Lions Crush Force, But These 5 Talking Points Show It Wasn’t All Smooth Sailing…

Saturday, 28 June 2025 at 14:01

byHarry Tovey

The British and Irish Lions are off the mark Down Under, as Andy Farrell’s side breezed to a comfortable victory over Western Force, despite an underwhelming opening 40 minutes.

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Head coach Farrell had urged his Lions team to "learn and respond" from their humbling 28–24 defeat against Argentina in the tour opener last week in Dublin. Respond they did. But there are still areas for the touring side to improve on — one of them being around the restart, which was clearly not fully functioning.

Below are Ruck Rugby’s 5 Talking Points from an enthralling 80 minutes at Perth’s Optus Stadium:

1. Lions Supremacy Continues in Perth, as Williams and Daly Bag Braces

From 1966 to the professional era, visits to face Western Australian opposition have followed a familiar pattern: wins by wide margins for the Lions.

Captain Dan Sheehan crossed early in the contest, but it took time for the floodgates to open, as the Force made life difficult. Tomos Williams and Elliot Daly also crossed in the opening 40 minutes. Despite this, the Lions were being easily beaten on the stats at the break — and if the Force had been more clinical with their possession and territory dominance, it could’ve been a different story at halftime.

Williams scored again after a brilliant build-up with James Lowe, though his second try came with concern. Following an acrobatic finish, he was replaced by Alex Mitchell due to a suspected hamstring injury early in the second half.

Debutant Gary Ringrose soon crossed the whitewash, followed by standout performer Joe McCarthy powering over after the 54-minute mark. In the closing stages, Daly showed his experience to score again, and with the clock in the red, replacement Mitchell crossed to push the Lions past the half-century mark in emphatic fashion.

2. Penalty Count a Concern for Lions?

One of the few positives from last week’s loss to Argentina was the Lions’ discipline — they conceded only five penalties over 80 minutes. But against the Force, discipline was an early issue.

In the red zone, the Lions panicked — going offside near their line and deliberately slowing play around the breakdown. After just 10 minutes, the tourists had already conceded four penalties.

They finished the first half with 14 men after Henry Pollock received a yellow card from referee Ben O’Keeffe for failing to release near the breakdown.

However, a firm and fiery halftime team talk from Farrell appeared to reset the Lions' discipline. The second-half performance was significantly cleaner.

3. Stadium Announcer Playing Mind Games

Before kickoff, the Western Force stadium announcer took a pointed approach by highlighting the non-British/Irish origins of several Lions players — possibly in response to Australian head coach Joe Schmidt referring to Bundee Aki and Sione Tuipulotu as a “southern hemisphere centre partnership” last week.

The Optus Stadium announcer remarked:

“Our former Aussie, Mack Hansen.”
“Another former Aussie, Sione Tuipulotu.”
“It’s the Kiwi, now Irishman, James Lowe.”
“The former SA schoolboy, now Scotsman, Pierre Schoeman.”

4. Pollock Proving Farrell’s Gamble Was Worth It

Henry Pollock made a strong impression in his first Lions start, showing remarkable maturity. He assisted Tomos Williams’ try with an offload to Josh van der Flier, followed by smart support play to re-gather the ball and deliver a calm offload for the score.

The Force appeared to target the 20-year-old, with tactics reminiscent of the 1974 “99 call” — though this time, the targeting came from the opposition.

Pollock was tripped by Force loosehead Tom Robertson after a kick, pulled to the ground by Nick Champion de Crespigny following a try celebration, and held down by Darcy Swain around the neck.

Despite this, Pollock remained composed and even managed to take one Force attacker out of a play — a smart, mature move. His work at the breakdown still needs refinement, but overall he was electric.

The only thing missing from his performance was a try — but that may well come in the weeks ahead Down Under.

5. “We’re Up and Running, and We’ll Keep Pushing” — Farrell

Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, Lions head coach Andy Farrell said:

“In some respects [the Lions were improved], but a new team and it’s the same from this week as last week.

Our discipline in the first half was not good. When we gained our composure in the second half, we were able to be nice and calm and our defence improved out of sight.

We were able to force errors and score tries off the back of it.

Let’s be honest, the Force took it to us there — they played tough. We kept them in good positions through our mistakes.

We’re up and running, and we’ll keep pushing each other forward.”