Lions bounce back from Pumas loss with dominating display against Western Force
The British and Irish Lions secured their first win on Australian turf, trouncing Western Force 54-7. However, a potential injury crisis is looming at scrum-half after Tomos Williams was forced to leave the pitch.
Williams was one of the standout performers for the Lions at Optus Stadium, but his game came to an abrupt end when he injured his left hamstring while scoring his second try in the 47th minute.
The Welsh half-back's departure has left the Lions anxious about his fitness, especially as Jamison Gibson-Park has yet to play on tour due to a glute issue. This could potentially leave Alex Mitchell as the only available option for the scrum-half position.
It was the biggest disappointment of a mixed evening for Andy Farrell's men, who bounced back from their 28-24 defeat by Argentina with an eight-try demolition of the weakest of Australia's Super Rugby franchises while exposing areas of concern.
The lack of cohesion in defence continued and the scrum took a step backwards after excelling against the Pumas as part of a shaky overall set-piece performance, but their passes stuck in attack and they created some classy tries.
Henry Pollock, Joe McCarthy and James Lowe all advanced their claims to Test selection against the Wallabies, while fly-half Finn Russell produced an inventive first outing on tour.
Russell's fingerprints were over Dan Sheehan's fourth-minute try with his pinpoint kick to Lowe making the score possible, but the Force hit back with their first attack of the match when Nic White wriggled over.
All the early pressure was coming from the hosts but they were turned over three times when in commanding positions, one of them occurring when man-of-the-match McCarthy pinched line-out ball.
The Force were showing plenty of endeavour but the Lions' extra class was evident in the 16th minute when Pollock combined with Josh van der Flier, raced clear and then passed out of the tackle for Williams to score.
And their accuracy was on display again in the 36th minute when Russell ran a quickly taken free-kick with Pollock and Elliot Daly in support and when he was stopped just short of the line, Daly was able to touch down.
Pollock provocatively celebrated the try close to Force openside Nick Champion de Crespigny, igniting a flashpoint that drew in a large number of players.
The England back row was then sin-binned, although his yellow card was the result of Ben O'Keeffe running out of patience with the number of Lions infringements.
Pollock had yet to rejoin play when the Lions struck again early in the second half with wings Mack Hansen and Lowe involved in a counter attack that ended with Williams diving over in the corner for his fateful finish.
Just 10 minutes after the interval and the Force defence was already tiring, allowing the tourists to force an easy open with Hansen supplying Garry Ringrose with the scoring pass.
Back on the field, Pollock pounced on a loose ball to launch a counter that ended with McCarthy crossing and the gaps continued to appear with Marcus Smith, on for Russell at fly-half, sending Daly over before Alex Mitchell landed the final blow.
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