Latest news with #LionsTour
The Sun
an hour ago
- Sport
- The Sun
Western Force 7 British & Irish Lions 54: Tourists run riot in Perth but Tomos Williams hands worrying injury scare
Henry Pollock announced himself to the Aussie public as the Lions romped to an eight-try win to get the tour up and running. But there was an injury scare when scrum-half Tomos Williams limped off with hamstring trouble after pulling up after scoring his second try after 47 minutes. 2 2 And that could spell bad news for the Lions with Jamison Gibson-Park currently sidelined and Alex Mitchell the only other nine here. Northampton back row Pollock made a try, got involved in a scrap with Western Force lock Darcy Swain, got yellow carded and threw a horror pass to James Lowe behind his own line. And that was just in the first half. If the Australians did not know who Pollock is they do now and it looks like he is going to be making plenty of noise down under for the next few weeks. The 20-year-old was one of the Lions to stand up - despite his card – and was always involved in the thick of the action and must have a fighting chance of making the Test 23. It took just 16 minutes for Pollock to let the Australians know he had arrived when he set up Tomos Williams' score and he never went away. Farrell was fuming after last Friday's 28-24 defeat to Argentina in Dublin which got the tour off on the wrong foot and nothing but a thumping win would do here. The boss had seven familiar Irish faces in his starting line-up including captain for the day and hooker Dan Sheehan as the countdown to the first Test in Brisbane in three weeks started properly. Western Force finished ninth of 11 in Super Rugby this season and were missing some players who had been kept in Wallaby camp by Aussie head coach Joe Schmidt. But if the travelling fans were expecting an easy ride they had an early alarm call after skipper Dan Sheehan had finished off from Finn Russell's cross kick and a one-two with James Lowe after 95 seconds. Force have not played for a month but it didn't show as they put the tourists under the pump and former Exeter scrum-half Nic White dived it over to level it on four minutes. But then came Pollock with a storming run after playing a one-two with Josh van der Flier. Pollock was caught short of the line but popped the ball up for Williams to score. Then Elliot Daly scored after Finn Russell's crafty quick tap and run and Pollock and Swain had some afters following the Englishman's celebration. Then Pollock was carded for playing the ball on the floor but he took one for the team there as the Lions were on a warning. It was over as a game when Williams went over for his second and with Garry Ringrose's score, it was 33-7 before Joe McCarthy helped the tourists get to 40 after Pollock's kick had pinned Force back. Daly added a second as tourists cruised past 40 and Force were done with Mitchell bringing up the 50.
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.
BBC News
2 hours ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Lions run in eight tries in win over Western Force
The British and Irish Lions eased away to a comfortable, eight-try 54-7 victory against the Western Force in their first game of their tour on Australian Dan Sheehan, Tomos Williams and Elliot Daly scored in a first half largely dominated by the profligate hosts in terms of territory, but not on the Lions led 21-7 at the break, the Force's own skipper Nic White crossed for their only try in front of 46,656, a record crowd for a rugby union game in the city. Beyond the break, it was all Lions, though. Williams scored a blistering, breakaway second while Henry Pollock was in the sin-bin. The moment was overshadowed by Williams' worrying-looking injury in the Ringrose, the towering Joe McCarthy, a second for Daly and last-gasp score for Alex Mitchell brought up the 50-point mark as the Lions blew away their hosts. More to follow.
Irish Times
8 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Lions v Western Force: What time is kick-off today and where can I watch it in Ireland?
