Western Force v British & Irish Lions: Five takeaways as ‘truly box office’ Henry Pollock throws down a marker in Australia alongside ‘magnificent’ duo
Henry Pollock impressed for the Lions against Western Force.
Following a 54-7 victory for the British & Irish Lions over the Western Force in Perth on Saturday, here’s our five takeaways from the tour opener at Optus Stadium.
The top line
The British and Irish Lions recorded their first win of the 2025 tour against a much-improved Western Force team as wonderful displays from their half-backs and loose forwards overcame a Nic White-driven Australian effort.
Their eight tries came from Dan Sheehan, Tomos Williams (2), Elliot Daly (2), Garry Ringrose, Joe McCarthy and Alex Mitchell, as the forwards gave their flying backs a huge platform to strut their stuff. Henry Pollock and the back-row were at the heart of some wonderful moments, the Saints number eight causing havoc as he ran 13 carries for 127m in a wonderful display of impudence and fearlessness.
The Force grabbed just the one try through their ageless Test scrum-half White, a man who gave everything in a losing cause, but given the history of the scorelines in this fixture, the Force will be pleased with some aspects of their display, especially their lineout and starting scrum.
The Lions move on to play the Queensland Reds in Brisbane on Wednesday, safe in the knowledge that they now have a platform of confidence to build off.
Half-backs shine
At the heart of this win was an assured performance and quite magnificent by the starting Lions Welsh and Scottish half-backs.
For those expecting to see the Leinster pod system, Andy Farrell’s classic diamond with nine in the back, we saw Finn Russell and Williams simply tear up that aspect of Irish rugby. Russell and Williams treated us to an inspirational display of playing off both nine and ten, the same system that Bath thrive upon and one that changes the point of attack and the phase continuity to confuse the very best blitz defences.
It’s a system that offers so many running options; challenge from nine and if it gets closed down you recycle and go off ten as the playmaker. If ten gets closed down, the footballing nine simply drops back and continues the attack, with the runners still holding to offer options.
The play also relies upon back-rows and other forwards taking the ball at pace and in straight lines. The Lions benefitted from the work of Pollock, McCarthy, Sheehan and the tireless Tadhg Beirne, gratefully accepting the deft pops and shorts from the half-backs.
It bodes well for the British and Irish Lions and for their fans; a system based upon skill and ambition, played at great tempo and with daring handling, something that will win the hearts of even the harshest critics.
Pollock party
Pollock is like a rowdy teenager on a family party out. If others outside his family group complain about his behaviour, the uncles and cousins are there to bail his lairy conduct out. And with good reason – the youngster does things on a rugby pitch that other back-rows simply cannot do.
He was absolutely compelling viewing in this match. Two of the Lions tries came from his raw sprinter’s pace – he gassed Western Force for the Williams try and then a kick and chase of ridiculous impudence saw the Force chasing shadows as the adolescent acceleration showed him sprint, kick, chase and regather. Once brought down he was aware enough to release and regather to maintain continuity, leaving the Lions with a simple recycle to send the superb McCarthy trucking over in support.
Ben O’Keeffe might have yellow carded the young tyro just before half time, a blemish on an otherwise brilliant display, but the TV replay alluded to a clear release before Pollock rejackalled – and the Saints back-rower can count himself mightily unlucky to cop a card for what was, in all probability, a fantastic demonstration of defensive art, but one that unfortunately was on the blindside of O’Keeffe’s view.
After some fair criticism of his shift in Dublin, make no mistake, Pollock has now arrived in a Lions shirt. And, love him or loathe him, he’s truly box office.
Defensive system stressed
One thing that might concern the British and Irish Lions was how their defence got stressed in three different areas.
At times, they narrowed up too easily, getting short in the wider channels with no man coming around and up in the boot. They appeared to play a cascading numbers system, moving 12/3 to 13/2 and to 14/1 when on their own line, but that very much relies upon the scrum half’s ‘boot work’ and if there was one criticism of the superb Williams was he didn’t quite manage to adapt to the new ‘moderated push’ system, which is entirely different to the Welsh blitz.
Western Force also made too many incursions down the midfield. Pollock was responsible for one missed tackle, but on four occasions, confusion in that central D allowed the Force to open the Lions up and it was only the ambition of Farrell’s men in scramble, with Josh van der Flier leading the effort, that allowed the Lions to regather.
The breakdown was unfruitful too; O’Keeffe was very strict around release and second dibs, and that possibly took ambition away from the Lions, who chose wisely not to argue with the experienced Kiwi official.
But this is a new team responding to new systems and new challenges. The issues were clearly identifiable and there’s little doubt there’s some easy fixes. Put this one down to bedding in and expect improvement as the players bed in together.
Test candidates
The headlines will be the way the Lions half-backs inspired the attacking efficiency of the Lions. With a question mark over the fitness of Jamison Gibson-Park, Williams showed his Gloucester form in an international context for the second match in a row. His touchline interplay with the outstanding James Lowe to get the Lions going in the start of the second half was sumptuous and one for the showreel. The Lions yanked him off after his try as the Welshman showed a tight hamstring, but he laid down a serious marker for test selection.
Elsewhere, Player of the Match McCarthy gave the Lions some real heft in the engine room, grabbing a try himself, but crucially allowing Beirne, a key man and a Test standard blindside, to deliver a performance of high quality around the breakdown and in carry, as the back-row went particularly well, with Van der Flier, the third member finally getting his Lions debut in an assured and classy display of the openside’s art.
Alongside Lowe at the back, Daly continued his Lions love affair, solid as a rock under the high ball and intelligent in his incursions, and his switch call to Marcus Smith that allowed Daly to score was from the top drawer of rugby intellect. He followed that up with a divine pass out of exit to Sione Tuipulotu that allowed Mack Hansen to set up Mitchell for the last try.
However, Hansen had a really difficult day; he made a lot of defensive errors under pressure, knocking on in contact a few times, missing a couple of tackles and so on. But elsewhere he made some lovely touches, particularly in the build up to the Lowe-Williams interplay and he already looks like a man who’ll bleed for the Lions.
However, the Lions set-piece didn’t shine; in the scrum, Pierre Schoeman struggled under the pressure of Ollie Hoskins, with Tadhg Furlong also failing to cope with attacking pressure. Will Stuart and Andrew Porter changed the picture completely when they came on and the first scrum they managed together vaporized the Force, with Stuart and Porter pincering in and melting their opponents. The Lions lacked an attacking option in lineout counter, and as things stand, Maro Itoje’s skill in that area is a key point of differentiation when he plays.
