Lions tour Aussie takes: Furlong humbled in Perth, Wallabies' O'Keefe advantage

The British and Irish Lions series for 2025 finally began in Perth on Saturday with the visitors thrashing the hosting team, the Western Force.

However, the scoreline of 54-7 didn’t at all reflect how entertaining or how even the contest was in areas of the game, nor did it reflect the stellar performances of some of the Force players.

Lions’ coach Andy Farrell and his assistants would’ve learnt a lot about their team and the factors that’ll have a bearing on this series moving forward, meaning they will depart Perth for Brisbane with a clearer roadmap of how to be in full flight heading into the Test series starting on July 19.

Robbie Deans on what make Boks so great

Robbie Deans on what make Boks so great

More than 46,000 fans packed into Optus Stadium for the spectacle, setting an all-time attendance record for the club, which cannot be underappreciated amid the Lions’ euphoria.

Yes, the Lions mauled their prey, but while some players rose to the occasion, others didn’t help their bid moving forward into the more prestigious leg of the series.

So, although there’s a lot to unpack about the game that’s just been, there’s also plenty of reasons to cast one’s eye towards what lies ahead.

Force flex their muscles at set-piece time but get no reward

The scrum was seen as an area of concern for the Force heading into this match, especially considering their poor form during Super Rugby Pacific, but they surprised nearly everyone with a very strong, and at times dominant scrum against a world-class Lions front row.

Packing down on the loosehead side, Tom Robertson did wonders for his bid for a Wallabies jersey in the upcoming Test series against the Lions.

Going head-to-head with Ireland’s favourite and most decorated front rower, Tadhg Furlong, and coming out on top was a feat that will have had Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt counting his lucky stars, as form amongst Test-quality props is thin in Australia.

While a big part of the stability and power at scrum time came from Roberston’s front row partners, hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa and Ollie Hoskins, Robertson looked like the difference maker and the aggressor. Using his experience to turn the screws and shunt Furlong off the mark repeatedly.

The scrum is something northern hemisphere sides have always considered their weapon, but on this tour, should key Wallaby prop Taniela Tupou find his form again, that narrative may very well change, and history be rewritten along with it.

Wallabies have a clear knowledge advantage for the 1st Test

Farrell has picked an extremely mobile, breakdown-focused, and competitive backrow stock for this Lions squad, but on Saturday night, his players were penalised out of the ruck contest for much of the first half against the Force, and that means some alarm bells should be going off in the Lions’ camp.

This is because O’Keefe is the referee who will officiate the first Test against the Wallabies on July 19, and after what Farrell saw on Saturday night, some strategies and training blocks will now have to change.

Veteran breakdown pests like Tadhg Beirne, Josh van der Flier, and new whizz kid Henry Pollock were warned, penalised, and even handed a yellow card for their work at the ruck.

Although the yellow card to Pollock was more about the entire Lions team and their ill-discipline, the repeated calls from O’Keefe of ‘RUCK! No, don’t reach over, advantage!’ will be ringing in the coaches’ ears after losing the penalty count 9-7 to the Force.

O’Keefe, a New Zealander, is the only southern hemisphere official who will be in the centre with the players during the three Tests; the other two are Andrea Piardi of Italy, and Nika Amashukeli of Georgia.

Although it may seem like a trivial distinction, with O’Keefe having refereed Super Rugby all season, almost the entire Wallabies contingent will have personal knowledge of his tendencies, particularly at ruck time.

This will help Schmidt shape his pod structures and may allow him to use his players more efficiently to try to get over the gain line against the Lions rather than getting caught in a tussle with the UK and Ireland’s best.

Dylan Pietsch shines whilst outgunning his Aussie opponent

Pietsch had a niggly run with injuries during this year’s Super Rugby season, which was a shame as he couldn’t build on his breakout year with the Wallabies in 2024.

Nevertheless, Pietsch started making up for lost time on Saturday night, winning contacts, making strong tackles, looking for work as he roved off his wing.

