Off-colour Lions made to work for victory over New South Wales Waratahs

A fortnight out from the first Test against the Wallabies and the Lions struggled to put away a side that finished eighth in the Super Rugby table and had lost five of their last six matches.

Even the arrival of a heavyweight bench could not provide the lift Andy Farrell’s men needed at Allianz Stadium and a dismal second-half made for grim viewing with Alex Mitchell’s 55th-minute try at least providing some breathing space.

Henry Pollock was withdrawn from the back row shortly before kick-off because of a tight calf and it was a good match for the rising star of English rugby to miss with a number of Lions playing their way out of Test match contention.

Only Scotland centres Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones and props Pierre Schoeman and Finlay Bealham distinguished themselves with the impressive Jones finishing with two tries, lifting his total for the tour to three.

Owen Farrell arrived into camp on Friday after being called-up as a replacement for the injured Elliot Daly and witnessed a display that fell well short of previous outings against Western Force and Queensland Reds.

The former England captain smiled as he was booed and cheered when shown on the big screen, with team-mate Will Stuart comically joining the jeering coming from home fans.

The Waratahs fought their hearts out even though they were missing several key players such as Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Angus Bell to Australia duty against Fiji on Sunday.

Taniela Tupou, dubbed the ‘Tongan Thor’, had at least been released back to the franchise in the hope he would find some form ahead of the Tests but instead he struggled as the Lions mined three scrum penalties in the opening quarter.

The tourists were dominating the set-piece, but it was the understanding of centres Tuipulotu and Jones that led to an opening try that was forged in Scotland.

Jones crossed after being sent through a gap with a short pass from his Scotland centre colleague and then powered over for a second having also made the initial carry that drove the hosts backwards.

Waratahs openside Charlie Gamble had seen a try chalked off for offside at the line-out but his team eventually succeeded in the 35th minute when Darby Lancaster capitalised on hesitant defending on the Lions’ right wing.

Hugo Keenan was enduring a nightmare debut after making error after error but he was far from alone as the familiar theme of dropped passes and poor handling continued to haunt Farrell’s men.

They led just 14-5 at the interval and when Ethan Dobbin finished a maul try one minute into the second half they suddenly found themselves in a tight spot, playing poorly against a side that was scrapping for everything.

Mitchell settled the nerves when he took advantage of an overlap to dummy his way over and the Lions were unable to break through again in a desperately scrappy final quarter.