British and Irish Lions head coach Andy Farrell could be forced into an early injury call-up on this summer's tour of Australia, with a Tomos Williams hamstring injury the main blot on this morning’s comprehensive win against the Western Force in Perth.
The Lions ran out 54-7 winners at Optus Stadium after they recovered from a patchy opening quarter, getting their Australian tour up and running.
Wales scrum-half Williams followed his strong performance off the bench in the defeat to Argentina with two tries in another impressive display behind the scrum, but the 30-year-old will now be sweating for his place on the rest of the tour, after picking up a hamstring issue.
Williams departed, clutching his hamstring, immediately after scoring his second try early in the second half, replaced by Alex Mitchell for the remainder of the game, and Farrell says it’s too early to tell the extent of the damage.
"It’s a tight hamstring, so you don't know what these things are like," he said.
"Hopefully it’s a bit of cramp but we’ll assess that in the morning."
Even a minor injury could leave Farrell needing to make an addition to his squad, with another game coming up on Wednesday against Queensland Reds in Brisbane.
Leinster and Ireland’s Jamison Gibson-Park is yet to feature in the opening two games, having missed Leinster’s URC final against the Bulls with a similar issue.
He’s expected to be fit to play the Reds on Wednesday, but the Williams injury would likely require Mitchell to play for the third game in a row, and possibly even start for the fourth time in three weeks when they move on to Sydney against the Waratahs next Saturday.
As such, it’s likely the Lions will add another scrum-half to their squad. Leicester Tigers’ Jack van Poortvliet trained with the squad in Dublin last week, but is currently on tour in Argentina with England, so the more likely candidate could be Ben White who is in New Zealand with Scotland at present.
Overall, it was a positive outing for the Lions, who took just two minutes to get in for their opening try as Dan Sheehan (below) marked his captaincy with an early score.
The tourists struggled with kick-offs and restarts throughout the game, which will be the main focus for Farrell this week, and that allowed the Force to level the game shortly after through Nic White.
The Australia scrum-half had promised the Force would "bash up" the Lions in their first game on Australian soil, and while it didn't happen on the scoreboard, Farrell admits they caused them a lot of problems with their physicality.
"They certainly came out the blocks in the first half and hit us hard in the breakdown and played with some good intent. That’s a good start for us.
"Let’s be honest, the Force took it to us there, certainly in the first 25 minutes.
"I thought they played a tough, high percentage game. They kept the ball really well and we kept them in good field positions through our ill-discipline. They were physical at the breakdown, so it was a real good test for us in that first half.
"Delighted with how we composed ourselves at half time and kept that composure in the second half.
"It’s been a lot of the lads’ first game for the Lions. We’re up and running. We’ve a couple of players who’ve not played, they’ll get to play in the next couple of games. We’ll keep pushing forward.
"It’s nice to get the tries on the board, and a few good individual performances, and also a collective performance. That’s all good for the future, because we need to keep pushing."
The error-strewn attack in Dublin last week looked far sharper in Perth, with Finn Russell (above) firmly establishing himself as the front-runner for the starting out-half slot.
Similarly, Sione Tuipulotu looked more comfortable in the 12 channel, while he combined well with both Garry Ringrose and Huw Jones outside him.
The handling was also sharper, and the decision-making was clear, evident by Henry Pollock choosing against a speculative offload for Russell in the first half, instead delaying for half a second and popping up to Williams for the scrum-half's opening try.
It was one of several excellent moments for Pollock, although he will be frustrated with a yellow card at the tail end of the first half, where the Lions were punished for repeated infringements.
Pollock and Mack Hansen were probably the two players who summed up the tourists’ day, providing valuable involvements with moments of frustration.
Hansen started slowly and some missed tackles had the potential to knock his game off the rails, but he looked in exceptional form after the break.
He played a big role in multiple second half tries, but the standout play came midway through the second half when he chased down a kick from Ben Donaldson deep into his own half, before getting back out to his wing seconds later to send a clearing kick deep. Not only that, but Hansen sprinted after his own kick, forcing enough pressure to make the Force knock the ball on, a moment Farrell highlighted afterwards.
"The play of the day, there’s some fantastic tries, but the play of the day, if you want to look at what a Lion should do for his team.
"When Mack Hansen went up and down the field, end to end and never gave up and fought for his team. That’s the type of spirit we want throughout the team," he added.
