ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) — The British and Irish Lions used their final tour match ahead of the first test against the Wallabies to overwhelm an Australia and New Zealand combined side 48-0 on Saturday.
The Lions led 17-0 at halftime and poured on the tries in the second half before 43,124 fans, a record for rugby in the Australian rules-mad state of South Australia.
Scotland’s Duhan van der Merwe scored two of his three tries in an early 13-minute span as the Lions won for the fifth time in five matches on their Australian tour.
Controversial mid-tour replacement Owen Farrell came off the reserves bench in the 50th minute to a smattering of jeers. Farrell hasn't played international rugby since the 2023 World Cup and had played no rugby in nine weeks and only 18 minutes in the last 10 weeks.
The former England captain replaced the injured Elliot Daly to make it onto his fourth Lions tour.
In the 36th minute, England hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie was knocked out after attempting a tackle and was taken off the field by stretcher. But he was seen walking along the sidelines in the second half.
After the match, Lions coach Andy Farrell said Cowan-Dickie was “good and back to being his normal self."
“It was unfortunate. It was a concussion,” Farrell said. "It looks like we’ll have to bring someone in but we’ll speak to the medics.”
Farrell also said Irish outside center Garry Ringrose had failed a concussion test following an injury late in the tour match against the ACT Brumbies on Wednesday.
“Which is unfortunate for him . . . he’ll be back later in the series. Jamie (Osborne) coming in means we have cover,” Farrell said.
On Saturday's big win, Farrell said “I thought it was a good professional performance.”
“When you play these types of games, all sorts of things can happen," Farrell said. "We played a nice controlled game of rugby and never let them in the game. We stayed at it. It was never going to be perfect. We kept going as a team and that’s the main thing.”
The first combined Australia-New Zealand XV since the 1989 Lions tour included 17 internationals, including the entire starting side. But the AUNZ team could do little against the Lions lineup, many of whom won't feature in the opening test next Saturday at Brisbane.
The Lions were 4-0 coming into Saturday's match since a 28-24 loss to Argentina in a warmup in Dublin. They have beaten all of Australia's Super Rugby franchises. Before the Brumbies on Wednesday, they defeated the Western Force, Queensland Reds, and New South Wales Waratahs.
The second test is set for July 26 in Melbourne, followed by Sydney on Aug. 2.
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