Lions hang on but few players push Test claims

10 hours ago 2

BBC Sport at Marvel Stadium, Melbourne

First Nations and Pasifika XV (14) 19

Tries: Reilly, Uru Cons: Beale 2

British and Irish Lions (14) 24

Tries: Osborne 2, Graham, Van der Merwe Cons: F Smith 2

The British and Irish Lions survived a serious examination against First Nations and Pasifika to continue their winning run on Australian soil.

On a nervy night at Marvel Stadium, Jamie Osborne and Darcy Graham scored early tries to put the Lions into what looked like a commanding 14-0 lead, but things started to go awry from there.

Graham went off injured not long after he scored and the Scotland wing, parachuted in for this game, was emotional as he left the field.

Pasifika then thundered their way into contention when wing Triston Reilly and flanker Seru Uru went over for converted scores to level it at 14-14 at the break.

The Lions experienced significant problems in dealing with the physicality of their hosts, but Osborne's second try put them back in front.

Just after the hour mark, Duhan van der Merwe scored in the corner - his fifth try of the tour - from captain Owen Farrell's lovely delayed pass, but the underdogs roared back again.

With 10 minutes left, Pasifika scored when Rob Leota piled over after another bombardment. The conversion was missed, much to the Lions relief, and the gap was five.

That is how it ended on a bruising and uncomfortable night for the tourists, who won the first Test comfortably last weekend.

If head coach Andy Farrell was looking for men to put their hands up for Saturday's second Test he will have been disappointed by what he witnessed.

The outstanding player, by a country mile, was Pasifika openside Charlie Gamble.

This was a repeat performance from the flanker, who had been equally brilliant when playing for the Waratahs against the Lions earlier in the tour.

It had been a promising start from the Lions, who galloped into a commanding lead and looked as if they were going to steamroll their opponents.

The Lions' early momentum was helped by Reilly being sin-binned for a high shot on the unfortunate Graham.

Then, a dink over the top from Farrell - who had a solid game - was seized on by Osborne, who got a kindly bounce and scored. Fin Smith landed the conversion.

Three minutes later, Smith flung a long pass out to Graham, who continued his remarkable try-scoring record for every team he plays for.

The sadness for him is that he did not get to play for the Lions for much longer, succumbing to injury before the first quarter was done.

The wing left the field in an emotional state, his dreams realised then shattered. Then things got difficult for the Lions, as Pasifika got up a head of steam and began to clatter into collisions.

When Blair Kinghorn, playing for a Test spot on Saturday but playing inconsistently, got loose with a pass, Reilly intercepted it and bolted away to score, with Kurtley Beale converting.

Physically, Pasifika were a sight to behold, huge men fighting for every inch for the Pacific Islands heritage. Some of the tackles they put in were monstrous and they unsettled the Lions.

They also had the outstanding Gamble in full flow against the Lions for a second time, the openside causing havoc for the tourists with his work on the floor and his aggression in contact.

More muscle, via the gargantuan Taniela Tupou in the main, took them back into the Lions 22 and another colossal unit, Uru, blasted over. The totemic Beale converted and from 0-14 it was now 14-14.

To make matters worse for the Lions, James Ryan was shown a yellow card for an illegal attempt to slow ball down as Pasifika hammered away at the line in the lead up to Uru's score.

And it could have been worse again before the break as Kinghorn was intercepted for a second time. Jack Debreczeni was the man who jumped on his pass but he did not have the pace to go all the way.

It petered out when Van der Merwe scrambled back to mop up.

The plusses for the Lions at this point were minimal, but Scott Cummings was one of the few who advanced his claim for consideration for Saturday.

The Scotland lock got through a huge amount of work and there could be a vacancy on the bench for a lock with Joe McCarthy a doubt with injury.

He was influential again soon after the restart, a period that saw the Lions strike again when they moved it out the backline for Kinghorn to find Osborne for his second of the night.

It was a five-point game now and Van der Merwe, from a nice moment of creativity from Farrell, ran in for a try to extend the gap to 10 points.

But it was never comfortable, not when Pasifika were so driven. With nine minutes left on the clock, Leota went over from close range and the prospect of a Lions defeat was very real indeed.

Pasifika failed to convert Leota's try but finished strongly - but not quite strongly enough.

The Lions won again, but this was a mighty struggle by the second-string and not the massive momentum builder to Saturday that they were all hoping for.

Line-ups

First Nations & Pasifika XV: Muirhead; Reilly, Foketi, Feliuai, Daugunu; Beale (capt), Thomas; Ieli, Paenga-Amosa, Tupou, Swain, Salakaia-Loto, Uru, Gamble, Tualima

Replacements: Asiata, Pearce, Doge, Vocevoce, Leota, Goddard, Debreczeni, McLeod

British and Irish Lions: Kinghorn; Graham, Osborne, Farrell (capt), Van der Merwe; F Smith, White; Schoeman, George, Bealham, Ryan, Cummings, Morgan, Van der Flier, Pollock

Replacements: Ashman, Sutherland, Clarkson, Brown, Earl, Mitchell, M Smith, Ringrose