Lions dominate early to down Wallabies 27-19 in first test

BRISBANE :British & Irish Lions rode a rampant first-half display to a 27-19 victory over Australia in the first test on Saturday, running in three tries in the first 41 minutes and holding off a late Wallabies fightback for a comfortable victory.

Superior in all facets of the game in the first hour, the Lions scored tries through Sione Tuipulotu, Tom Curry and Dan Sheehan while Finn Russell added nine points from the kicking tee.

Max Jorgensen crossed in the first half for the Wallabies and they improved when they cleared the bench in the second half but tries from replacements Carlo Tizzano and Tate McDermott were too little, too late.

"We're delighted with the win. The game was a tough test match," said Lions captain Maro Itoje. "I thought we started well in the first half. We played a lot of good stuff.

"Then the second half was a bit to and fro from both sides. I think that's a good position for us to be in."

The Wallabies, rank underdogs, made a nervous start amid a cacophony of noise from the 52,229 crowd, and Russell gave the tourists an early lead with a penalty inside the first couple of minutes.

Russell was in the thick of it again when the Lions next got into the Australia 22 in the ninth minute, the Scotland flyhalf considering a crosskick before swinging a pass out wide for Melbourne-born Tuipulotu to run in unopposed.

Lions centre Huw Jones had a try scratched off for a double movement 10 minutes later but the Wallabies were kicking poorly and rarely threatened to break out of their own half let alone score.

Jorgensen produced a try out of nothing just before the half-hour mark, however, tearing a high ball out of the hands of Lions fullback Hugo Keenan and racing away to dive over in the corner.

Flyhalf Tom