British and Irish Lions beat Waratahs to continue unbeaten start to tour of Australia
By
SABC Sport
5th July 2025
The British and Irish Lions survived a tough test but continued their unbeaten start to their tour of Australia after a hard-fought 21-10 victory over the Waratahs in Sydney.
As the scoreline suggests, this was a tougher contest than the Lions' previous matches on the tour â- against the Western Force and Reds â- and the Waratahs deserve plenty of credit for pushing the visitors all the way and being competitive for long periods.
The Lions were forced into some late changes to their line-up after rising star Henry Pollock was withdrawn from the matchday squad as a precautionary measure shortly before kick off, due to a tight calf.
That meant that captain Tadhg Beirne was shifted from the second-row to the blindside flank while Scott Cummings came into the run-on side at lock and his place amongst the reserves was taken by Duhan van der Merwe as the visitors changed from a six-two to more traditional five-three replacements bench.
In the end, the visitors were deserved winners though as they outscored the Waratahs three tries to two with Huw Jones leading the way for the famous touring team with a brace while Alex Mitchell also dotted down and Fin Smith added three conversions.
For the Waratahs, Darby Lancaster and Ethan Dobbins scored a try apiece.
The opening exchanges were cagey as both sides were cautious in their respective approaches but the match came alive in the 12th minute when Jones went over for the opening try after running on a perfectly delivered short pass from Sione Tuipulotu deep inside the Waratahsâ™ 22.
That score settled the early nerves and the Lions became more fluent with ball in hand as the match progressed and they strung several phases together on attack, although the home sideâ™s defence did well to keep them at bay.
The Waratahs thought they had opened their account on the half hour-mark when Charlie Gamble barged over for a try off the back of a lineout drive but his effort was ruled out after Fergus Lee-Warner was blown up for obstruction in the build-up.
That proved costly as shortly afterwards Jones showed great composure and quick feet as he stepped past a couple of defenders deep inside the home sideâ™s territory before crossing for his second try.
The home side needed a response and that came in style shortly before half-time courtesy of Lancaster's try. This after fellow Wallabies Taniela Tupou and Rob Leota did well to draw in a couple of defenders before the latter offloaded to Lancaster.
The left wing still had plenty of work to do but shrugged off a tackle from Hugo Keenan â- which briefly halted his momentum â- before eventually dotting down.
The left wing still had plenty of work to do but shrugged off a tackle from Hugo Keenan â- which briefly halted his momentum â- before eventually dotting down.
That meant the teams changed sides at half-time with the Lions holding a 14-5 lead and the second half started in a similar fashion to the first with the sides cancelling each other out during that period.
And soon after the restart the home side's confidence grew when Dobbins crossed for his try after a strong lineout drive from his pack but, once again, Jack Bowen failed with his conversion attempt.
That meant the tourists held a slender four-point lead and shortly afterwards the Lions came close to extending their lead but Josh van der Flier lost possession after a desperate dive close to the corner flag.
However, a moment of magic from Mitchell in the 55th minute soon put more daylight between them and their opponents.
The Lions forwards initially launched a lineout drive inside the Waratahs' 22 but when their momentum was halted Mitchell gathered before making a sniping break around the maul.
The England scrum-half then showed his class by selling two defenders an outrageous dummy before crossing for a well-taken try.
The rest of the match was a disjointed affair highlighted by several unforced errors from both sides and although they will not be entirely happy with this performance, they will take the result and turn their focus to their next match against the Brumbies on Wednesday.
