British and Irish Lions hammer Western Force but Tomos Williams suffers injury
The British and Irish Lions claimed their first victory on Australian soil by overwhelming Western Force 54-7, but a possible injury crisis is brewing at scrum-half after Tomos Williams was forced off.
Williams was among the Lions’ star performers at Optus Stadium but his match was over when he injured his left hamstring during the act of finishing his second try in the 47th minute.
The Wales half-back limped from the pitch to leave the Lions sweating on his fitness given Jamison Gibson-Park has yet to play on tour because of a glute problem, potentially leaving Alex Mitchell as the only available option in the position.
It was the biggest disappointment of a mixed evening for Andy Farrell’s men, who bounced back from their 28-24 defeat by Argentina with an eight-try demolition of the weakest of Australia’s Super Rugby franchises while exposing areas of concern.
The lack of cohesion in defence continued and the scrum took a step backwards after excelling against the Pumas as part of a shaky overall set-piece performance, but their passes stuck in attack and they created some classy tries.
Henry Pollock, Joe McCarthy and James Lowe all advanced their claims to Test selection against the Wallabies, while fly-half Finn Russell produced an inventive first outing on tour.
Russell’s fingerprints were over Dan Sheehan’s fourth-minute try with his pinpoint kick to Lowe making the score possible, but the Force hit back with their first attack of the match when Nic White wriggled over.
All the early pressure was coming from the hosts but they were turned over three times when in commanding positions, one of them occurring when man-of-the-match McCarthy pinched line-out ball.
The Force were showing plenty of endeavour but the