Western Force v British & Irish Lions: rugby union
Update:
Date: 2025-06-28T09:00:21.000Z
Title: Preamble
Content: There's much mystique about the British & Irish Lions; chiefly born of the legendary victorious tours of the early 1970s and the 1997 outing to South Africa with it's associated documentary. This has led many to assume and expect that the Lions is about winning, but for years the tours were more about taking the notion of home country and nostalgia out to the colonies as a celebration of the putative factors that united us. Losing overall usually came in tandem with this.
Handy then, that this year's tour has managed to uphold tradition and heritage by losing nice and early so all the 'invincibles' chat can be shushed. However, the loss v Argentina was not technically part of the actual tour, so maybe not. Either way, this is the first game on Aussie soil and Andy Farrell and his men will be raring to have a W on the board before they cross the country to Queensland later in the week.
In the way is a Western Force side with some test experience smattered across them, not least in experienced scrum half Nic White. A quirky stat among the caps is replacement Australian hooker Nic Dolly, with his only test appearance being single game in 2021… for England.
This should be a nice and comfortable opener down under for the tourists, but let's see shall we?
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The Guardian
36 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Tomos Williams injury leaves Farrell's Lions facing race to fill scrum-half slot
The British & Irish Lions are weighing up their scrum-half options following an injury to Tomos Williams that threatens to sideline the Welshman at the busiest stage of the squad's Australian tour. The head coach, Andy Farrell, said a decision on calling up a replacement would be made on Sunday with Scotland's Ben White among the leading contenders to replace Williams at nine. Williams contributed two tries in a fine all-round performance as the Lions eased to a 54-7 victory over Western Force but tweaked his left hamstring while diving over the line for his second score. It leaves the Lions with only two fit scrum-halves, one of whom – Jamison Gibson-Park – has been managing a strained glute muscle. Farrell says Gibson-Park will be fit to face the Reds on Wednesday but the Lions will need some cover if Williams is ruled out even for a short period, with Alex Mitchell as the only available option in the position. White has just arrived in New Zealand where Scotland are due to kick off their summer tour against the Maori All Blacks next Saturday and could easily hop on a plane to Brisbane if required. For the moment, though, Farrell is still waiting to learn the severity of the injury to Williams, the Premiership's player of the season. 'There was plenty of cramp last week, let's hope it is one of those,' said Farrell. 'He was playing well and I am sure there is a bit of concern there, but you can only deal with the here and now so fingers crossed.' Farrell, however, is adamant that there is no danger of Gibson-Park sitting out the Reds game. 'Jamison is fit and ready to go and has been training fully for the best part of a week. We are happy with that but we will only know [about Williams] in the morning. 'I don't what the timings are of that, with the flights, but you have to let these things settle down and give it a little bit of space. There is always something that is going to happen you are not quite sure about, that is the nature of the tour. We need to make the right call for the group.' Of their opening game in Australia, Farrell declared himself moderately satisfied with the result in the wake of the Lions' defeat to Argentina in Dublin last week. 'I am happy with the scoreline and how we got to that point because it wasn't always going our way. We fixed things up and played some good rugby and scored some nice tries.' Sign up to The Breakdown The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewed after newsletter promotion He was pleased, too, with the performances of Mack Hansen and the youthful Henry Pollock, despite the latter's sin-binning. 'He got a yellow card because of repeated infringements which was fair enough but you saw his point of difference, that is for sure. He is learning all the time and there is plenty to work on to make sure we are the team we want to be. He is part of that.' Pollock also received a positive post-game review from the Lions captain, Dan Sheehan. 'I thought he was brilliant today. He does his own thing, he plays his own way which is probably different to a lot of the forwards. I enjoy that kind of rugby: off the cuff, see what's in front of you and make it happen. With his skillset and speed he can certainly make it happen. It is just about trying to make sure he is doing the right thing for the team all the time. All these big games are massive for him, massive for all of us. He will just get better and better from here.'