His opposite number, Aussie-born Mack Hansen, who’s pledged his allegiance to Ireland, will be having Pietsch-sized nightmares after the Force winger ran over and around him, whilst also dancing away from his clutches on several occasions at Optus Stadium.

Player Carries

1

Sione Tuipulotu

16

2

Joe McCarthy

15

3

Henry Pollock

13

Not only was Pietsch difficult for the Lions to catch in attack, but he was also a menace in defence and the air, regularly smashing Lions players in the tackle and winning back restarts, an asset Schmidt will not forget come Wallabies selection time.

His physicality was much needed in the undersized Force backline, and his scything runs and abrasive contacts gave the Lions’ defence something to worry about.

Wing is a position the Wallabies are stacked with talent in heading into the Test against Fiji on July 6, and Pietsch has now catapulted his name back into the starting conversation after his stellar performance.

The only thing Schmidt will need to consider is which back-three combination will ensure his side can win the kicking and territory battles, after the Lions dished out a masterclass in Perth over the weekend.

Pollock is a generational player, and we are lucky to be witnessing the start of his career

If you hadn’t heard of Henry Pollock until this weekend, then you better get up to speed quickly, because this 20-year-old is the real deal.

Many people will tell you he’s ‘arrogant, cocky, too big for his boots, or unnecessarily combative and in your face,’ but this youngster can back it all up.

Two epic try assists, one of them including a chip-and-chase, and the other a double effort after putting a team member through a half-gap, only to re-accelerate and complete the break himself before cooly sighting a teammate and popping it off the deck for him to score, it’s some of the best rugby you’ll see in your life.

Player Line Breaks

1

James Lowe

3

2

Ben Donaldson

2

3

Dylan Pietsch

2

It’s an Ardie Savea level of confidence in one’s skill, but he does it with more gusto and pizzazz, traits which make some people question whether it’s all in line with rugby’s values.

Sure, it may rub some people the wrong way, including some players, like Nick Champion de Crespigny, who dragged Pollock to the floor after Lions’ flyhalf, Finn Russell, caught the Force napping with a quick tap from a penalty, which saw the side score one of its many tries.

Putting the carry-on from Pollock aside, rugby needs stories, it needs characters, it needs its villains, if it wants to remain modern, relevant and above all else grow as a sport.

More players will have to come to the party of selling the game, and currently, Pollock sells tickets due to his awesome play and controversial demeanour.

This is just the beginning of the tour, and we’ve now seen only a little more than 80 minutes of Pollock, but this sideshow to the Lions tour will only get better as the series continues.

Lions yet to settle on a definitive style, but DNA is starting to settle

The Lions are a side that sports analytics company Gain Line Analytics co-founder, and former Wallaby, Ben Darwin, says is “fundamentally built to fail.”

He sees this equation from the ethos that connection, cohesion and structures trump talent, and the Lions are very light on the former two, while having oodles of the latter.

It’s clear now, two games into the Lions’ run for 2025, that they’ve made offloading a key part of their DNA, and it comes with an interesting risk versus reward dichotomy.

On one hand, building rucks, making secure passes and having systems to allow for the build-up of sustained pressure on the opposition’s defence can be suffocating and be a safer way to run an attack.

However, if you’re short on time to build the strong connections which facilitate these flawless systems, like the Lions are, then perhaps it’s better to bypass the need for such regimented structures and instead rely on the vast talent you have at your disposal.

This appears to be what Farrell and his staff have arrived at. Instead of doing the near impossible, they build the trust in the group to play eyes-up offloading rugby and have the talent of the elite players fill in the blanks.

So far, it hasn’t been perfect, but it’s been entertaining and lethal against opposition, with the Lions scoring from nearly everywhere in almost every way.

Should things go very wrong during the series, Farrell can revert to a core group of Leinster/Ireland players, who already have that ingrained connection and cohesion, but should he pull this Helter-Skelter genius off, it may deliver some of the most exciting and difficult to stop rugby the world has ever seen.