British and Irish Lions ratings: Irishman has a rare ‘mare’ as Huwipulotu shines in an underwhelming outing
British and Irish Lions Huw Jones and Hugo Keenan against the NSW Waratahs.
Following the British and Irish Lions’ 21-10 victory over the NSW Waratahs at Allianz Stadium in Sydney, here’s how we rated Andy Farrell’s charges.
British and Irish Lions player ratings
15 Hugo Keenan: The rustiness was clear to see with the full-back missing the end of Leinster’s season and was denied a Lions debut against the Queensland Reds due to illness. His inability to keep his breakfast down obviously impacted his time on the training paddock, and it showed. He was livid about his missed tackle on Darby Lancaster, and rightly so; he is usually better than that. Somewhat of a mare for the Irishman. 4
14 Mack Hansen: He and Scott Cummings did brilliantly to snuff out the Waratahs’ turnover attack in the opening exchanges. Busy on the whole as he went in search of work, which does result in errors and he had a few of those today. His kick-through close to the Waratahs‘ line was simply wasteful. 6
13 Huw Jones: Grabbed two first-half tries in stunning fashion, running a gorgeous line off the shoulder of Sione Tuipulotu before shifting late before receiving the ball to deceive the Waratahs’ defence to reach out and score. He really benefited from his combination with his Scotland and Glasgow teammate in what was a superb shift. Did have a few moments in attack when he didn’t get the timing of his pass quite right but far more positives than negatives. 8
12 Sione Tuipulotu: It’s clear to see that the midfielder is a pivotal cog in the British and Irish Lions backline with his all-court skills. He sparked the opening try for his centre partner and constantly threatened the ‘Tahs defence. A handful of loose passes but that was a team issue as there is still a bit of settling in going on. 7
11 Blair Kinghorn: Precious few opportunities in attack during the first half for the late arrival, but linked up fantastically with Josh van der Flier, who came inches away from scoring in the second half. Shifted to full-back after Keenan’s number was called, which led to far more touches of the ball, and the Lions benefited from that. 7
10 Fin Smith: The arrival of Owen Farrell in the Lions squad has put the fly-halves on notice and with his first opportunity to impress, Smith struggled. The Waratahs managed to swim through the attack and put pressure on the playmaker and forced errors from him with many of his passes hitting the deck. Replaced before the final quarter with Marcus Smith given a run at fly-half. The pressure is on the number 10s, and today, Smith wilted. 5
9 Alex Mitchell: Produced several brilliant moments of attacking play, ripping the ‘Tahs defence to shreds with his snipes and dummies. He grabbed a try for himself and made an outstanding break that almost resulted in a try for Van der Flier. He did have the odd uncharacteristic error or two, but overall, he was excellent. 8
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The pack
8 Ben Earl: Aggressive in the tight exchanges and showed his softer skills close to the line as well. He was penalised on two occasions, a real work-on for him in picking his moments to attack the breakdown.7
7 Josh van der Flier: Really, really busy yet again on defence as he fronted up for the men in red. Less impactful on attack, but by no means poor. He was denied a try by a simply outrageous try-saving tackle. Replacement in the 60th minute after another mighty outing. 7
6 Tadhg Beirne (c): He doesn’t seem to ever have a really poor outing, and he was not going to produce on the day that he captained the Lions for the first time. His presence on the side of the scrum made a big difference to the lineout while he was his usual busy self on attack and defensively. 7
5 James Ryan: Played his part in a functioning lineout and while he was abrasive in the rucks, he offered little else around the park and was hooked off early in the second half. 5
4 Scott Cummings: Drafted into the team following the late withdrawal of Henry Pollock, forcing a pack reshuffle. After an underwhelming outing against the Western Force, he quickly went about making an impact and did so with an outstanding intercept to deny the Waratahs an early try, working his socks off to get into the position. There was a vast improvement in the Lions’ lineout too. His impact faded off as the game went on. 6
3 Finlay Bealham: Part of scrum that on the whole, got the better of the Waratahs but offered little around the park. 5
2 Luke Cowan-Dickie: The lineout operated far better today when he was on the pitch as the Lions finally find some cohesion, with the Englishman’s throws accurate. Got his hands on the ball plenty but with little success. 6
1 Pierre Schoeman: Gave his hopes of starting the Tests a shot in the arm with a powerful scrummaging display against Wallabies powerhouse Taniela Tupou. He grabbed a turnover on the deck and was rather solid defensively, but needs to up his aggression in his carries. 7
Replacements: The Lions’ bench has been a real feature of the tour so far and predictably so as Farrell throws on eight international stars against the tired legs of the Super Rugby teams. Marcus Smith had good moments on attack after he entered proceedings, while the scrum maintained the edge. Duhan van der Merwe good metres out wide while Joe McCarthy was abrasive. The scoreline didn’t balloon as it has in the last two games but the bench was impactful and saw the Lions over the line. 6
READ MORE: NSW Waratahs v B&I Lions, as it happened