Some work rate!
A much improved and cohesive performance from the Lions, albeit against much weaker opposition than Argentina, gave them a 54-7 win over the Western Force in Perth.
There were eight Irish in the starting line up, and they all put in positive shifts, with Joe McCarthy, who got Player of the Match and Josh van der Flier, in particular, shining.
Head coach Andy Farrell’s most controversial pick in his squad was the selection of Mack Hansen over Scotland’s Darcy Graham, and it was not looking good for the Irish winger after the first half.
He failed to make much of an impact and his two most notable plays were dropping the ball twice in promising positions.
However, he was a new man in the second 40, contributing heavily to two of their tries, and making numerous defensive plays to win back possession or put the Force under pressure.
After the game, Farrell singled out Hansen and one moment in particualr.
He said: “It’s nice to get the tries on the board, and a few good individual performances, and also our collective performance.
“That’s all good for the future isn’t it because we need to keep pushing one another.
“The play of the day, I mean there were some fantastic tries, but the play of the day, if you want to look what a Lion should do for his teammates; Mack Hansen went up and up and down the field, end-to-end and never gave up and fought for his teammate.
“That’s the type of spirit that we want isn’t it and some nice examples throughout the team.”
The moment in question came after a Josh van der Flier break, who then lost the ball during an offload attempt.
The Force broke up the other end of the pitch but Hansen outpaced the opposition, before diving on the ball and evading a tackle.
In the next phase he booted it up the pitch himself, chasing hard and forcing a knock-on.
