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BreakingNews.ie
43 minutes ago
- Sport
- BreakingNews.ie
British and Irish Lions hammer Western Force but Tomos Williams suffers injury
The British and Irish Lions claimed their first victory on Australian soil by overwhelming Western Force 54-7, but a possible injury crisis is brewing at scrum-half after Tomos Williams was forced off. Williams was among the Lions' star performers at Optus Stadium but his match was over when he injured his left hamstring during the act of finishing his second try in the 47th minute. Advertisement The Wales half-back limped from the pitch to leave the Lions sweating on his fitness given Jamison Gibson-Park has yet to play on tour because of a glute problem, potentially leaving Alex Mitchell as the only available option in the 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. Advertisement 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. 😍😍🦁🦁 — Saracens Rugby Club (@Saracens) June 28, 2025 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. Advertisement 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. 🦁 A second score for Tomos 🔥 — Welsh Rugby Union 🏴 (@WelshRugbyUnion) June 28, 2025 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. Advertisement 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.
Al Arabiya
an hour ago
- Sport
- Al Arabiya
British and Irish Lions Dominate Force in the Opening Game of Their Australian Tour
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 percent 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. For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app. 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 judgment. 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. 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 Lowe, 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. 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 August 2.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
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. Advertisement 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 Advertisement 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. Advertisement 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 Advertisement 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. Advertisement 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: The Associated Press
Reuters
an hour ago
- Sport
- Reuters
Ruthless Lions run in eight tries to down Force 54-7 in Perth
PERTH, June 28 (Reuters) - 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. The Force did enough to assuage the fears of Lions management that the tour matches would not be competitive and a solitary try from veteran Wallabies scrumhalf Nic White hardly did justice to their contribution to the contest. Hooker Sheehan, making his Lions debut, gave the tourists the perfect start with a try inside two minutes, batting Russell's crosskick to James Lowe then taking a return pass to touch down. The Force intercepted the restart and came straight back at them, however, and White went over in the fifth minute during a period of sustained pressure that continued for another 10 minutes. Some of the Lions defending attracted the ire of Ben O'Keeffe, who will referee the first Wallabies test, but they held out through four penalties before turning the ball over and scoring a second try. Good support from Pollock saw the 20-year-old number eight explode through the defensive line before finding Williams off the deck out of the tackle to allow the scrumhalf a short run to the line. A quickly taken tap penalty from Russell wrong-footed the Force and led to the third try four minutes before the break, the flyhalf racing to within metres of the line before finding fullback Daly in support. Russell kicked his third conversion to give the Lions a 21-7 lead but the Force charged back again and Pollock paid the price for the earlier indiscipline at the breakdown and was shown a yellow card just before halftime. The young loose forward was still in the sin bin when the Lions broke out of defence for a fourth try, Lowe again the provider as Williams went in for his second before limping off the pitch with what looked like a hamstring injury. The Lions continued to show a ruthless streak every time they managed to get the ball wide with centre Ringrose going over in the 52nd minute and lock McCarthy in the 56th after Pollock had turned to his boot to breach the defensive line. The game got a bit scrappy in the last 10 minutes as the benches were cleared but Williams' replacement Mitchell made sure the tourists had the last say, running away to complete the scoring after the fulltime hooter.
The Independent
an hour ago
- Sport
- The Independent
British and Irish Lions hammer Western Force but Tomos Williams suffers injury
The British and Irish Lions claimed their first victory on Australian soil by overwhelming Western Force 54-7, but a possible injury crisis is brewing at scrum-half after Tomos Williams was forced off. Williams was among the Lions' star performers at Optus Stadium but his match was over when he injured his left hamstring during the act of finishing his second try in the 47th minute. The Wales half-back limped from the pitch to leave the Lions sweating on his fitness given Jamison Gibson-Park has yet to play on tour because of a glute problem, potentially leaving Alex Mitchell as the only available option in the 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.
