Imperfect Lions beat Australia to take series lead

This article was last updated on July 21, 2025

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Tries: Jorgensen, Tizzano, McDermott Cons: Donaldson 2

British and Irish Lions (17) 27

Tries: Tuipulotu, Curry, Sheehan Cons: Russell 3 Pens: Russell, M Smith

The British and Irish Lions beat the Wallabies 27-19 in the opening Test at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.

Leading 24-5 early in the second half and looking like they might threaten to record one of the biggest victories in their history, the Lions fell away in the last half-hour.

A Finn Russell penalty and tries for Sione Tuipulotu and Tom Curry put them ahead by 12 points at the break.

Max Jorgensen replied for the hosts, who were outplayed in pretty much every facet. The Lions struck again early in the second half when Dan Sheehan finished in the corner to make it 24-5 after Russell converted for a third time.

The Lions then lost their way badly and the Wallabies came back into it, winning a ton of possession and territory and finally doing something with it when Carlo Tizzano blasted his way over after a sustained bout of pressure.

Ben Donaldson’s conversion narrowed the gap to 12 with a dozen minutes left. Marcus Smith eased whatever nerves the Lions might have been feeling when he popped over a penalty but the Wallabies struck again late on through Tate McDermott.

Victory for the Lions, then, and a 1-0 lead in the series – but the mood in the aftermath was odd to say the least. No huge celebrations from the tourists, just some confusion as to how a game they should have won extremely comfortably turned into such a grind.