Tomos Williams and Elliot Daly scored two tries each as The British & Irish Lions won their first match of the Qatar Airways British & Irish Lions Tour to Australia 2025.

The tourists swept aside Western Force 54-7 at Optus Stadium in Perth, running in eight tries in a performance that will help put last week’s 1888 Cup defeat behind them.

Western Force proved stiff opposition in the first half, before the Lions cut loose in the second to add gloss to the scoreline.

Captain Dan Sheehan got the ball rolling just two minutes into his Lions debut as he and James Lowe combined to make the most of an excellent Finn Russell crossfield kick.

Williams scored a try in each half, sandwiching Daly’s first try, while Garry Ringrose and Joe McCarthy scored within three minutes of each other amid a second-half flurry, before Daly came back for his second and Alex Mitchell crossed at the death.

LIONS START FAST

Andy Farrell was blunt in his assessment of the Lions performance in their 1888 Cup defeat to Argentina, vowing to put it right straight away. They did that, and more.

This was the start of a team that had been waiting all week to scratch the itch, and it took all of two minutes to bring the first try.

Russell looked right at home from the off, and his fabulous crossfield kick found Sheehan tight to the right touchline.

The hooker then palmed it to the supporting Lowe, who made further ground and then off-loaded back to Sheehan to run across for the try.

But Western Force hit back immediately in an entertaining first 10 minutes. After some heavy carries from the forwards, scrum-half Nic White burrowed across the line from close range.

Western Force put the Lions under intense pressure, with the tourists forced into conceding four penalties, but the hosts were unable to take advantage and the Lions soon made them pay.

After a clever one-two with Josh van der Flier, Henry Pollock went on a charge and broke clear inside the Western Force half, before brilliantly off-loading for Williams to dot down.

With 60 tackles made inside the first 20 minutes, the Lions defensive structure was certainly put under the microscope, while in attack, a few handling errors cost them with Russell and Mack Hansen spilling the ball in contact.

Russell, however, was a trill to watch and he played a key part in the Lions third try, scored by Daly. The fly-half took a quick tap-and-go from close-range and managed to brilliantly off-load to Daly to dive over.

Pollock was sin-binned with a few minutes of the first half remaining for trying to play the ball on the floor, as the Lions penalty count increased, and Western Force threw all they had in an attempt to get back into the game

LIONS CUT LOOSE

However, a brilliant Lions try put the game to bed as they went from inside their own half through Lowe and Williams. The Ireland winger made most of the ground, before popping it back to the Wales scrum-half to dive over in the corner.

It was a bittersweet moment for Williams, who had to be replaced straight away after tweaking his hamstring. He now faces a nervous wait to discover the severity of the injury.

With Pollock back from the sin-bin, Farrell rung the changes, with Andrew Porter, Will Stuart, Ollie Chessum and Huw Jones all brought on for their Lions debuts, and the men in red then cut loose.

Some fabulous hands from Daly and Hansen helped to release Ringrose to run in and score his first Lions try, while Pollock made a sensational break to help set-up McCarthy’s try, as he chased down his own chip and carried to within five metres. The Lions moved it to the left, where Van der Flier hurled a long pass to McCarthy to slide over in the corner.

With Western Force tiring, the Lions continued to threaten. Jones was so nearly put through a gap by Russell, before Daly glided across for his second from a Marcus Smith pass.

Mitchell scored the last after Sione Tuipulotu and Hansen both made breaks.