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19th July 2025
02:42pm BST
First-half dominance from the Lions helped them to a 27-19 win over Australia in the first Test of the 2025 Tour.
After leading 17-5 at the break, they scored an early second-half try through Dan Sheehan, before the Wallabies got themselves back into the game and the Lions regressed.
The tourists missed a number of golden try-scoring opportunities in the first 40, with Huw Jones having a try disallowed for double movement, while James Lowe butchered a big overlap and knocked the ball on.
After the game, former Ireland out-half Ronan O'Gara gave his thoughts on the match, and the what he believes will be said by head coach Andy Farrell after the number of scuppered chances.
He said: "On a Monday, you say how can we be ruthless, how can we put the foot on their throat.
"I think 2, 8, 9, 10, 15 for the Lions are far superior to the quality the Wallabies have, and with their big game experience.
"Secretly, I would say Andy Farrell will be fuming with the performance, but delighted with the result. It's a fantastic situation for him to be in because with a performance like that you can go hard at the players, because you've got what you wanted, the W, but you can say this is where the growth is.
"I'm not stretching the imagination by saying there could easily be a 40-point difference, and you may see that, and that's not disrespecting Australia, we are blessed with some unbelievable rugby players.
"For me there is a gulf in class in the two sides."
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