What's happening? The British & Irish Lions play Australian club side Western Force in their second game of the 2025 tour. Coming after the 28-24 defeat to Argentina in Dublin, Andy Farrell's Lions will be looking for a marked improvement in their first game in preparation for their upcoming three Tests against the Wallabies. Where and when? The game will be played at Optus Stadium in Perth, on Saturday with kick-off at 11am Irish time (6pm local time). How can I follow the action? Viewers in Ireland can watch the game live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Action, with coverage getting under way at 10am. READ MORE Tom Court - Ireland's accidental Lion Listen | 40:32 The Irish Times will also be running a live blog of the game, which will be followed by a match report, reaction and analysis from our team of writers. Is there team news? Yes, both teams were announced on Thursday morning. LIONS: Elliot Daly (Saracens/England); Mack Hansen (Connacht/Ireland), Garry Ringrose (Leinster/Ireland), Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), James Lowe (Leinster/Ireland); Finn Russell (Bath/Scotland), Tomos Williams (Gloucester/Wales); Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh/Scotland), Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Ireland, capt), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Ireland); Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors/ Scotland), Joe McCarthy (Leinster/Ireland); Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Ireland), Josh van der Flier (Leinster/Ireland), Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints/England). Replacements: Rónan Kelleher (Leinster/Ireland), Andrew Porter (Leinster/Ireland), Will Stuart (Bath/England), Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers/England), Jack Conan (Leinster/Ireland), Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints/England), Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), Marcus Smith (Harlequins/ England). Mack Hansen during a Lions training session in Perth on Wednesday. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho WESTERN FORCE: Ben Donaldson; Mac Grealy, Matt Proctor, Hamish Stewart, Dylan Pietsch; Alex Harford, Nic White (capt); Tom Robertson, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Ollie Hoskins; Sam Carter, Darcy Swain; Will Harris, Nick Champion de Crespigny, Vaiolini Ekuasi. Replacements: Nic Dolly, Marley Pearce, Tiaan Tauakipulu, Lopeti Faifua, Reed Prinsep, Henry Robertson, Max Burey, Bayley Kuenzle. Anything else I need to watch out for? Debutant Dan Leinster and Ireland hooker Dan Sheehan is set for a special Lions debut, captaining the side for Saturday's game while Maro Itoje sits this one out. It's a reiteration of Farrell's belief in the 27-year-old, having previously picked him to captain Ireland against Wales in the Six Nations earlier this year when Caelan Doris was ruled out due to injury. Joe McCarthy during a Lions training session on Wednesday. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho Ireland watch Eleven Ireland players are included in the matchday 23, eight of whom start. There will be starting debuts for Sheehan, Garry Ringrose, James Lowe and Joe McCarthy, as well as Mack Hansen, who featured off the bench against the Pumas. The two Tadhgs – Furlong and Beirne – also start, while Rónan Kelleher, Jack Conan and Andrew Porter are among the replacements. Injured or otherwise Leinster trio James Ryan, Jamison Gibson-Park and Hugo Keenan miss out due to injury. Scotland fullback Blair Kinghorn was also unavailable for selection as he remains with his club Toulouse ahead of their Top 14 final against Bordeaux Bègles on Saturday.
Irish Times
9 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
From all-out brawls to eye-gouging and worse: a brief history of Lions Tour violence
Expect some conflict. Sit back and watch the claret flow. Take in some dust-ups and assaults, and hope the Lions get their retaliation in first. Bin the political correctness. The game against Argentina last Saturday at the Aviva Stadium was not like what may be coming down the line at the Lions, with a reasonable chance of some traditional brutality on the field. Why? Because that's the way Lions' tours always have been, a journey of character tests, challenges and physical melees, this first tranche of five episodes beginning on Saturday against Western Force in Perth before Queensland Reds, Waratahs, ACT Brumbies and an Australian and New Zealand invitational mix. The run-in games are, as history has shown, a softening-up process, a mincing machine where club players on the fringes of the national side, as well as those in Joe Schmidt's Wallabies squad, are playing to hold their place or earn their place. READ MORE The reputations of the touring players are there to be shredded, with folklore telling us nefarious methods come with the playbook. It has always been that way, and not just in the last century. From Duncan McRae raining down punches on Ronan O'Gara in 2001, to the tour-ending spear tackle on Brian O'Driscoll by New Zealand's Tana Umaga and Keven Mealamu in 2005 and the gouging of Luke Fitzgerald at Loftus Versfeld in 2009, foul play has featured prominently on Lions tours. 'This is your f**king Everest, boys,' Jim Telfer told a room of bowed heads in the 1997 Living with the Lions documentary. [ Lions v Western Force: Kick-off time, team news, where to watch and more ] That's the way they have always set up, primed to play on the edge and it's the way the opposition have also been hardwired over the last 50 years or more. The most famous bout of thuggery was in South Africa 1974, although the plan for Lions players to punch their nearest rival had a gestation period of six years following the 1968 tour and a match against Eastern Transvaal. Derek Quinnell of the Lions is tackled during the brutal 1974 tour match against South Africa. Photograph: Allsport There Wales prop John O'Shea was the first Lion ever to be sent off for foul play. Pelted with oranges on his way to the locker room, he was blamed for the punch-up. His defence was that he had retaliated after an opponent attacked scrumhalf Roger Young. Leaving the pitch O'Shea was