British and Irish Lions dominate Force in the opening game of their Australian tour
PERTH, Australia (AP) — Dan Sheehan made the perfect start on debut for the British and Irish Lions.
The Ireland hooker led the Lions for the first game of their Australian tour, scored in the second minute and steered the team to a commanding 54-7 win over the Perth-based Western Force on Saturday.
After an arm-wrestle of a first half where the Lions led 21-7 despite having only 40% of possession and spending most of the time in their own half, the bigger, more polished British and Irish lineup opened up and put five unanswered tries on a tiring defense in the second.
Scrumhalf Tomos Williams scored a pair of tries before limping off with a left hamstring issue, fullback Elliot Daly scored two tries and flyhalf Finn Russell created two tries with his spur-of-the-moment judgement. He also kicked five goals.
Henry Pollock, the 20-year-old England No. 8, played an integral hand in two tries and also spent 10 minutes in the sin-bin in his eventful debut start for the Lions.
Early exchanges
The Lions made changes after a 28-24 loss to Argentina in a warmup last week in Dublin, putting more emphasis on short, sharp passing.
The Lions had the ball for 11 phases until Russell kicked high and wide to the right touchline where Sheehan took the ball high and tapped infield for winger James Low, who flicked an inside pass back to him to score.
The Force equalized quickly after 14 phases of attack with veteran Wallabies scrumhalf Nic White sniping over from the base of a ruck in the fifth minute.
The Force opted against taking penalty goals in order to keep up attacking intensity but the Lions held firm and relieved pressure with some crucial turnovers.
Flyhalf Russell set up the first try with his pinpoint kick wide and the third with a quick penalty tap and go in the 35th, scooting up to the five-yard line before popping up a ball off the ground for fullback Daly to score.
In between, Pollock was instrumental in the Lions' second try, bursting onto a sharp inside ball from openside flanker Josh van der Flier, stepping inside and out and going to ground before popping a ball up to scrumhalf Williams to score.
The tourists went into halftime with a man down after Pollock was yellow carded for a ruck infringement deep inside his own quarter. The Force crossed the line from the resulting penalty but were held up.
A key moment
Williams finished off an 80-meter counter-attacking try seven minutes into the second half. Both wingers were involved, with Lowe making an initial break and then exchanging passes with Williams at the end.
Williams limped off after scoring, and was replaced by Alex Mitchell.
The Lions' attacking intent led directly to Garry Ringrose's try soon after that gave the Lions a 33-7 lead.
Pollock, the youngest member of the Lions squad, was back in the attack quickly, chipping over the defense, regathering and almost scoring himself before the Lions shifted it quickly through the hands for lock Joe McCarthy to score out wide in the 55th.
Daly scored in the 71st minute after sustained attack to help the Lions take a 40-point buffer.
It was extended to 47 when Mitchell scored after the siren, taking the last pass from Australian-born Ireland winger Mack Hansen to put the final touches on the victory.
The Lions are playing nine games in their first tour to Australia since 2013, including tests in Brisbane on July 19, in Melbourne on July 26 and in Sydney on Aug. 2.
___
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
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