British and Irish Lions suffer injury blow in 54-7 win over Western Force
Henry Pollock showcased his star potential, but scrum-half Tomos Williams was cut down by a hamstring injury as the British and Irish Lions posted a crushing 54-7 win over the Western Force in Perth.
In their first match on Australian soil, the Lions ran in eight tries to one in front of 46,656 spectators on Saturday night to post the big win, but it came at a cost.
Williams, a veteran of 65 Test caps with Wales, pinged his left hamstring while acrobatically diving in at the corner for his second try in the 47th minute.
ABC Sport will have live blog coverage of the British and Irish Lions' tour of Australia this July and August.
The 30-year-old looked despondent as he hobbled slowly off the field, with the Lions leading 26-7 at the time.
The second half became a romp as the Lions flexed their muscles in a five-try blitz, but it was tough work in the first half as the Force came out firing.
Wallabies winger Dylan Pietsch was near unstoppable in the first half, unleashing a series of dazzling line breaks to push his case for selection for the upcoming three-Test series.
The Force dominated possession (60 per cent) and territory (67 per cent) in the first half, but it was the industrious work of Pollock that ensured the Lions still managed to take a 21-7 lead into half-time.
Pollock, who at just 20 years of age is already being touted as a future superstar, produced a series of tackle-busting runs, one of which set up Williams for his first try.
Lions coach Andy Farrell had labelled his team's 28-24 loss to Argentina in Dublin last week as unacceptable and it took just 96 seconds for his players to produce a strong response.
The magical piece of play started and finished with skipper Dan Sheehan, who jumped in the air to catch a cross-kick and passed it off to teammate James Lowe before he even landed on the ground.
Sheehan stayed in the play and received it back from Lowe to cross over for the opener.
The Force hit back through Nic White courtesy of 19 phases of grit.
The Lions did well to keep the Force at bay, and they went up 14-7 in the 17th minute when Pollock made a break and then offloaded while on the ground to set up Williams for a try.
Pietsch's first-half efforts had the Lions on the back foot, but it was the tourists who landed another strike against the run of play when a quick tap from fly-half Finn Russell caught the Force napping.
The ensuing try to fullback Elliot Daly gave the Lions a 21-7 lead in the 36th minute, but they were dealt a blow just seconds before half-time when Pollock was handed a yellow card for his team's accumulation of penalties.
Despite the numerical disadvantage, the Lions swung the ball the length of the field for Williams to touch down seven minutes into the second half.
The Lions piled on another four tries to ensure their tour of Australia got off to a comprehensive winning start.
They will be back in action on Wednesday night when they take on the Queensland Reds at Brisbane's Lang Park.
AAP
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