at fullback, probably a more defensively and aerially sound option than Marcus Smith, while Tommy Freeman’s size and speed has been switched out for Mack Hansen’s playmaking.
Re today, there are a number of areas worth keeping an eye on with this Lions selection. This is, after all, the first Lions Saturday game in Australia. As a player, you want to be playing on Saturdays, not Wednesdays.
With McCarthy and Cummings in the engine room, this is a beefy secondrow pairing. Add in Beirne at 6 and the Lions have three proper lineout operators after struggling to a 78 per cent success rate at that set piece last week in Dublin.
As always, there’s plenty of preview content up on irishtimes.com. For those of you of a listening persuasion, we had Belfast-born Australian-based journalist Jonathan Drennan on the podcast this week.
You here plenty of how Australian rugby is struggling these days. But not a lot on where exactly things went wrong. Drennan walks us through all the issues with a fine comb.
Will the Lions tour save Australian rugby?
Here’s how the Western Force line up. Amidst the war of wars between the Lions and Joe Schmidt about Australian squad members playing in the tour games, six Wallabies are involved tonight: Tom Robertson, Darcy Swain, Nick Champion de Crespigny, Nic White, Dylan Pietsch and Ben Donaldson.
White should be a familiar face given his time at Exeter, as should Sam Carter, the former Ulster lock who tonight plays his last game of professional rugby.
Matt Proctor has also spent some time in the northern hemisphere having played for Northampton for a few years. Alas, there is no Kurtley Beale who misses out through injury. He should, though, get the chance to avenge his 2013 penalty miss against the Lions when playing for the First Nations and Pasifika XV later in the tour.
As ever, the best place to start is with the team news. There are already plenty of Irish living in Perth and should any of them have tickets for tonight, they’ll get to watch plenty of their compatriots in the flesh.
With the Leinster contingent mostly fit and firing after being rested for the defeat to Argentina, today’s squad has a very distinctive green tinge.
Somewhat surprisingly, with Maro Itoje given a breather today, Dan Sheehan captains on his Lions debut. Tadhg Furlong joins him in the frontrow along with Scotland’s Pierre Schoeman.
Joe McCarthy is in the secondrow while Tadhg Beirne shifts to six. Josh van der Flier joins him in the backrow. Henry Pollock lining out at eight, with Jack Conan on the bench, is an intriguing selection.
James Lowe, Garry Ringrose and Connacht’s Mack Hansen are all in the backline.
Andrew Porter and Rónan Kelleher round out the Irish representation alongside Conan among the replacements.
Good morning all and welcome to our coverage of this year’s Lions tour.
Nathan Johns here to tell you what’s what as Andy Farrell and co take on the Western Force at the Optus Stadium in Perth.
