Ruthless Lions run in eight tries to down Force 54-7 in Perth
The British & Irish Lions gave the Western Force a lesson in ruthless finishing as they kicked off their Australia tour with an ultimately comfortable 54-7 victory in front of a big crowd at Perth Stadium on Saturday.
Tomos Williams and Elliot Daly both crossed twice with skipper Dan Sheehan, Garry Ringrose, Joe McCarthy and Alex Mitchell also scoring as a much-changed Lions team bounced back after their 28-24 loss to Argentina in Dublin last week.
Henry Pollock's first start in a Lions shirt did not disappoint with a line break to set up one try and a chip-and-chase earning the field position for another, as well as a yellow card late in the first half.
Flyhalf Finn Russell, who kicked five of six conversions before being replaced, gave a masterclass in playmaking to reinforce his position as favourite to lead the Lions backline in the Test series against Australia in late July and August.
'I think it's an improvement, especially on the scoreline side and how we sort of closed down that game towards the end,' said hooker Sheehan.
'But still plenty of things to work on, the discipline was nowhere near good enough and there was too much access for Western Force tonight.'
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Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading The Junior Boks face a tough start against Australia, who won their Under-20 Rugby Championship clash 29-24 in Gqeberha in May. With the conditions very different in summer in Italy, Norton hopes the South Africans are able to utilise the pace of speedsters such as Gilermo Mentoe, Cheswill Jooste and Siyabonga Ndlozi out wide. 'Australia got one-up on us in the Rugby Championship and we have a lot of respect for them. They are really skilled people, and love to take the ball out wide and go coast to coast,' Norton said. 'Conditions in Italy are really hot and humid, from the rainy and cold weather in Stellenbosch. The #JuniorBoks were ready for their travels from the cold and wet Western Cape, to the hot and humid conditions of Northern Italy - more here: 🥵#JourneyToGreatness — SA Junior Rugby (@SAJuniorRugby) June 26, 2025 'So, it's been a different experience, but one that we are really enjoying. 'We have to find the right balance between kicking the ball and letting our counter-attack and our incredibly quick outside backs to have an opportunity to counter and run with the ball. 'We have implemented some systems in our defence where the stack attack caught us off-guard, so we are really excited to face them again and test ourselves against the best.' Junior Bok coach Kevin Foote was pleased with the preparations for the tournament, and is positive that his players can make a fine start against Australia. 'We obviously have made changes from game to game, and when we've done that, strategically building into this World Cup, we feel like we wanted to give everyone the best opportunity to prepare and look at different combinations,' Foote said. 'All building into this first game against Australia, and making sure that the guys are super confident and have absolute clarity going into our first game. 'I think there's enough motivation already from the guys. They've been together for a while now. And like I keep banging on, they're such a committed group and they just can't wait to get started. 'So I think from our perspective, we understand what Australia bring is a threat, and we understand what our strengths are. Future Springboks combining 😍 The #JuniorBoks kickstart their World Rugby U20 Championship campaign against Australia next week 🏉 #JourneyToGreatness — SA Junior Rugby (@SAJuniorRugby) June 18, 2025 'We must just make sure that we do that for 80 minutes. 'I suppose because we didn't get the result we wanted against Australia in the first one... that's all we're thinking about right now. 'And that's one good positive that we can take out of that is that we can't be looking ahead when we know that Australia is such a threatening team. 'So, we are very, very focused on Australia, and only Australia for now.'
