Lions Tour: Western Force 7 Lions 54
Not the force of Argentina, for sure, and this tour opener was not without its blemishes either but the Lions’ 2025 expedition to Australia is up and running with something of a statement win. The squad will travel on to Brisbane for Wednesday’s match against the Queensland Reds feeling altogether better about themselves.
To ultimately score eight tries and run up a half-century was a fitting way to mark a notable day in front of a club-game record Perth crowd of 46,000, all the more so in some ways as such a winning margin wouldn’t necessarily have seemed likely during a testing first half-hour.
As should be expected, the Lions had much the sharper cutting edge and having begun to put a little daylight on the scoreboard, as ought also be the case, their stacked bench had much the bigger impact in helping to turn the screw.
The biggest concern was the hamstring injury Welsh scrumhalf Tomos Williams sustained in scoring his second try.
RM Block
Initially, though, the physical intensity and desire which the Force brought to the occasion was a reminder as to how much these once-in-a-lifetime matches mean to the home players. The Lions spent much of that opening 35 minutes, at which point they led 14-7, on the back foot.
Their defence conceded ground in contact or became disconnected, while there were 29 missed tackles, and unlike against the Pumas, the Lions’ discipline suffered in their desire to win the ball back.
But their defence and breakdown work improved markedly after an interval telling off from Andy Farrell and without ever really overpowering the Force until the last quarter, the Lions’ superior handling and finishing made light of barely 40 per cent possession and territory, and an equal number of visits to the 22.
Joe McCarthy looked to the manor born rather than one of nine Lions debutants as he threw down a marker with an industrious man-of-the-match display in that trademark bullish manner of his. Although he was one of the early miscreants, no one did more to stem the early Force tide than McCarthy by forcing a muscular turnover at a close-range home lineout drive and earning another at the breakdown with his long reach.
He put in a huge shift and much of his 20 tackles stopped carriers on the gainline. Constantly looking to make an impact at the breakdown, McCarthy also garnished one of his 14 carries for a try.
Josh van der Flier and Henry Pollock also put in big shifts, making 22 and 17 tackles, albeit in predictably contrasting, if typical, styles. Pollock had some truly eye-catch moments on the ball while Van der Flier was less flashy but hugely effective.
Garry Ringrose revelled in his long-waited Lions debut with an energetic display, full of involvements on both sides of the ball. In creating two tries and doing much else effectively, James Lowe underlined what he will bring to this tour, as did Mack Hansen with an increasingly influential 80 minutes which showcased his endurance, athleticism and intelligence, while Elliot Daly oozed class at fullback.
All the while, Finn Russell pulled the strings with his usual assuredness and confidence. He and his game are in a good place, and he looks nailed on to be the Lions Test 10. What’s more, the Force had evidently identified Russell as a defensive weakness, but he didn’t shirk his defensive duties, making 10 tackles.
Russell’s ability to reach edges through his whipped passes and crosskicks were central to Sheehan’s dream start to his Lions career. Soon after hitting Van der Flier on the left touchline, Russell kick-passed to Sheehan on the right, and the captain palmed the ball inside to Lowe and stayed alive for the offloaded return to quickly add to his 14 tries in 14 games this season for province and country.
Another feature of the game was Ringrose’s speed off the line, although when Lowe didn’t push up with him it led to a clean break by Dylan Pietsch.
But, setting the tone of the day, Scott Cummings missed the flight of the restart and the Force having made inroads through their power game off scrumhalf Nic White. And it was the Wallabies scrumhalf who was credited with the touchdown having initially been short of the line.
Though living off relative scraps, the Lions made them count. A neat midfield exchange between Van der Flier and Pollock released the latter for break, his offload off the deck putting Williams over.
Similarly, after a clever tap penalty and support play by Pollock, Russell made the inroads before passing off the deck for Daly to score.
Significantly, Van der Flier showed some serious strength to hold up both Nick Champion de Crespigny and Vaiolini Ekuasi on the line after they broke off a catch-and-drive with the last play of the half to keep the tourists’ 21-7 lead intact at half-time.
The contrast in the sides’ respective cutting edge was demonstrated soon after the restart when a knock-on in the Lions’ 22 by Sam Carter led to Hansen injecting some intent and releasing Lowe with an inside pass for the Irish winger to engineer a second try for Williams with a clever exchange from long range.
Alas, having dived over, Williams immediately clutched his left hamstring.
So too the next try, neat handling by Russell, Sione Tuipulotu and Daly releasing Hansen and his overhead pass inside gave the supporting Ringrose a clear run to the line. When Pollock regathered his own chip off another Force handling error, the Lions pummelled the Force line before McCarthy rumbled over.
The replenished Lions pack softened up the Force some more for Marcus Smith to give Daly a walk in for his second try.
Farrell enjoyed one huge effort by Hansen in first tracking back 50 metres to reclaim possession and swiftly chasing his own kick 50-plus metres to make a tackle and win an attacking scrum and the coach would also have enjoyed the winger’s role in the finale.
Another strong defensive set drove the Force back before Hansen picked off an intercept, and after the Lions kept the ball alive, Hansen then broke clear and sent Alex Mitchell clear.
SCORING SEQUENCE – 2 mins: Sheehan try, Russell con 0-7; 5: White try, Donaldson con 7-7; 16: Williams try, Russell con 7-14; 36: Daly try, Russell con 7-21; (half-time 7-21); 47: Williams try 7-26; 52: Ringrose try, Russell con 7-33; 54: McCarthy try, Russell con 7-40; 71: Daly try, Smith con 7-47; 81: Mitchell try, Smith con 7-54.
WESTERN FORCE: Ben Donaldson; Mac Grealy, Matt Proctor, Hamish Stewart, Dylan Pietsch; Alex Harford, Nic White (capt); Tom Robertson, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Ollie Hoskins; Sam Carter, Darcy Swain; Will Harris, Nick Champion de Crespigny, Vaiolini Ekuasi.
Replacements: Reed Prinsep for Harris (10-24 mins); Lopeti Faifua for Carter (50); Max Burey for Harford (53); Tom Horton for Paenga-Amosa, Marley Pearce for Robertson (both 57); Henry Robertson for White (59), Bayley Kuenzle for Pietsch (62); Tiaan Tauakipulu for Hoskins (65).
LIONS: Elliot Daly (Saracens/England); Mack Hansen (Connacht/Ireland), Garry Ringrose (Leinster/Ireland), Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), James Lowe (Leinster/Ireland); Finn Russell (Bath/Scotland), Tomos Williams (Gloucester/Wales); Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh/Scotland), Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Ireland, capt), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Ireland); Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors/ Scotland), Joe McCarthy (Leinster/Ireland); Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Ireland), Josh van der Flier (Leinster/Ireland), Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints/England).
Replacements: Andrew Porter (Leinster/Ireland) for Schoeman, Will Stuart (Bath/England) for Furlong, Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers/England) for Cummings, Jack Conan (Leinster/Ireland) for Beirne, Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints/England) for Williams (all 50 mins); Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland) for Ringrose (56); Marcus Smith (Harlequins/England) for Russell (62 mins); Rónan Kelleher (Leinster/Ireland) for Sheehan (66 mins).
Sinbinned: Pollock (40 mins).
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (NZR).
