How the Scots rated in Lions' big win over Western Force as injury causes concern

A convincing start for the British and Irish Lions down under produced eight tries and a half century of points but the most pleasing aspect from a Scottish point of view was the performance of Finn Russell.

The stand-off burnished his Test credentials with a clever and imaginative 60-minute outing in Perth where he was at the heart of the tourists’ best moments against Western Force.

The hosts were spirited opponents in the first half but couldn’t live with the Lions after the break as the composite side ran out 54-7 winners. It wasn’t all sweetness and light for the Lions. They botched a number of restarts and conceded nine penalties, six of them in the first 40 minutes. They also lost two-try scrum-half Tomos Williams to a hamstring injury which will be a concern for head coach Andy Farrell. It may also alert Scotland’s Ben White, a potential replacement who is currently in New Zealand with Gregor Townsend’s squad.

Finn Russell (R) and Sione Tuipulotu of the British & Irish Lions celebrate after their victory during the tour match against the Western Force at the Optus Stadium in Perth. | Getty Images

Back in Perth, there was also a try double for full-back Elliot Daly as Dan Sheehan, Garry Ringrose, Joe McCarthy and Alex Mitchell scored the other tries. Nic White, the Wallabies scrum-half, countered early on for Force.

McCarthy, Daly, Mack Hansen and Henry Pollock were all stand-outs in red at Optus Stadium and Russell was the creative fulcrum. He was also a physical influence, disrupting the home side’s attack, particularly during a frenetic first quarter when Western Force were at their disruptive best, roared on by 46,000 supporters.

Russell’s discreet hand signal paved way for third try

This is Russell’s third Lions tour and, at 32, it could be his last. He got a taste of the Test team in the decider against the Springboks four years ago after injury disrupted his time in South Africa but this feels like his moment.

He took two minutes to make an impact against Force, executing a perfect kick-pass to Sheehan who was loitering on the right wing. It is the sort of move Russell makes looks easy and it opened things up nicely for the Irish hooker. The Lions captain for the night popped it back to James Lowe who returned the favour with a smart offload out the back for Sheehan to score the opening try. Russell added the extra two points, his first of five successful conversions.

White hit back immediately for the hosts after the Lions lost possession at the restart and Ben Donaldson’s conversion evened things up at 7-7. There followed some shaky moments for the Lions. They gave away four penalties in the opening four minutes and were warned by referee Ben O’Keeffe but they weather the storm and a great break from Pollock helped reestablish their lead. The youngest Lion on tour exchanged passes with Josh van der Flier, raced away and then had the awareness to find the supporting Williams who scored.

At this point, things became turgid for the Lions and Western Force were enjoying more possession and territory. It took another moment of Russell inspiration to put the tourists in the driving seat. With Force expecting him to kick a penalty, Russell gave a discreet hand signal to his team-mates, tapped and sped towards the line. He was stopped short but managed to offload to Daly for the try.

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Pollock’s celebrations in front of the Force players sparked a brief melee and he was yellow-carded soon after but the Lions went in at the turn 21-7 ahead and never looked back. Three tries in an eight-minute spell early in the second half took the game away from the Australians and the Lions’ strength from the bench meant they dominated. Williams got his second try but injured his hamstring in the process and Ringrose and McCarthy also got on the scoresheet as the Lions moved 40-7 in front.

A Lions debut for Huw Jones

Huw Jones came on for his Lions debut and linked up with Sione Tuipulotu in the centre. Jones has been nursing a persistent Achilles injury since the Six Nations but looked sprightly as he intercepted a White pass and chased his own kick. He and Tuipulotu then combined nicely with a move straight out of Scotstoun but Jones was tackled just short.

Tuipulotu, who started at inside centre, was busy but not quite as influential as he had been during the send-off match against Argentina in Dublin when he had been at 13. It would be nice to see him starting alongside Jones and that opportunity should soon arise, with the Lions due to play Queensland Reds in Brisbane on Wednesday and then the Waratahs in Sydney next Saturday.

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The other starting Scots were in the pack. Edinburgh prop Pierre Schoeman was part of a scrum that struggled at times but looked dangerous in the loose, while Glasgow lock Scott Cummings was culpable during the first-half restarts but was solid in the lineout.

Russell made way for Marcus Smith just after the hour mark and the Lions ran in two more tries in the final 10 minutes. Daly nabbed his second after being played in by Smith following good work by the Lions pack and then Mitchell scored the final try with the clock in the red following some smart handling by Daly, Tuipulotu and Hansen. Smith converted both.

It was a satisfactory evening for Farrell, a big improvement on the Argentina game which was lost 28-24, with a caveat around the standard of the opposition. Western Force finished ninth of 11 teams in the Super Rugby standings, winning just four of their 14 games, but they did field six current Wallabies against the Lions.

White, their extravagantly moustachioed scrum-half, said he had wanted to “bash and bruise” the tourists ahead of the Test series. Williams’ injury excepted, the Lions came through relatively unscathed and looking a lot more cohesive than they had in Dublin. With Russell at the helm, they will roll on to Brisbane in good spirits.

Teams and scorers

Scorers: Western Force: Try: White. Con: Donaldson. Lions: Tries: Sheehan, Williams 2, Daly 2, Ringrose, McCarthy, Mitchell. Cons: Russell 5, M Smith 2.

Yellow card: Pollock (Lions, 40min).

Western Force: B Donaldson; M Grealy, M Proctor, H Stewart, D Pietsch; A Harford, N White (capt); T Robertson, B Paenga-Amosa, O Hoskins, S Carter, D Swain, W Harris, N Champion de Crespigny, V Ekuasi. Replacements: T Horton, M Pearce, T Tauakipulu, L Faifua, R Prinsep, H Robertson, M Burey, B Kuenzie.

British and Irish Lions: E Daly; M Hansen, G Ringrose, S Tuipulotu, J Lowe; F Russell, T Williams; P Schoeman, D Sheehan (capt), T Furlong, S Cummings, J McCarthy, T Beirne, J Van der Flier, H Pollock. Replacements: R Kelleher, A Porter, W Stuart, O Chessum, J Conan, A Mitchell, H Jones, M Smith.

Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (NZ).

Attendance: 46,656.