Scotsman
an hour ago
- Scotsman
How the Scots rated in Lions' big win over Western Force as injury causes concern
Russell composed and creative as tourists score eight tries in first match in Australia Sign up to our Rugby Union newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... A convincing start for the British and Irish Lions down under produced eight tries and a half century of points but the most pleasing aspect from a Scottish point of view was the performance of Finn Russell. The stand-off burnished his Test credentials with a clever and imaginative 60-minute outing in Perth where he was at the heart of the tourists' best moments against Western Force. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The hosts were spirited opponents in the first half but couldn't live with the Lions after the break as the composite side ran out 54-7 winners. It wasn't all sweetness and light for the Lions. They botched a number of restarts and conceded nine penalties, six of them in the first 40 minutes. They also lost two-try scrum-half Tomos Williams to a hamstring injury which will be a concern for head coach Andy Farrell. It may also alert Scotland's Ben White, a potential replacement who is currently in New Zealand with Gregor Townsend's squad. Finn Russell (R) and Sione Tuipulotu of the British & Irish Lions celebrate after their victory during the tour match against the Western Force at the Optus Stadium in Perth. | Getty Images Back in Perth, there was also a try double for full-back Elliot Daly as Dan Sheehan, Garry Ringrose, Joe McCarthy and Alex Mitchell scored the other tries. Nic White, the Wallabies scrum-half, countered early on for Force. McCarthy, Daly, Mack Hansen and Henry Pollock were all stand-outs in red at Optus Stadium and Russell was the creative fulcrum. He was also a physical influence, disrupting the home side's attack, particularly during a frenetic first quarter when Western Force were at their disruptive best, roared on by 46,000 supporters. Russell's discreet hand signal paved way for third try This is Russell's third Lions tour and, at 32, it could be his last. He got a taste of the Test team in the decider against the Springboks four years ago after injury disrupted his time in South Africa but this feels like his moment. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad He took two minutes to make an impact against Force, executing a perfect kick-pass to Sheehan who was loitering on the right wing. It is the sort of move Russell makes looks easy and it opened things up nicely for the Irish hooker. The Lions captain for the night popped it back to James Lowe who returned the favour with a smart offload out the back for Sheehan to score the opening try. Russell added the extra two points, his first of five successful conversions. White hit back immediately for the hosts after the Lions lost possession at the restart and Ben Donaldson's conversion evened things up at 7-7. There followed some shaky moments for the Lions. They gave away four penalties in the opening four minutes and were warned by referee Ben O'Keeffe but they weather the storm and a great break from Pollock helped reestablish their lead. The youngest Lion on tour exchanged passes with Josh van der Flier, raced away and then had the awareness to find the supporting Williams who scored. At this point, things became turgid for the Lions and Western Force were enjoying more possession and territory. It took another moment of Russell inspiration to put the tourists in the driving seat. With Force expecting him to kick a penalty, Russell gave a discreet hand signal to his team-mates, tapped and sped towards the line. He was stopped short but managed to offload to Daly for the try. Getty Images Pollock's celebrations in front of the Force players sparked a brief melee and he was yellow-carded soon after but the Lions went in at the turn 21-7 ahead and never looked back. Three tries in an eight-minute spell early in the second half took the game away from the Australians and the Lions' strength from the bench meant they dominated. Williams got his second try but injured his hamstring in the process and Ringrose and McCarthy also got on the scoresheet as the Lions moved 40-7 in front. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad A Lions debut for Huw Jones Huw Jones came on for his Lions debut and linked up with Sione Tuipulotu in the centre. Jones has been nursing a persistent Achilles injury since the Six Nations but looked sprightly as he intercepted a White pass and chased his own kick. He and Tuipulotu then combined nicely with a move straight out of Scotstoun but Jones was tackled just short. Tuipulotu, who started at inside centre, was busy but not quite as influential as he had been during the send-off match against Argentina in Dublin when he had been at 13. It would be nice to see him starting alongside Jones and that opportunity should soon arise, with the Lions due to play Queensland Reds in Brisbane on Wednesday and then the Waratahs in Sydney next Saturday. Getty Images The other starting Scots were in the pack. Edinburgh prop Pierre Schoeman was part of a scrum that struggled at times but looked dangerous in the loose, while Glasgow lock Scott Cummings was culpable during the first-half restarts but was solid in the lineout. Russell made way for Marcus Smith just after the hour mark and the Lions ran in two more tries in the final 10 minutes. Daly nabbed his second after being played in by Smith following good work by the Lions pack and then Mitchell scored the final try with the clock in the red following some smart handling by Daly, Tuipulotu and Hansen. Smith converted both. