Van der Merwe scores hat-trick in eight-try Lions win

Invitational AU & NZ (0) 0

British and Irish Lions (17) 48

Duhan van der Merwe scored a hat-trick as the British and Irish Lions ran in eight tries in a rout of the AUNZ Invitational XV in their last game before the first Test against the Wallabies next weekend.

On an eventful night in Adelaide Owen Farrell came on as a second-half substitute, with news also emerging of a head injury to Garry Ringrose which rules him out of the match in Brisbane.

Van der Merwe scored two of his three tries in the opening half with Ben White sniping for another. In the second half, which was one-way traffic against an Invitational side taken to the cleaners, Sione Tuipulotu, Scott Cummings and Van der Merwe made it six tries – with all six coming from Scottish players.

As the Lions turned up the heat, Ireland’s Ronan Kelleher added a seventh and England’s Henry Pollock an eighth, a first of the tour for the Northampton tyro.

A downside for the Lions, however, was the knee to the head suffered by Luke Cowan Dickie, which saw him taken off on a stretcher just before the break.

The majority of Andy Farrell’s Test squad is more or less settled, but there were some guys out there playing for big stakes.

Hugo Keenan needed a reassuring display at full-back given that Blair Kinghorn will miss the first Test in Brisbane. And he delivered. Jac Morgan was competing for the open-side jersey that’s flitted between himself, Josh van der Flier and Tom Curry. Morgan was influential.

With the news coming through about Ringrose, Huw Jones picked a good night to have a big game. His partnership with Sione Tuipulotu was convincing.

By the time Farrell entered the fray the game was over as a contest, but he looked good all the same, although there are bigger examinations to come, of course.

After so many slow starts, the Lions must have craved a fast one – and they made it happen.

Hansen was good in the air, Morgan was good on the floor and Keenan was particularly good when taking a quick line-out throw that was at the heart of the first try, the brilliant Jones giving the pass for Van der Merwe to score.

Within a blink of an eye, White had taken advantage of a giant amount of space at the side of a ruck and he ran away to the posts. Smith’s conversion made it 12-0. The high hopes some might have had for the AUNZ side started to disappear into the night sky above the Adelaide Oval at that point.

The Lions were slick and sharp, the best they’ve been on tour. Ruthless, too. Pollock might have been held up in the corner, but it didn’t really matter. Soon enough, Tuipulotu and Smith were putting Van der Merwe away for the big man’s second try of the night.

There was some torment for the Lions when, in a grisly incident, Cowan-Dickie’s head collided with the knee of the giant lock Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, with the England hooker taken off on a stretcher after receiving treatment on the field.

Having started the first half powerfully, the Lions did the same after the restart when a Ronan Kelleher tap penalty under the posts was worked to Ben Earl who found Tuipulotu. The centre stepped inside a by-now beaten defence to score.

Farrell made his entrance not long after, a dream platform for him, and he looked comfortable despite his lack of rugby. The opposition were a busted flush long since, but Farrell still had all his old intensity and delivered some nice moments as the Lions ran away with it.

Playing 12, Farrell had a lovely pass to White in the build-up to the try finished off by the thundering Cummings. The Scottish try-fest carried on when Van der Merwe completed his hat-trick. Farrell, Hansen and Keenan were all involved.

The AUNZ boys were in a deep hole now and the yellow card for Shannon Frizell only made it worse. Kelleher worked a one-two at the front of a close-range line-out and Kelleher went over. Then, to round it all off, some slapstick in the AUNZ 22 was seized on by Pollock, who was as sharp as a button in taking advantage.

AUNZ XV: Stevenson; Lam, Laumape, Havili (co-capt), Koroibete; Edmed, Fakatava; Ross, Paenga-Amosa, Toomaga-Allen, Salakaia-Loto (co-capt), Blyth, Frizell, Samu, Sotutu.

Replacements: Eklund, Fusitu’a, Dyer, Philip, Brial, Thomas, McLaughlin-Phillips, Campbell.

British and Irish Lions: Keenan; Hansen, Jones, Tuipulotu, Van der Merwe; F Smith, White; Schoeman, Cowan-Dickie, Stuart, Ryan, Beirne (capt), Pollock, Morgan, Earl.

Referee: Andrea Piardi (Ita)

Assistant Referee 1: Nika Amashukeli (Geo)

Assistant Referee 2: Pierre Brousset (Fra)

TMO: Eric Gauzins (Fra)