Ten-try rout for sloppy British & Irish Lions in Newcastle
Despite the ten tries, this won’t be a performance to remember as poor execution, especially in the second half, prevented the Lions from converting many good scoring opportunities.
The lineout was also a concern with both Richard Hibbard and Rory Best delivering a below-par performance and with only 11 days until the first Test against the Wallabies, this will be Warren Gatland‘s biggest concern.
The game was also the first opportunity for Alex Corbisiero and Ryan Grant to put on the Lions jersey since joining the party as injury replacement for Cian Healy and Gethin Jenkins last weekend.
Against an opposition made of amateur players, the Lions controlled the first half but one the outcome of the game was behong doubt, after 12 minutes, they lost patience and tried to score at any given opportunity.
Alex Cuthbert, Connor Murray and Stuart Hogg crossing the line inside the first 12 minutes to take a 19-0 lead
Two disrupted lineouts from Hibbard saw the Combined Country put pressure on the tourists but from a turnover, the ball went wide to Sean Maitland before the full-back offloaded back inside to George North for an end-to-end try.
Hibbard made amends for his early mistakes by barging his way over from close range before North’s second rounded up a strong first half display for a 38-0 lead at the break.
Uncharacteristic handling errors stopped the Lions in their strides early in the second half until the back line exploited an overlap well and send captain Brian O’Drsicoll over in the corner.
Leigh Halfpenny, who came on after half-time replacing North, brought the score to 50-0 before O’Brien got one of his own with 15 minutes left on the clock.
After another fine personal display O’Driscoll set up the final score of the game on the siren when his superb chip-through was collected by Jonathan Davies.
After wins against the Barabarians, the Force and the Reds in the past ten days, this is the Lions fourth consecutive win but they will have to up their game on Saturday as they face the Waratahs.
For British & Irish Lions
Tries: Cuthbert, Murray, Hogg, North 2, Hibbard, O’Driscoll, Halfpenny, O’Brien, Davies
Conversions: Hogg 4, Halfpenny 3
British & Irish Lions: Sean Maitland; Alex Cuthbert, Brian O’Driscoll (Capt.), Jamie Roberts, George North; Stuart Hogg, Conor Murray; Alex Corbisiero, Richard Hibbard, Dan Cole; Richie Gray, Ian Evans; Sean O’Brien, Justin Tipuric, Jamie Heaslip.
Replacements: Rory Best, Ryan Grant, Matt Stevens, Alun-Wyn Jones, Toby Faletau, Mike Phillips, Jonathan Davies, Leigh Halfpenny.
Combined Country: Nathan Trist; Alex Gibbon, Lewie Catt, Tareta-Junior Siakisini, Tom Cox; Angus Roberts, Michael Snowden; Haydn Hirsimaki; Josh Mann-Rae, Tim Metcher; Phoenix Battye, Blake Enever; Richard Stanford, Jarrad Butler; Tim Davidson (Capt.)
Replacements: Tom Kearney, Dylan Evans, Rikki Abraham, Rory Arnold, Trent Dyer, Adam McCormack, Shaun McCarthy, Dale Ahwang.
Referee: Steve Walsh (Australia)
NICK VERDIER
