Western Force 17 Lions 69: If it wasn't quite the century of points in Perth of a dozen years ago but the Lions, as expected, enjoyed a gentle introduction to Australian conditions by running in nine tries to two against an under-strength Western Force.
It helped that Leigh Halfpenny was immaculate with the boot, landing 11 kicks from 11, a statistic which was made all the more remarkable in that most of the conversions were from the touchline, but in this mood he could have landed them from the car park.
Compared to the Lions’ all-international line-up, which boasted over 720 caps between them, the Force contained a mere 50, and the gulf in class was evident for vast chunks of the night.
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Once again they used the full width of the pitch to stretch the Force defence to breaking point repeatedly, even if that meant going blind and then trucking it up before going wide.
With Jonny Sexton superbly pulling the strings, the Lions also made good use of inside passes to exploit gaps, with the wings again enjoying a roving commission. There was some stuff to work on defensively but overall it was about as encouraging as it could be.
Most worryingly Cian Healy sustained ligament damage in his left ankle, although news of that was a relief for it looked as if he had suffered a fracture. Rory Best's darts were also a concern, given a couple of lost attacking lineouts.
Against that, Jamie Heaslip was outstanding, albeit against flimsy defending which accounted for 21 missed tackles in the first-half alone, making hay with plenty of carries and searing breaks.
Seán O’Brien, too, also got through a ton of work fairly impressively, while Conor Murray passed well as, it has to be said, did Manu Tuilagi. Alongside Brian O’Driscoll, he played with subtlety as well as brawn.
As for the great man, he had plenty of classy touches and scored two tries in the city where he scored his first try on his debut 12 years ago, while outside him George North’s carrying was imposing and Tommy Bowe also came off his wing to telling effect.
After all the provocative talk from the edgy Brett Sheehan and heavy emphasis on discipline within the Lions camp, in the 17th minute there was unproven allegation of 'biting' by the Force scrumhalf on his forearm against Healy.
Referee Glen Jackson went to the TMO, but replays did not support the allegation, which Healy could be heard to deny over the referee link. Instead they merely showed Sheehan’s extended hand in Healy’s face before the camera moved away.
At the end of the first half, when interviewed on Fox Sports, Sheehan commented: “I don’t know if it was an accident or on purpose, but that’s it and we move on.”
The day had clouded over but the anticipated rain set to hit Australia over the next day or two kept away, although despite a good-sized crowd of 35,103 in which red was the predominant colour, the atmosphere seemed a little muted.
The Lions were 41-point favourites by kick-off and quickly hit their straps. After a Halfpenny penalty, they went through the phases and side to side as O’Brien released North to stretch the Force before Heaslip and Healy carried strongly up the middle. Finally, Sexton used an inside dummy pass to speed through and score under the posts.
However, when Murray lost possession when breaking off a five-metre scrum, from a Best overthrow in the corner, Matt Hodgson kicked ahead and Corey Brown showed real speed in winning the race before being hauled down by Leigh Halfpenny. Nevertheless, it led to a couple of penalties to the corner by the home side, but the Lions defence held out on the first occasion and James Hilterbrand overthrew the throw, with a second crooked to follow.
Alas, an overthrow from an attacking lineout would, in turn, follow from Best, as the Lions struggled to rediscover their earlier flow. Murray was nabbed around the fringes, and O’Brien was lined up by home captain Matt Hodgson thanks to a high pass from Tuilagi off the base.
This led to Sheehan opening the Force account with a penalty when Ian Evans went off his feet, but the Lions’ response was immediate. Halfpenny countered up the middle of the pitch just inside halfway; the Lions going left off the ruck through Murray, Sexton, Tuilagi, O’Brien and typically quick hands by O’Driscoll created a tiny scrap of space up the left for North, who offloaded inside for O’Driscoll to score from the 22. Halfpenny landed the touchline conversion.
