British and Irish Lions: Joe McCarthy, Henry Pollock shine as Scott Cummings struggles, Sione Tuipulotu has quiet game | Rugby Union News

Joe McCarthy and Henry Pollock marked claims for the inclusion of tests while Scott Cummings and Sione Tuipulotu struggled while the British and Irish lions started life in Australia with a 54-7 victory against Western Force.

The Andy Farrell team responded to the disappointing of 28-24 last week against Argentina by activating the style in the second half to run Riot in Perth.

While the Lions team goes to Brisbane to face the Reds on Wednesday, live Sky SportsWe look at the winners and the losers after Saturday’s victory …

McCarthy a real star in the attackers while Pollock shows his skills

When McCarthy, 24, burst into the Irish team as a permanent team in 2024, he appeared to a lock that had everything.

Size, power, rhythm, unloading. However, its shape has removed this initial spark and there is a feeling that we have not yet really seen the best of McCarthy. Andy Farrell nevertheless gave him his chance of Lions, and Saturday in Perth, he really showed what he was capable of.

Appointed game player, McCarthy was everywhere and an obvious choice as the best in the park. He carried out 14 races – thundering in contact – and some 20 plated, winning 37 meters with a ball in hand and forcing three notable reversals. While some Lions players looked tired throughout the competition, perhaps feeling the effects of jet lag or training, McCarthy continued.

His superb defensive work in Maul seemed to repress the initial impact of force, while he combined twice with Tadhg Beirne to tear possession during the break in the first half.

“Joe has a massive ceiling, and I saw him closely and staff,” the tourist told Triple Lions Conor Murray Sky Sports. “I don’t know if many people would have talked about him as a test starter, but after today, he certainly got his hands.”

The captain of the twe tour of the lions Sam Warburton added: “McCarthy is a starter of test match for me, he is physically dominant. McCarthy and [Maro] Itoje looks like an astonishing potential matching, and McCarthy has established a marker today. “”

The other big winner for the Lions on the back before was the 20 -year -old row pollock.

It was not a perfect day for Pollock – he made manipulation errors and was wrapped by sin in the first half due to a team warning for repeated sanctions after failing to free himself before poaching – but demonstrated in clear terms his immense talent too.

His delayed pass, his pace, his composure and his unloading for the first try of Tomos Williams were the first class, while his playing game for sprinter, Chip Ahead, Regather, release the ball on the ground and leave before McCarthy’s test was unique for an attacker behind.

Continue to play like this and Pollock – which is extremely fast above the ground – will make its way in the test match 23.

Cummings is struggling at the lock while Tuipulotu does not shine again

One of the great losers in the confrontation on Saturday was Scott Cummings Scottish, who did not enjoy a good day.

The large blatant area of ​​errors during the competition by the Lions was restarting, and Cummings was personally responsible for not collecting four times – poorly judging the flight of the ball, pouring back once, a granting a penalty – each time, allowing the force of the attack immediately and putting its side under massive pressure.

In fact, the Lions won only one restart proper during the match, because the force often did not succeed, with Cummings – as a locking of the starting lions – failing to obtain a handful on a crucial domain.

Cummings was hung after 49 minutes after only doing only five races and also saw an alignment delivery on him.

In the back, Tuipulotu received his second departure – this time in his more favored interior center channel – but still saw a lions of lions get around it in a really silent performance.

The statistics show that he raised his hand for 16 races, but a crowd of these was missing because the 28-year-old did not manage to stand out. Bundee Aki was not too stressed.

Williams injures a potential disaster as Hansen, Russell, Daly impresses

Potentially the biggest loser in the confrontation on Saturday was a player who did not even succeed in Scrum-Half Tomos Williams. In fact, he played well.

The 30-year-old man supported his positive cameo on the bench against Argentina with a really animated show in Perth who saw him claim two tests: the first carried out by Pollock, the second a wonderful counter-attack score when he combined superbly with James Lowe.

It was diving to finish this second try which seems to have done damage to the hamstrings of Williams, however, because the Welshman was offset immediately. He hopes much that he did not understand anything.

Elsewhere in the bottom line, Finn Russell was perhaps the star of polished performance. The 32-year-old man is just a pure quality as a playmaker, performing a fabulous passage for the opening opening of Dan Sheehan, while showing intelligence, composure and skills with fast tap and race before unloading the bridge for Elliot Daly’s first test.

He launched the TEE well, defended his channel fantastically and was a coherent creative spark.

In the back-three, Mack Hansen and the great-back Daly came out of the competition with improved chances of testing. The huge double effort of Hansen in the second half to save a test at one end by continuing a loose ball before sprinter and relaxing under his own kick to the other to force a hand was chosen by Farrell after the “game of the match”.

Daly is interesting. England and the man of the Saracens were not part of the skips of tours of predicted lions of many people, but due to the fact that Hugo Keenan is injured (calf) and Blair Kinghorn is still in France with Toulouse (Top 14 final), an opportunity was presented at the rear, which he begins to fully seize with both hands.

The 32 -year -old man was safe under the high ball, has a big left boot and attacks as well as ever, appearing with two tries of a screen that saw him do 95 meters with the ball.

Visit of the British and Irish Lions in Australia on Sky Sports

Sky Sports will exclusively show the tour of the British and Irish lions in 2025 in Australia, with the three tests against the Wallabies and six warm -up matches to show exclusively live.