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Highlights as the British and Irish Lions confirmed a third victory on tour in Australia, but failed to impress

The British and Irish Lions toiled to a third victory on Australian soil this summer, beating the Waratahs 21-10 in Sydney. 

Centre Huw Jones was a standout as he scored two tries, while scrum-half Alex Mitchell grabbed a third for the Lions, but the performance on the whole will cause head coach Andy Farrell and his staff much frustration.

The Waratahs scored two tries through wing Darby Lancaster and hooker Ethan Dobbins, as they remained in the game despite the Lions dominating possession and territory.

Indeed, the tourists – for whom Henry Pollock was a late withdrawal due to a tight calf as Owen Farrell watched on from the stadium having arrived in the country – were plagued by handling errors once again, consistently halting their momentum in attack.

A tighter first half than either of the Lions’ previous two games in Australia saw the tourists strike for the opening try through Jones in the 12th minute, sprinting in off a superbly disguised short-ball from midfield partner and Scotland compatriot Sione Tuipulotu.

Huw Jones raced in for the Lions’ opening try in the 12th minute

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Watch Jones cross for the Lions as they opened the scoring against the Waratahs

The Lions’ dominant scrum, led again by tighthead Finlay Bealham, placed the visitors in the 22 for further chances, but they failed to make that territory count as mistakes came back to bite.

Instead the Waratahs looked to have hit back via a Charlie Gamble try, breaking away to score following a maul set-up. On review with the TMO, however, lock Fergus Lee-Warner was pinged for obstruction in the maul and the score was chalked off.

Charlie Gamble had a first half try ruled out for the Waratahs

Within three minutes momentum swung once more as the Lions had their second, with Jones getting over again via a fabulous finish which demonstrated his stepping ability, power in contact and scoring quality, grounding on the line.

Jones produced a stunning finish for his and the Lions’ second try

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Watch Jones get over for his second try on the night in Sydney

Fin Smith converted for a 14-0 lead, but four minutes from the break the Waratahs got back into things as tighthead Taniela Tupou showed his deft quality with ball in hand to create space for left wing Lancaster to finish past a poor Hugo Keenan tackle attempt.

The score was reviewed again, with Lee-Warner fortunate to avoid sanction for a dangerous ruck clear-out on Mack Hansen where he appeared to come in with a tucked arm, clearly from the side.

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Darby Lancaster finished in the corner to pull the Waratahs back into the game against the Lions

The Lions made a dreadful start to the second half, conceding a penalty deep in their half for blocking almost straight away, with the Waratahs kicking to the corner and scoring their second try through Dobbins at the back of a rolling maul.

Josh van der Flier soon missed a clear chance to score for the Lions at the other end following a lively Mitchell break, knocking on over the try-line, but five minutes shy of the hour mark the Lions did have their third as Mitchell showed his class and pace to dummy his way over.

Scrum-half Alex Mitchell showed class and pace to dummy his way over

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Mitchell scored the Lions’ third try of the night against the Waratahs

Replacement loosehead Ellis Genge then spilled the ball in the act of scoring, denying him a first Lions try, before the prop had a second ruled out after a driving maul due to obstruction by Ben Earl.

As if to sum up the Lions performance on the night, there remained time for Marcus Smith to kick a penalty from hand dead when seeking the corner, and wing Duhan van der Merwe to be forced into touch for the second time as a fourth try never materialised.

Farrell: To say we left a few tries out there is an understatement

Lions head coach Andy Farrell talking to Sky Sports:

“I’m satisfied with the win, you have to celebrate every win. But with the amount of territory and possession we had, to come away with so much dropped ball and turnovers, to say we left a few out there is an understatement.

“We didn’t come out of the blocks hard enough. We need to address that and we need to address our exits after scoring tries and be more clinical there.

“But this was a different type of game, it’s good for us, they played hard at the breakdown, with good line-speed so there were some good learnings for us along the way.”

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Lions head coach Andy Farrell reflects on victory over the Waratahs

Lions captain Tadhg Beirne speaking to Sky Sports:

“It probably wasn’t the step forward we were looking for. It was quite scrappy at times.

“The ball was slippy out there and we didn’t hold on to it and we lacked that cohesiveness we were looking for.

“That’s what we’ll be looking to improve on but we certainly took a step up in terms of our scrum and our lineout which was a great part of our game tonight.

“But overall, I can imagine we’ll be a bit frustrated with not being as clinical as we could’ve been.”

What’s next: British and Irish Lions tour of Australia on Sky Sports

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Watch the British and Irish Lions’ tour of Australia exclusively live on Sky Sports this summer

Sky Sports will exclusively show the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, with all three Tests against the Wallabies and six warm-up matches to be shown exclusively live.

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