British and Irish Lions improve to 5-0 on Australian tour with 48-0 win ahead of 1st test

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 from the traveling Lions fans. 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. He was taken off the field by stretcher after sustaining an apparent head or neck injury.

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, most 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 ACT 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.