Van der Merwe scores hat-trick as Lions hammer AUNZ 48-0
Winger Duhan van der Merwe grabbed a hat-trick of tries as the British & Irish Lions crushed the invitational Australia-New Zealand (AUNZ) team 48-0 in an eight-try clinic at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.
The hulking Scotland flier touched down twice early in the first half and notched up his third try after the hour-mark as the Lions took their fifth straight win on their Australian tour following a clean sweep of the provincial teams.
The Lions also had tries from Ben White, Sione Tuipulotu, Scott Cummings, Ronan Kelleher and Henry Pollock while the AUNZ team fell flat despite fielding 14 test players.
“There’s sore bodies, there’s no denying that but in terms of getting up and playing for this shirt, (it’s) so easy,” said Lions number eight Ben Earl, judged player of the match.
“We had one training session, we knew we had to just rely on the basics and the work we’ve done together over the last three, four weeks.
“So for the most part, we’ve done that and we’re really pleased with that.
“I think you can see how we want to play going into next week,” added Earl of the series-opener against the Wallabies. “I think it’s a good start.”
Owen Farrell came on early in the second half to a chorus of jeers from the crowd, replacing outside centre Huw Jones in his first appearance on tour since his controversial call-up by father-coach Andy Farrell.
Head coach Farrell will have been pleased with the physicality and accuracy of his players but has another injury concern after hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie suffered a head-knock late in the first half and was carted off the field.
The AUNZ team had only a week of training together and it showed as lax defence and handling errors allowed the Lions to charge out of the blocks with three tries on the board just over 20 minutes from the kick-off.
A poor kick over the touch-line by former All Black David Havili set up the first try, with fullback Hugo Keenan taking the throw quickly and fast hands setting up Van der Merwe to cross unopposed.
Three minutes later, scrumhalf White touched down under the posts, having launched out of a ruck with a pick-and-go and taken full advantage of slack marking.
Van der Merwe soon had his second try, with another trouble-free jog over the line at the left wing, the final link in a sharp chain of passes.
The Lions enjoyed easily their best half of the tour but kept up the intensity after the break.
Tuipulotu burst over for their fourth try three minutes after the restart after White took a quick tap in front of the posts and passed off to the inside centre.
Former England captain Farrell made his presence felt, battering into the AUNZ line and off-loading before replacement lock Cummings thundered over on the hour-mark.
The 33-year-old Farrell also had a hand in Pollock’s late try, sending a grubber kick to the right corner where Harry McLaughlin-Phillips spilled the ball behind the line.
That allowed a diving Pollock to put a hand on the ball as McLaughlin-Phillips struggled to gather it, completing a confidence-building rout before the Wallabies in Brisbane in a week’s time.