British and Irish Lions dig deep as Huw Jones scores two tries in victory over the Waratahs

The British and Irish Lions continued with their unbeaten run on their tour of Australia as they clinched a hard-fought 21-10 victory over the Waratahs in Sydney on Saturday.

As the scoreline suggests, this was a tougher contest than the Lions’ previous matches on the tour – against the Western Force and Queensland Reds – and the Waratahs deserve plenty of credit for pushing the visitors all the way and being competitive for long periods.

The Lions were forced into some late changes to their line-up after rising star Henry Pollock was withdrawn from the matchday squad as a precautionary measure shortly before kick off, due to a tight calf.

That meant that captain Tadhg Beirne was shifted from the second-row to the blindside flank while Scott Cummings came into the run-on side at lock and his place amongst the reserves was taken by Duhan van der Merwe as the visitors changed from a six-two to a more traditional five-three replacements bench.

In the end, the visitors were deserved winners though as they outscored the Waratahs three tries to two with Huw Jones leading the way for the famous touring team with a brace while Alex Mitchell also dotted down and Fin Smith added three conversions.

For the Waratahs, Darby Lancaster and Ethan Dobbins scored a try apiece.

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The opening exchanges were cagey as both sides were cautious in their respective approaches but the match came alive in the 12th minute when Jones went over for the opening try after running on a perfectly delivered short pass from Sione Tuipulotu deep inside the Waratahs’ 22.

That score settled the early nerves and the Lions became more fluent with ball in hand as the match progressed and they strung several phases together on attack, although the home side’s defence did well to keep them at bay.

The Waratahs thought they had opened their account on the half hour-mark when Charlie Gamble barged over for a try off the back of a lineout drive but his effort was ruled out after Fergus Lee-Warner was blown up for obstruction in the build-up.

That proved costly as shortly afterwards Jones showed great composure and quick feet as he stepped past a couple of defenders deep inside the home side’s territory before crossing for his second try.

The home side needed a response and that came in style shortly before half-time courtesy of Lancaster’s try. This after fellow Wallabies Taniela Tupou and Rob Leota did well to draw in a couple of defenders before the latter offloaded to Lancaster.

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The left wing still had plenty of work to do but shrugged off a tackle from Hugo Keenan – which briefly halted his momentum – before eventually dotting down.

That meant the teams changed sides at half-time with the Lions holding a 14-5 lead and the second half started in a similar fashion to the first with the sides cancelling each other out during that period.

And soon after the restart the home side’s confidence grew when Dobbins crossed for his try after a strong lineout drive from his pack but, once again, Jack Bowen failed with his conversion attempt.

That meant the tourists held a slender four-point lead and shortly afterwards the Lions came close to extending their lead but Josh van der Flier lost possession after a desperate dive close to the corner flag.

However, a moment of magic from Mitchell in the 55th minute soon put more daylight between them and their opponents.

The Lions forwards initially launched a lineout drive inside the Waratahs’ 22 but when their momentum was halted Mitchell gathered before making a sniping break around the maul.

The England scrum-half then showed his class by selling two defenders an outrageous dummy before crossing for a well-taken try.

The rest of the match was a disjointed affair highlighted by several unforced errors from both sides and although the Lions will not be entirely happy with this performance, they will take the result and turn their focus to their next match against the Brumbies on Wednesday.

The teams

Waratahs: 15 Lawson Creighton, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Lalakai Foketi, 12 Joey Walton, 11 Darby Lancaster, 10 Jack Bowen, 9 Teddy Wilson, 8 Hugh Sinclair (c), 7 Charlie Gamble, 6 Rob Leota, 5 Miles Amatosero, 4 Fergus Lee-Warner, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Ethan Dobbins, 1 Tom Lambert
Replacements: 16 Mahe Vailanu, 17 Jack Barrett, 18 Daniel Botha, 19 Matt Philip, 20 Jamie Adamson, 21 Jack Grant, 22 Tane Edmed, 23 Henry O’Donnell

British and Irish Lions: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Blair Kinghorn, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Tadhg Beirne (c), 5 James Ryan, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Dan Sheehan, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Joe McCarthy, 20 Duhan van der Merwe, 21 Jac Morgan, 22 Ben White, 23 Marcus Smith

Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: James Doleman (New Zealand), Angus Mabey (New Zealand)
TMO: Richard Kelly (New Zealand)
FPRO: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)

READ MORE: NSW Waratahs v British & Irish Lions, AS IT HAPPENED: How the tourists edged to victory in Sydney