Lions Lack Clinical Edge In Scrappy Win Over Waratahs

2025 BRITISH & IRISH LIONS TOUR:

Saturday, July 5 –

NSW WARATAHS 10 BRITISH & IRISH LIONS 21, Allianz Stadium, Sydney
Scorers: NSW Waratahs: Tries: Darby Lancaster, Ethan Dobbins
British & Irish Lions: Tries: Huw Jones 2, Alex Mitchell; Cons: Fin Smith 3
HT: NSW Waratahs 5 British & Irish Lions 14

A dominant scrum, and the performances of two-try centre Huw Jones, player-of-the-match Alex Mitchell, and Scott Cummings, were the obvious positives, but the Lions were left frustrated by their high amount of handling errors and breakdown issues.

Andy Farrell’s men established a 14-5 half-time lead, Fin Smith converting two well-finished tries from Jones after 11 and 32 minutes. Darby Lancaster replied for the Waratahs, approaching the break.

Ethan Dobbins’ maul effort made it a four-point game, but a smartly-taken Mitchell score, with 54 minutes gone, proved to be the match winner with replacement Ellis Genge having two tries disallowed during the closing stages.

While it was a workmanlike but uninspiring display, head coach Farrell said it leaves the tourists with some ‘fantastic learnings’ as the Test series draws ever closer. They are back in action on Wednesday, playing the ACT Brumbies in Canberra (kick-off 8pm local time/11am Irish time).

Tonight’s third tour fixture on Australian soil saw Hugo Keenan and Blair Kinghorn make their debuts in the back-three, while there was a first appearance for Scotland scrum half Ben White, a recent injury call-up, off the bench.

Henry Pollock’s precautionary withdrawal due to a tight calf meant Cummings came into the starting XV at lock, moving Beirne into the back row. Ireland’s Mack Hansen, Finlay Bealham, James Ryan, and Josh van der Flier also started.

The Waratahs had the first sighting of the try-line, a Lions move breaking down and allowing winger Lancaster to counter at pace. Hansen chased him down, before Cummings claimed a crucial interception inside the tourists’ 22.

The Lions got off to a strong start set-piece wise, Bealham helping to gain a couple of scrum penalties. The second one led to the opening try, Sione Tuipulotu taking the ball up from an initial maul set-up before slipping Jones through a gap to score.

Taniela Tupou carried hard down the short side of a lineout, bringing the hosts into try-scoring range until a turnover halted their progress. The Lions exerted some maul pressure, following a scrum penalty against Tupou, until Luke Cowan-Dickie knocked on in midfield.

Into the second quarter, a turnover penalty won by the excellent Charlie Gamble gave the Waratahs a lift. The Lions leaked four successive penalties, getting a warning in the process, and breathed a sigh of relief when a TMO intervention ruled out a try for the home side.

Busy flanker Gamble thought he had scored having come through a lineout drive, but TMO Richard Kelly spotted some obstruction from Fergus Lee-Warner, and it remained 7-0.

Jones punished the Sydney-based outfit for a subsequent penalty, the Lions working the ball infield from a lineout, and the 31-year-old jinked out of a tackle from Rob Leota, taking contact before reaching out for the line. Smith converted.

Lancaster replied just two minutes later, slipping out of a tackle from Keenan to touch down in the left corner. Tupou and Leota created the opportunity with some smart handling, and a TMO review adjudged that a prior clean-out by Lee-Warner on Hansen was legal.

The Lions endured a disappointing start to the second half, conceding inside the opening 100 seconds. A penalty gave the Waratahs a lineout opportunity, and they duly drove hooker Dobbins over. Jack Bowen’s conversion went wide off the near post.

It remained 14-10 despite a promising break from scrum half Mitchell. He managed to get the ball wide to Kinghorn, who gave van der Flier a chance to score in the left corner but he knocked on in the act of scoring, under pressure from Tom Lambert.

