
Andy Farrell ‘wants to see how they deal with pressure' as he challenges Lions to ‘take their chance' vs Western Force
ANDY FARRELL cranked up the pressure on his Lions to beat Western Force today.
With three weeks to go until the First Test in Brisbane, the Lions must start the Australian trip with a bang.
And anything less than a sound beating of a side who finished ninth out of 11 in Super
Rugby
would be a massive setback.
Boss Farrell said: 'They've got to take responsibility and grab a hold of their chance to make sure they take this team forward.
'We'll see how we respond. The guys taking the field this weekend are a little bit fortunate in the sense that they understand how we want to get better.
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'Part of the whole package is dealing with their own expectation and the pressure we put on ourselves. That's why we were disappointed last week.
'I put a lot on them because I want to see how they deal with the pressure.'
Force have scrum-half Nic White — described by
Eddie Jones
as the 'biggest niggler' in rugby — leading the side after he was released by the Wallabies.
Farrell added: 'It's a great side full of Australians who are in the here and now and people with the ambition to be
future
Australian Test players.'
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Andy Farrell wants to see how the Lions respond against the Western Force
Credit: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
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The 42
21 minutes ago
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RTÉ News
37 minutes ago
- RTÉ News
Tomos Williams injury mars much-improved Lions win
British and Irish Lions head coach Andy Farrell could be forced into an early injury call-up on this summer's tour of Australia, with a Tomos Williams hamstring injury the main blot on this morning's comprehensive win against the Western Force in Perth. The Lions ran out 54-7 winners at Optus Stadium after they recovered from a patchy opening quarter, getting their Australian tour up and running. Wales scrum-half Williams followed his strong performance off the bench in the defeat to Argentina with two tries in another impressive display behind the scrum, but the 30-year-old will now be sweating for his place on the rest of the tour, after picking up a hamstring issue. Williams departed, clutching his hamstring, immediately after scoring his second try early in the second half, replaced by Alex Mitchell for the remainder of the game, and Farrell says it's too early to tell the extent of the damage. "It's a tight hamstring, so you don't know what these things are like," he said. 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They were physical at the breakdown, so it was a real good test for us in that first half. "Delighted with how we composed ourselves at half time and kept that composure in the second half. "It's been a lot of the lads' first game for the Lions. We're up and running. We've a couple of players who've not played, they'll get to play in the next couple of games. We'll keep pushing forward. "It's nice to get the tries on the board, and a few good individual performances, and also a collective performance. That's all good for the future, because we need to keep pushing." The error-strewn attack in Dublin last week looked far sharper in Perth, with Finn Russell (above) firmly establishing himself as the front-runner for the starting out-half slot. Similarly, Sione Tuipulotu looked more comfortable in the 12 channel, while he combined well with both Garry Ringrose and Huw Jones outside him. The handling was also sharper, and the decision-making was clear, evident by Henry Pollock choosing against a speculative offload for Russell in the first half, instead delaying for half a second and popping up to Williams for the scrum-half's opening try. It was one of several excellent moments for Pollock, although he will be frustrated with a yellow card at the tail end of the first half, where the Lions were punished for repeated infringements. Pollock and Mack Hansen were probably the two players who summed up the tourists' day, providing valuable involvements with moments of frustration. Hansen started slowly and some missed tackles had the potential to knock his game off the rails, but he looked in exceptional form after the break. He played a big role in multiple second half tries, but the standout play came midway through the second half when he chased down a kick from Ben Donaldson deep into his own half, before getting back out to his wing seconds later to send a clearing kick deep. Not only that, but Hansen sprinted after his own kick, forcing enough pressure to make the Force knock the ball on, a moment Farrell highlighted afterwards. "The play of the day, there's some fantastic tries, but the play of the day, if you want to look at what a Lion should do for his team. "When Mack Hansen went up and down the field, end to end and never gave up and fought for his team. That's the type of spirit we want throughout the team," he added.