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It was a satisfactory evening for Farrell, a big improvement on the Argentina game which was lost 28-24, with a caveat around the standard of the opposition. Western Force finished ninth of 11 teams in the Super Rugby standings, winning just four of their 14 games, but they did field six current Wallabies against the Lions. White, their extravagantly moustachioed scrum-half, said he had wanted to 'bash and bruise' the tourists ahead of the Test series. Williams' injury excepted, the Lions came through relatively unscathed and looking a lot more cohesive than they had in Dublin. With Russell at the helm, they will roll on to Brisbane in good spirits. Teams and scorers Scorers: Western Force: Try: White. Con: Donaldson. Lions: Tries: Sheehan, Williams 2, Daly 2, Ringrose, McCarthy, Mitchell. Cons: Russell 5, M Smith 2. Yellow card: Pollock (Lions, 40min). Western Force: B Donaldson; M Grealy, M Proctor, H Stewart, D Pietsch; A Harford, N White (capt); T Robertson, B Paenga-Amosa, O Hoskins, S Carter, D Swain, W Harris, N Champion de Crespigny, V Ekuasi. Replacements: T Horton, M Pearce, T Tauakipulu, L Faifua, R Prinsep, H Robertson, M Burey, B Kuenzie. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad British and Irish Lions: E Daly; M Hansen, G Ringrose, S Tuipulotu, J Lowe; F Russell, T Williams; P Schoeman, D Sheehan (capt), T Furlong, S Cummings, J McCarthy, T Beirne, J Van der Flier, H Pollock. Replacements: R Kelleher, A Porter, W Stuart, O Chessum, J Conan, A Mitchell, H Jones, M Smith. Referee: Ben O'Keeffe (NZ).
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
British and Irish Lions face anxious wait over fitness of Tomos Williams
The British and Irish Lions face an anxious wait over the fitness of Tomos Williams after the Wales scrum-half limped off in their 54-7 rout of Western Force. Williams sustained an injury to his left hamstring during the act of scoring the second of his two tries early in the second half at Optus Stadium, ending another impressive performance for the Lions that was propelling him into Test contention. While the extent of the damage is not yet known, it creates pressure on the tourists' half-back stocks with Jamison Gibson-Park yet to make his first appearance on tour due to a glute problem. Gibson-Park is expected to make his comeback against the Reds in Brisbane on Wednesday but with Williams struggling and Alex Mitchell facing the prospect of playing in a third consecutive game, head coach Andy Farrell may be forced to call up a reinforcement. 'Tomos has come off holding his hamstring. There was plenty of cramp last week, let's hope it is one of those,' Farrell said. 'Jamison is fit and ready to go and has been training fully for the best part of a week so we're happy with that but you don't know until you know and we will only know in the morning. 'You have to let these things settle down and see what the outcome is and give it a little bit of space. 'Tomos was playing well and I'm sure there is a bit of concern there, but you can only deal with the here and now so fingers crossed.' Ben White is currently on tour in New Zealand with Scotland and would be an obvious solution should Williams be ruled out for any length of time. When asked about White, Farrell said: 'We need to talk about that and make the right call for the group.' Joe McCarthy was named man of the match but the eight-try demolition in the first outing on Australian soil also saw eye-catching displays from Mack Hansen, James Lowe, Elliot Daly, Finn Russell and Henry Pollock. All sides of Pollock were on show as the Lions' youngest tourist at 20-years-old used his athleticism and awareness to set up Williams' first try and almost scored one himself, while also providing the spark for a confrontation between the sides and being sent to the sin-bin for a ruck infringement. 'Henry got a yellow card because of repeated infringements – which was fair enough – but you also saw his point of difference, that's for sure,' Farrell said. Pollock received strong praise from Dan Sheehan, the Ireland hooker who was captaining the Lions on his debut for the tourists, but there was also a reminder that the team comes first. 'Henry was brilliant. He does his own thing and plays his own way, which is different to a lot of the forwards,' Sheehan said. 'I enjoy that kind of rugby – off the cuff, see what's in front of you and make it happen. With his skillset and speed he can certainly make it happen. 'It's just about trying to make sure he's doing the right thing for the team all the time.'
