British and Irish Lions player ratings after 1st win over Australia
The British and Irish Lions got the job done in Brisbane with a 27-19 win over Australia in the first Test.
There were some standouts with the back row of Tom Curry, Tadhg Beirne and Jack Conan earning the praise of coach Andy Farrell.
But, how did everyone else rate at Suncorp?
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Ellis Genge, prop
RATING: 7
A few good runs early on but gave away a couple of penalties at scrum time. The Lions scrum probably struggled to dominate as much as they would have liked.
Dan Sheehan, hooker
RATING: 8
Some smart plays from the lineout and was immense with ball in hand. Sheehan does the basics so well. He’s hard to take down and gets his side the front foot.
Tadhg Furlong, prop
RATING: 7
Hasn’t played much Test rugby recently and took some time to get up to speed, giving away a couple of penalties, but was still strong on both sides of the ball.
Maro Itoje, lock
RATING: 7
Got his side going with some good runs straight down the middle but the Lions captain was somewhat quiet in Brisbane. Partly because those around him played so well.
Joe McCarthy, lock
RATING: 8
Super strong in contact and at the breakdown. A bit of concern as he limped off in the second half. Worked well with Itoje.
Tadhg Beirne, flanker
RATING: 9
Man of the Match and deservedly so. His selection was under the spotlight and he answered all the questions thrown at him. Dominated individual battles and was so strong at the breakdown.
Tom Curry, flanker
RATING: 9
Bagged himself a well-deserved try. Caused the Australians headaches throughout the match and was strong in defence himself coming up with some big plays.
Another whose selection raised a few questions but proved Andy Farrell was right to pick him.
Jack Conan, No. 8
RATING: 8
Made some huge runs to get his side either on the front foot or out of trouble. He laid the platform for the backline to work their magic in attack.
Jamison Gibson-Park, scrum-half
RATING: 9
Played really smart rugby and always chose the right option. His box kicking was near perfect and passes excellent. Just such a class act and combined well with Finn Russell again too.
Finn Russell, fly-half
RATING: 9
His full impact became obvious when he left the pitch. Russell was in great touch from the first whistle until he was replaced by Marcus Smith in the second half. The Lions attack was really humming when he took control.
Sione Tuipulotu, inside centre
RATING: 8
Opened the scoring and was always an option in attack, working well with Scotland teammate Russell. Looks dangerous whenever he has the ball.
Huw Jones, outside centre
RATING: 8
Some good runs to get his side on the front foot. Created plenty of opportunities and unlucky that his try was ruled out for a double movement.
James Lowe, left wing
RATING: 7
Some good touches but a couple of wayward kicks. Would probably have liked to have more of an impact but probably didn’t get as much ball as he would have liked either.
Tommy Freeman, right wing
RATING: 7
Same as teammate and fellow wing Lowe. A few good runs but not his best off the boot.
Hugo Keenan, fullback
RATING: 7
A bit of a mixed bag from the Irishman. Outmuscled in the air for Australia’s first try but covered back field well and had some good touches.
Replacements:
Ronan Kelleher: N/A
Only got a few minutes but did enough to keep things steady.
Andrew Porter: 6
Similar performance to Genge. Some good runs but scrum didn’t go to plan.
Will Stuart: 7
Decent stint after replacing Furlong. Did the job well.
Ollie Chessum: 7.5
Imposed himself physically but not quite at the level he was during the tour matches.
Alex Mitchell: N/A
Only a few minutes at the end.
Marcus Smith: N/A
Only a few minutes at the end.
Bundee Aki: 8
Brought a lot of physicality to the midfield when he came on and was tough for Australia to handle.