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The Lions celebrate Alex Mitchell’s try.Dan Sheridan/INPHO

underwhelming

Sloppy, error-strewn Lions overcome Waratahs in Sydney

Andy Farrell’s men delivered a poor performance two weeks out from the first Wallabies Test.

12.58pm, 5 Jul 2025

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Murray Kinsella

Reports from Allianz Stadium

Waratahs 10

LET’S GIVE THE Waratahs their dues first. They outperformed expectations and showed lots of character when shorn of seven Wallabies. There was plenty in this spirited showing for head coach Dan McKellar to like.

But even the most staunch of Waratahs fans in the crowd of 40,568 at the slick Allianz Stadium in Sydney could see that the Lions’ sloppiness contributed hugely to the hosts staying in this game.

Four games into their campaign, Andy Farrell’s team delivered their worst showing yet. The hope was that the handling and passing errors would have started to smooth out by now, but they were worse.

Time and time again, the Lions got into promising positions only to turn the ball over. They knocked on over the tryline twice, partly because of good Waratahs defence, but also threw a multitude of misguided passes and offloads. Their attacking breakdown work wasn’t good enough either, too timid and too late.

It wasn’t a great night for the Irish players involved as captain Tadhg Beirne’s display included a few big errors, fullback Hugo Keenan couldn’t get into the game as he belatedly made his debut, lock James Ryan wasn’t able to impose his most eye-catching physicality, and Mack Hansen struggled to match his work rate with game-breaking moments.

It was a tough night for Tadhg Beirne and a few others.Dan Sheridan / INPHO

Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

That said, Josh van der Flier was excellent in defence and Finlay Bealham had another good outing in the scrum, which the Lions dominated throughout. The lineout was strong too.

The tourists were disrupted by a late change due to a calf injury for Henry Pollock, the Englishman withdrawing, Beirne moving from the second row to the blindside, Scott Cummings coming into the starting XV, and Duhan van der Merwe making it a 5/3 bench.

But Farrell won’t be accepting any excuses for this performance. It simply wasn’t of the standard he wants of his Lions.

There were a handful of standout performers, with England scrum-half Alex Mitchell named player of the match for his try-scoring performance.

The ‘Huwipulotu’ centre pairing of Scotland’s Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones also showed up well, the latter bagging a pair of tries to go with Mitchell’s score. Number eight Ben Earl, meanwhile, carried relentlessly for the Lions, but this wasn’t really a night for good stories.

This display could prove damaging for a number of players’ Test hopes as Farrell gets set to roll out a strong XV against the Brumbies on Wednesday in Canberra. A night to forget.

Huw Jones celebrates his first try.Billy Stickland / INPHO

Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO

The first half ended in a rather fitting manner as the Lions earned a promising position down in the Waratahs’ 22 only to make an error, Mack Hansen throwing a loose offload.

That was the familiar tale of the opening 40 minutes, although there were bright points in the scrum performance of Schoeman and Bealham, as well as the cracking brace of tries from Huw Jones to leave Farrell’s men in front at the break.

They needed a try-saving intervention from lock Cummings in just the second minute as the Lions made a sloppy start, debutant fullback Hugo Keenan spilling a pass from Sione Tuipulotu to spark a threatening Waratahs counter-attack until Cummings intercepted.

Jones was the man to get the Lions off the mark in the 12th minute as he picked a good line off Scottish team-mate Sione Tuipulotu on a first-phase lineout strike play. Tuipulotu shaped to pass out the back of Jones but instead delivered a late no-look front-door pop to Jones, who scorched over to the right of the posts.

But the handling errors resumed thereafter, with the Lions subsequently facing a period of Waratahs pressure leading up to a chalked-off try for the hosts in the 30th minute. Impressive flanker Charlie Gamble thought he had scored from a close-range maul but the TMO flagged obstruction at the front of the set-piece.

Three minutes later, Jones scored his second down the other end. This time, he ran a brave, powerful line off Hansen on first phase, then finished just two phases later. A sizzling sidestep took him outside Rob Leota and the Lions number 13 had the strength to finish past the final two defenders.

Scott Cummings claims a lineout for the Lions.Dan Sheridan / INPHO

Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

But the Waratahs weren’t willing to fade away yet and responded rapidly as nice handling from Wallabies tighthead Taniela Tupou and Leota sent wing Darby Lancaster surging down the left touchline.

Keenan thought he had grounded Lancaster but the Tahs wing fought back up to finish in the left corner. There was a TMO review for the final clearout by Fergus Warner-Lee, which appeared to be from the side and rather dangerous, but referee Paul Williams was happy it had been legal and the try stood.

You had to presume the Lions would sharpen up after the break but instead they conceded another try soon after the restart. Beirne was ahead of Mitchell as he kicked, the Waratahs put the penalty into the left corner, and their maul dominated the Lions pack to send hooker Ethan Dobbins over.

A big break from scrum-half Alex Mitchell and a slick pass from Kinghorn looked like sending van der Flier over for an instant response, but a superb covering tackle from Tahs loosehead Tom Lambert ensured van der Flier knocked on over the tryline.

It was Mitchell who dummied and darted over for the Lions’ third score instead, striking off the back of a strong maul from close range.

But still, the Lions couldn’t kick on as replacement loosehead Ellis Genge knocked on over the tryline with a quarter to go. The error count continued to rise despite the introduction of a powerful Lions bench.

Josh van der Flier is denied by Tom Lambert.Dan Sheridan / INPHO

Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

There was another possible Lions try chalked off late on as Earl was penalised for obstruction in the lineout before Genge had crossed.

Replacement out-half Marcus Smith then missed a penalty kick to touch and the Lions had to settle for a 21-point return on a bad evening.

Waratahs scorers:

Tries: Darby Lancaster, Ethan Dobbins

Conversions: Jack Bowen [0 from 2]

Lions scorers:

Tries: Huw Jones [2], Alex Mitchell

Conversions: Fin Smith [3 from 3]

WARATAHS: Lawson Creighton; Andrew Kellaway, Lalakai Foketi (Henry O’Donnell ’56), Joey Walton, Darby Lancaster; Jack Bowen (Tane Edmed ’56), Teddy Wilson (Jack Grant ’71); Tom Lambert (Jack Barrett ’71), Ethan Dobbins (Mahe Vailanu ’50), Taniela Tupou (Daniel Botha ’56); Fergus Lee-Warner (Matt Philip ’63), Miles Amatosero (HIA – Matt Philip ’52 to ’63); Rob Leota, Charlie Gamble, Hugh Sinclair (captain) (Jamie Adamson ’59).

LIONS: Hugo Keenan (Duhan van der Merwe ’51); Mack Hansen, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu, Blair Kinghorn; Fin Smith (Marcus Smith ’60), Alex Mitchell (Ben White ’71); Pierre Schoeman (Ellis Genge ’51), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Dan Sheehan ’51), Finlay Bealham (Tadhg Furlong ’51); Scott Cummings, James Ryan (Joe McCarthy ’51); Tadhg Beirne (captain), Josh van der Flier (Jac Morgan ’61), Ben Earl.

Referee: Paul Williams [New Zealand].

Murray Kinsella

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