Capitalising on a Dan Sheehan-led counter ruck, fellow replacements Joe McCarthy and Tadhg Furlong quickly got on the ball as the Lions began to unload their experienced bench with half-an-hour remaining.

On the back of another scrum penalty, the Lions forwards pressed from a maul before Mitchell threw a dummy and scampered over from a few metres out. The 23-year-old Smith added the extras for a 21-10 scoreline.

With Mitchell wielding more influence from half-back, including a 50:22 kick, and some hard carries coming straight from a lineout, Genge narrowly missed out on a try. He just lost control of the ball as he was brought to ground.

Despite some strunning running from Ben Earl and Duhan van der Merwe, the frustration grew for the Lions with more handling errors, and a Gamble penalty win at the breakdown just as Farrell’s charges looked to be building for try number four.

An obstruction call against Earl denied Genge a maul try, with five minutes to go, and replacement Marcus Smith also miscued a penalty to touch. It was a sloppy finish to the game from the Lions, who failed to fully capitalise on their 13 line breaks and a total of 34 defenders beaten.

TIME LINE: 11 minutes – British & Irish Lions try: Huw Jones – 0-5; conversion: Fin Smith – 0-7; 32 mins – British & Irish Lions try: Huw Jones – 0-12; conversion: Fin Smith – 0-14; 34 mins – NSW Waratahs try: Darby Lancaster – 5-14; conversion: missed by Jack Bowen – 5-14; Half-time – NSW Waratahs 5 British & Irish Lions 14; 41 mins – NSW Waratahs try: Ethan Dobbins – 10-14; conversion: missed by Jack Bowen – 10-14; 54 mins – British & Irish Lions try: Alex Mitchell – 10-19; conversion: Fin Smith – 10-21; Full-time – NSW Waratahs 10 British & Irish Lions 21

NSW WARATAHS: Lawson Creighton (Randwick); Andrew Kellaway (Randwick), Lalakai Foketi (Manly), Joey Walton (Gordon), Darby Lancaster (Eastern Suburbs); Jack Bowen (Eastern Suburbs), Teddy Wilson (Eastern Suburbs); Tom Lambert (Sydney University), Ethan Dobbins (Sydney University), Taniela Tupou (West Harbour), Fergus Lee-Warner (Eastern Suburbs), Miles Amatosero (Eastern Suburbs), Rob Leota (Eastern Suburbs), Charlie Gamble (Eastern Suburbs), Hugh Sinclair (Northern Suburbs) (capt).

Replacements used: Mahe Vailanu (Gordon) for Dobbins (49 mins), Matt Philip (Sydney University) for Amatosero (51), Daniel Botha (Sydney University) for Tupou, Tane Edmed (Eastwood) for Bowen, Henry O’Donnell (Northern Suburbs) for Foketi (all 55), Jamie Adamson (Eastern Suburbs) for Sinclair (59), Amatosero for Lee-Warner (62), Jack Grant (Eastern Suburbs) for Wilson, Jack Barrett (Randwick) for Lambert (both 70).

BRITISH & IRISH LIONS: Hugo Keenan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland); Mack Hansen (Connacht Rugby/Ireland), Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), Blair Kinghorn (Toulouse/Scotland); Fin Smith (Northampton Saints/England), Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints/England); Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh Rugby/Scotland), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks/England), Finlay Bealham (Connacht Rugby/Ireland), Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors/Scotland), James Ryan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), Tadhg Beirne (Munster Rugby/Ireland) (capt), Josh van der Flier (Leinster Rugby/Ireland), Ben Earl (Saracens/England).

Replacements used: Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears/England) for Schoeman, Dan Sheehan (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) for Cowan-Dickie, Joe McCarthy (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) for Ryan, Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh Rugby/Scotland) for Keenan, Tadhg Furlong (Leinster Rugby/Ireland) for Bealham (all 50 mins), Marcus Smith (Harlequins/England) for F Smith (59), Jac Morgan (Ospreys/Wales) for van der Flier (60), Ben White (Toulon/Scotland) for Mitchell (70).

Referee: Paul Williams (NZR)