then hit by a spectator, triggering a tunnel brawl that involved reserves, officials and police as play continued. Then 1968 tumbled forwards to 1971 when the New Zealand touring squad travelled to Canterbury. The Lions won the match, but maybe lost in the battle when Irish prop Ray McLoughlin chipped a bone at the base of his left thumb and Sandy Carmichael was hospitalised with multiple fractures of his cheekbone. Carmichael, the first player to win 50 caps for Scotland, was doing what props do and bored into the opposition at scrums. For that, Alister Hopkinson, the opposing prop, landed a few punches on the Scot with the damaging shot that fractured his cheek bone in five places coming later via a backhanded fist that caught him in a lineout. McLoughlin's thumb injury occurred when a fight erupted with players from both sides pummelling each other near the touchline. Not the most accurate of blows, McLoughlin landed his shot on the head of Grizz Wyllie, breaking his left thumb. Grizz also punched Fergus Slattery as the Blackrock player unwisely held on to his jersey. The 1974 tour to South Africa was broiling before it even took off and its essence was the personality of captain Willie John McBride and his '99 one-in, all-in' spirit. Speaking to The Telegraph four years ago, former England forward Roger Uttley recalled the mood set by McBride when the squad had gathered in London. 'Before we had even left the country, we were gathered in the Churchill Hotel just near Marble Arch and outside we could hear the anti-apartheid demonstrations in full flow,' Uttley said. 'Willie spoke and you could hear a pin drop. 'Gentlemen. If you have any doubts about going on this tour, I want you to be big enough to stand up now and leave the room. I have been to South Africa before and there is going to be a lot of intimidation, a lot of cheating. So if you're not up for a fight, there's the door'. 'No one moved. I can still remember the silence and the hairs on the back of the neck rising.' The third Test in Port Elizabeth was the defining match of the series for its choreographed violence. Known as the Battle of the Boet Erasmus Stadium, Scotland's Gordon Brown punched his opposite number, Johan de Bruyn, so hard the Orange Free State man's glass eye flew out and landed in the mud. 'So, there we are, 30 players, plus the ref, on our hands and knees scrabbling about in the mire looking for this glass eye,' recalled Brown, who died from cancer in 2001. 'Eventually, someone yells 'Eureka!' whereupon De Bruyn grabs it and plonks it straight back in the gaping hole in his face.' After Brown's death, De Bruyn presented his widow with the glass eye in a specially made trophy. When another fight broke out, the Wales full-back JPR Williams sprinted over half the length of the pitch to deliver a right hook to second row 'Moaner' van Heerden. 'That's not something I'm proud of,' orthopaedic surgeon Williams said later. It wasn't always South Africa who transgressed, although the Springboks, of all the nations toured by the Lions, prided themselves on physicality. In 1989 the second Test against the Wallabies became the Battle of Ballymore when the Lions scrumhalf Rob Jones kicked off with Nick Farr-Jones at a scrum put-in. From there it was bedlam, with the commentary left to call it as it happened. 'They are all joining in now. There're punches galore. It's an all-in brawl,' the exasperated commentator said. 'It was [initially] between the half backs, but everyone joined in.' The wasn't much French referee Rene Hourquet could do about it, and when Dai Young later aimed a boot at Steve Cutler in a ruck another free-for-all kicked off. With the century turning, three tours in a row in 2001, 2005 and 2009 would see three Irish players targeted in different violent ways. In 2001 Ronan O'Gara's came up against New South Wales Waratahs midway through the second half. The images are of a kneeling McRae raining down the punches. Replays show that between the glancing blows and the fully landed punches as he held O'Gara with his left arm, the Munster outhalf took 11 shots resulting in eight stitches around his left eye. O'Gara's running commentary to the doctor as he was getting stitched in the changing room said it all. Duncan McRae, left, and Ronan O'Gara during that 2001 Lions game in Sydney. Photograph: Adam Pretty/Allsport 'F**king cheap shots,' he said breathing heavily as the doctors carefully pulled his face together. 'Caught me with the first one. Couldn't f**king defend myself. F**king trying to look after the ball.' The spear tackle on O'Driscoll four years later might come across as the most calculated act. It took just over 40 seconds in the 2005 first Test against New Zealand in Christchurch to end his participation in the match and the tour and to sideline him for seven months. Calculated how? Well, the ball was with New Zealand lock Ali Williams 30 feet away when Umaga and Mealamu almost cartoonishly turned the Lions' centre upside down and rammed him into the ground dislocating his shoulder. 'It happened in slow motion and I knew I had to get my head out of the way,' O'Driscoll said on Irish television after the tour. 'My shoulder took the brunt of the fall.' In Umaga's book Up Close, published in 2007, in a classless comment he called O'Driscoll a 'sook' or crybaby. In the 2009 tour to South Africa, the Lions lost their first Test match, making the second vital to save the series. On the day the Loftus Versfeld Stadium bristled with hostility. 'The South African fans appeared to be waving as our bus approached, but as we got closer we realised they were all doing the 'w****r' sign,' Welsh prop Adam Jones write in Bomb, his 2015 autobiography. Again, the match was brutal, physical and unforgiving and as Fitzgerald found out it quickly became insidious. Less than a minute in Springbok flanker Schalk Burger gouged the Irish winger. 'Luke said he had to pull Burger's hand off his eyes. That's not sport, that's not the way we play. It is not the gentlemanly thing to do – it's disgusting,' Wales and Lions' scrumhalf Mike Phillips said afterwards. And Burger's punishment? A slap on the wrist. He sat it out for 10 minutes. With the Lions, that's the way they roll.
