British and Irish Lions player ratings: Owen Farrell shows his ‘class’ as several stars lay down an ’emphatic marker’ in final hit out
British and Irish Lions stars Owen Farrell, Ben Earl and Jac Morgan.
Following the British and Irish Lions’ comprehensive 48-0 victory over the AUNZ XV, here’s how we rated Andy Farrell’s men in their final hit out before the Test Series against the Wallabies.
British and Irish Lions player ratings v AUNZ XV
15 Hugo Keenan: After a nightmare of a performance in his last outing for the Lions, Keenan bounced back to put in a shift that resembled the quality that earned him inclusion in the squad. He smartly took a lineout quickly, which led to the opening try and was solid in the backfield and entered the attack nicely too. With Blair Kinghorn touch and go for the Series opener, he put his name forward to be the starting full-back. 7
14 Mack Hansen: A brilliant outing from the Ireland international who was fantastic on the kick-chase and added a real edge to the attack as he popped up in tricky spots for the opposition’s defence. This led to a try assist, and there should have been another for Luke Cowan-Dickie. Hansen really put his hand up today. He did concede a handful of turnovers, but that comes with the territory of the work he did around the park and the 50/50 contests in the air. 8
13 Huw Jones: Another exciting performance from the Scottish midfielder who found routes in behind the AUNZ defence and linked up wonderfully with Sione Tuipulotu, which is a given at this point. He led the way in terms of metres gained while on the pitch and put in a brilliant attacking kick after a stellar one-handed pick-up. He pitched in with a try assist before his number was called with Owen Farrell coming on early in the second half, perhaps with an eye to the opening Test with Garry Ringrose reportedly ruled out. Surely the starting Test 13 if that is the case, and thoroughly deserved too. 8
12 Sione Tuipulotu: Continued his fine form on the tour as he cut through the AUNZ defence to score the opening try of the first half. It was a classic Tuipulotu performance as he brought his playing making prowess to the fore and unlocked the invitational team’s defence with ease. Sound defensively and when carrying to the line, too. 7
11 Duhan van der Merwe: Red hot with ball in hand, grabbing a brace of tries in the first half and completed the hat-trick after the hour mark, but ice cold in the backfield as he looked hurried, nervous and shaky. Tane Edmed regularly caught the winger out of position, which will hurt his chances of making the Test team. He is lethal with ball in hand but the other areas of his game could deny him a place in the matchday 23. 7
10 Fin Smith: The AUNZ attacked his channel throughout his shift with the fly-half asked to make 16 tackles and missed just two, a team-high when he was replaced by Marcus Smith. While he did have the occasional poor pass and overcooked kick, Fin Smith was rather solid overall and shifted the ball well. He did his Test chances no harm, but didn’t exactly hammer down a statement of intent. 7
9 Ben White: One player who did throw down a marker was scrum-half White who punished the AUNZ defence’s overfold and scampered away to score. He added an assist too and kept the tempo of the Lions’ attack steaming forward throughout his performance. He kicked well too. The Lions aren’t short on quality options at number nine, but White certainly gave the coaches something to ponder despite clearly being the underdog for the role. 8
The forward pack
8 Ben Earl: Huge in the carry and just as effective in defence in an impressive shift that included a couple of turnovers too. He needed this kind of performance, considering the strength in depth in the back-row but the Englishman was superb and really pressed his case. He was right up there with Van der Merwe in metres gained and was dominant throughout his game. Named Player of the Match despite Van der Merwe’s hat-trick and rightly so. He hammered down an emphatic marker. 9
7 Jac Morgan: The only Welshman left in the squad and he is flying the Wales flag high after another standout performance in an energetic, effective and hard-working loose trio performance. He pilfered over the ball well and had good carries too. 7
6 Henry Pollock: The incredible journey continues as the 20-year-old put in another brilliant performance in the final audition before the Test Series. Grabbed a try in stunning fashion as the bolter strutted his stuff in an impressive manner. 7
5 Tadhg Beirne (c): Penalised twice today but much like Hansen, that comes with the amount of work he gets through. The skipper wasn’t quite up to his incredibly high standards today, but was otherwise sharp. 6
4 James Ryan: The busiest forward on defence with 15 hits, while he was sharp and accurate at the breakdown. A handy lineout option as per usual in what was a performance where he did precisely what is required of him in the role. 6
3 Will Stuart: A rock in defence and at scrum time. He too was effective at the breakdown. He didn’t do anything too flashy but it wasn’t required or expected from him. 6
2 Luke Cowan-Dickie: A heart-breaking setback for the English hooker who got his tackle technique all wrong was out cold before being carted off the pitch. That will probably end his hopes of featuring in the Test Series. It just wasn’t Cowan-Dickie’s day despite being somewhat accurate at the set-pieces, as he botched a try, failing to hang onto Hansen’s offload. 4
1 Pierre Schoeman: Set up Ronan Kelleher brilliantly at the front of the lineout in what was a real highlight of another strong outing. He offered himself as a carrier far more often that his fellow prop and regularly got over the gainline. 7
Replacements: Owen Farrell‘s introduction was met with jeers and cheers but the playmaker proved precisely why he was called up as he showed real class. His kick for Pollock’s try was simply brilliant, while he was aggressive when offered as a crash ball runner. He linked up sharply with those around him and was solid on defence. He was not the only replacement to impress, with Josh van der Flier continuing his fine form while Scott Cummings thundered over the line for a try. Marcus Smith sprinkled in some attacking brilliance but struggled off the tee while the forward replacements continued the strong work of the starters to put the AUNZ outfit to the sword. 8