But all that was put in the shade by the injury to Healy off the ensuing ruck. After a stunning break from the restart by Heaslip, showing good footwork and pace in a run to Force territory, Healy angled infield off the recycle but was trapped under Angus Cottrell as his left leg buckled horribly in the flanker’s tackle.
Replays showed him screaming in agony immediately as the doctors swiftly signalled for a stretcher. Heaslip sought to comfort his good friend, and it was a relief to hear the distressed Healy did not suffer a fracture.
Halfpenny added a penalty and converted a close range try by Tom Croft on half-time for a 27-3 interval lead.
After making the initial break, Heaslip opened the second-half scoring when completing a move wide out off Sexton’s floated pass , and although Richard Brown took Croft’s tackle to score, Mako Vunipola scored off Murray’s blind side pass, as did Bowe from the scrumhalf’s floated pass from Heaslip’s feed off a scrum.
After Luke McCaffrey took Sexton’s tackle to score –Tuilagi shooting up too quick outside him as well – Sexton and Tuilagi worked a beautifully conceived try for O’Driscoll – and Owen Farrell and Geoff Parling came off the bench to run in a couple more.
The Lions’ fitness levels would have pleased the management too.
Scoring sequence – 4 mins: Halfpenny pen 0-3; 11 mins: Sexton try, Halfpenny con 0-10; 33 mins: Sheahan pen 3-10; 34 mins: O'Driscoll try, Halfpenny con 3-17; 37 mins: Halfpenny pen 3-20; 40 (+2mins): Croft try, Halfpenny con 3-27; (half-time 3-27); 43 mins: Heaslip try, Halfpenny con 3-34; 47 mins: R Brown try, Sheahan con 10-34; 51 mins: Vunipola try, Halfpenny con 10-41; 59 mins: Bowe try, Halfpenny con 10-48; 63 mins: McCaffrey try, Sheahan con 17-48; 66 mins: O'Driscoll try, Halfpenny con 17-55; 66 mins: Farrell try 17-62; 76 mins: Parling try, Halfpenny con 17-69.
Western Force: Sam Christie; Dane Haylett-Petty, Ed Stubbs, Chris Tuatara-Morrison, Corey Brown; Sam Norton-Knight, Brett Sheehan; Salesi Manu, James Hilterbrand, Salesi Ma'afu, Toby Lynn, Phoenix Battye, Angus Cottrell, Matt Hodgson (capt), Richard Brown.
Replacements: Sione Kolo for Ma'afu (49 mins), Locky McCaffrey for Cottrell (53 mins), Nick Haining for Brown (62 mins), Ben Matwijow for Lynn (65 mins), Alby Mathewson for Sheehan (72 mins), Tim Metcher for Manu (78 mins). Sinbinned: Stubbs (57-67 mins).
British & Irish Lions: Leigh Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues/Wales), Tommy Bowe (Ulster/Ireland), Brian O'Driscoll (Leinster/Ireland, captain), Manu Tuilagi (Leicester/England), George North (Scarlets/Wales), Jonathan Sexton (Leinster/Ireland), Conor Murray (Munster/Ireland), Cian Healy (Leinster/Ireland), Rory Best (Ulster/Ireland), Dan Cole (Leicester/England), Alyn Wyn Jones (Ospreys/Wales), Ian Evans (Ospreys/Wales), Tom Croft (Leicester/England), Sean O'Brien (Leinster/Ireland), Jamie Heaslip (Leinster/Ireland),
Replacements: Mako Vunipola (Saracens/England) for Healy (36 mins), Tom Youngs (Leicester/England) for Best, Geoff Parling (Leicester/England) for Evans, Ben Youngs (Leicester/England) for Murray (all 58 mins), Owen Farrell (Saracens/England) for Sexton (67 mins), Matt Stevens (Saracens/England) for Cole (68 mins), Toby Faletau (Dragons/Wales) for Croft (72 mins), Sean Maitland (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland) for Bowe (77 mins). Sinbinned: A Wyn Jones (72 mins).
Referee: Glen Jackson (New Zealand).
