Australia 19-27 British & Irish Lions: first Test player ratings

The Guardian

19-07-2025

Tom Wright Kicked well from hand and covered the myriad Lions attacks as best he could. Not at fault in any way for the scores conceded. 6
Max Jorgensen Towering claim of kick and great finish for his try. Was always harrying his opposite number Lowe and regularly took it on himself to try and create something. 7
Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii Disallowed try for holding onto the ball, none of his usual trademark restart steals and poor defensive positioning at times. 5
Len Ikitau Put in a huge number of carries in an attempt to address the power deficit between the sides. 7
Harry Potter A difficult day for wingers made more tricky by his frequent mistakes. His fumbling of an early Russell kick into touch opened the door to the early Lions dominance. 5
Tom Lynagh Never stopped trying to make something happen in a largely chaotic opening hour where he was regularly on the back foot. Confident showing that belied this was his debut. 7
Jake Gordon Laboured in his distribution which allowed the Lions far more time to reset and dominate. Hasn't played a Test since May 2024 and it showed. 5
James Slipper Literally fronted up in a brilliant pack performance at the set piece for the Wallabies but was caught out a few times when defending open play. 6
Matt Faessler The lineout was poor the whole time he was on. It's not always the hooker's fault, but often it is. 5
Allan Alaalatoa Cornerstone of the revelatory scrum display, also won a turnover late in the match and put in his fair share of tackles as well. 8
Nick Frost Had to fill the Will Skelton-sized hole in the pack and performed adequately, hitting rucks and hitting double figures with tackles. 6
Jeremy Williams Primary lineout target and senior man in the boilerhouse who fell short on the day in both areas. 5
Nick Champion de Crespigny Lots of defensive work in this his first cap, which he didn't shy nor fall away from. Nothing to show going forward, however. 6
Fraser McReight Won some important ruck turnovers early in the game and contributed to the Australian resurgence in the second half. 7
Harry Wilson His efforts in defence and some deft kicks balanced out his lack of carries in the first half. Needs to show more for the ball to lead from the front as captain. 6
Replacements Billy Pollard 6; Angus Bell 7; Tom Robertson 5; Tom Hooper 6; Carlo Tizzano 7; Tate McDermott 7; Ben Donaldson 6; Andrew Kellaway n/a
Hugo Keenan A few poor moments under the high ball, including allowing Jorgensen to snaffle possession for the opening Aussie try. 5
Tommy Freeman Kicked a couple out on the full and spilled a few balls both from passes and when fielding kicks. A forced offload that went to ground summed up his day. 5
Huw Jones Contained Suaalii for the most part and looked a threat with ball in hand. Skittled in defence by McDermott at one point. 6
Sione Tuipulotu Took his score well, which was made by his running angle as much as Russell's pass. Tidy in other departments. 7
James Lowe Off the pace, not good under fire from kicks, offered little in attack. Is he too slow for this level now? 5
Finn Russell Imperious in the first quarter as the fulcrum of the Lions' dominant start displaying his full array of skills, including the lovely floated pass for Tuipulotu's try. 8
Jamison Gibson-Park A performance of his usual energised competence, his box-kicks troubled the defence regularly and he ran the attack adroitly. 8
Ellis Genge Some rampaging carries set the tone of all that was good in the loose, but had a tougher time in his primary role in the scrum. 6
Dan Sheehan Hit his jumpers in the lineout with little fuss, fixing an issue on the tour so far when it mattered and scored his usual try. 7
Tadhg Furlong Not the player he once was in open play and has to take some responsibility for an underperforming scrum set piece. 6
Maro Itoje Set his usual example with workrate, especially as the performance energy dipped in the second half. Gave away a couple of penalties. 6
Joe McCarthy Continuing a history of players who are elevated in the red shirt, he played the enforcer role in defence well and was close to a try out wide. Farrell will hope reason for his early subbing is not too serious. 8
Tadhg Beirne The consummate big occasion performer does it again. Led the team in tackles and made a mess of Australia's breakdown regularly. 8
Tom Curry A very Tom Curry performance: powerful, busy and a total nuisance to the Wallabies; exactly what his coach wanted. Less prominent under pressure in second half. 8
Jack Conan Not a huge day for the highlight reel but put himself about in a workmanlike and solid performance that was the foundation of the back row's dominance. 7
Replacements: Ronan Kelleher 5; Andrew Porter 5; Will Stuart 5; Ollie Chessum 6; Ben Earl 6; Alex Mitchell n/a; Marcus Smith 6; Bundee Aki 6