Next Saturday’s first Test will be a far cry from this one-sided procession. The Lions were never going to rival Sir Donald Bradman’s scoring rate at this historic ground but they did their best to keep Adelaide Oval’s beautiful old scoreboard ticking over with eight tries, ensuring they can now take the psychological high road up to Brisbane.
Aside from anything else it was the first time the first six tries of a modern-day Lions victory have all been scored by Scotland players, three of them for Duhan van der Merwe. Despite some untimely injury news surrounding Garry Ringrose, ruled out of the opening Test with concussion, and Luke Cowan-Dickie, carried off after misjudging a first-half tackle, the Lions management enjoyed their most stress-free evening of the trip.
Whether that is is entirely good news depends on your perspective. In some ways the Lions wanted a more demanding examination to help clarify their remaining Test selection dilemmas. As it turned out the Invitational XV struggled to escape first gear for most of the contest and the outcome was not remotely in doubt from an early stage.
A subdued crowd was only awoken from its slumbers when Owen Farrell arrived as a 49th-minute replacement to the usual mix of ironic cheers and pantomime jeers. The former England captain enjoyed the last laugh, proving quietly effective and supplying an excellent midfield pass to set up Van der Merwe for his third try.
Henry Pollock also stole in for a typically opportunist second-half try while Mack Hansen again caught the eye with another busy performance on the wing. Suddenly there are no shortage of bench options for Andy Farrell as he turns his attention towards beating Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies in the best-of-three Test series.
The Lions defence was also impressively watertight, but everything is relative. The touring team can expect to face significantly more fired-up opposition at Suncorp Stadium than was the case at this stunning venue beside the River Torrens. South Australia is rightly proud of its vineyards, its food and its abundant nature but Adelaide Oval also merits prime bucket-list status. The Lions are experiencing some fabulous arenas on this trip and this artfully updated stadium is right up there.
For a while it seemed as if the Lions might also be about to run up a cricket score against a combined squad that, despite containing 17 internationals, had had only three pre-game training sessions together. The Lions had two tries on the board inside the first nine minutes, the first by Van der Merwe after a smart quick throw-in by Hugo Keenan and the second courtesy of Ben White’s sharp individual break from the base of an attacking ruck.
The Invitational XV were being made to look distinctly sluggish by comparison and found themselves 17-0 down after 20 minutes when more purposeful buildup play and a deft scoring pass from Hansen presented Van der Merwe with a gift-wrapped second. So far, so easy.
Unfortunately, they were about to suffer more injury disruption after Cowan-Dickie’s ill-fated attempted tackle on the massive Lukhan Salakaia-Loto resulted in the Sale player being transported away on a medicart. He was able to give a thumbs up from his supine position and was later able to walk back to the dressing rooms but England’s Jamie George will now be flown in from Argentina to join the tour party.
Keenan also left late on with an apparent touch of cramp, but by then the game was long since over. Van der Merwe had a mixed game despite his hat-trick, but Pollock was effervescent throughout, capping it off by diving in to punish a defensive mistake by Harry McLaughlin-Phillips.
There were also tries for Sione Tuipulotu, Scott Cummings and Cowan-Dickie’s replacement, Ronan Kelleher, with several individuals doing their prospects of Test selection no harm.
Before the game the Invitational XV’s back row looked potentially formidable but Pollock, Jac Morgan and Ben Earl proved comfortably the more effective trio. Has Morgan nipped ahead of the rest of the field in the battle for the openside slot? The Welshman could not have done a great deal more in his last couple of outings.
The understated Keenan also smoothed away any doubts about his readiness for the full-back role next Saturday, with Blair Kinghorn sidelined by a sprained knee. In midfield the instinctive understanding between Tuipulotu and his Glasgow and Scotland teammate Huw Jones was again obvious for all to see.
With Ringrose going through the mandatory concussion protocols, Jones is in pole position to wear the No 13 jersey, alongside either Tuipulotu or Bundee Aki. That decision is not totally straightforward, with Aki’s directness a potentially useful asset, but the Huwipulotu axis outside Finn Russell has worked sweetly for Scotland for a while.
Onwards to Brisbane, where another 8-0 try count is significantly less likely.
AU & NZ Invitational XV Stevenson; Lam, Laumape, Havili (co-capt), Koroibete; Edmed, Fakatava; Ross, Paenga-Amosa, Toomaga-Allen, Blyth, Salakaia-Loto (co-capt), Frizell, Samu, Sotutu. Replacements Eklund, Fusitu’a, Dyer, Philip, Brial, Thomas, McLaughlin-Phillips, Campbell.
British & Irish Lions Keenan; Hansen, Jones, Tuipulotu, Van der Merwe; F Smith, White; Schoeman, Cowan-Dickie, Stuart, Ryan, Beirne (capt), Pollock, Morgan, Earl. Replacements Kelleher, Porter, Bealham, Cummings, Van der Flier, Mitchell, M Smith, Farrell. Tries Van der Merwe 3, White, Tuipulotu, Cummings, Kelleher, Pollock. Cons F Smith 2, M Smith 2.
Referee A Piardi (It).
