Lions’ flying Scotsmen see off Invitational XV but Cowan-Dickie head injury another blow

The Lions were never going to rival Sir Donald Bradman’s scoring rate at this historic ground, but they did their best to keep Adelaide Oval’s beautiful old scoreboard ticking over. It was certainly the first time the first six tries of a modern-day Lions’s victory have all been scored by Scotland players, allowing the touring team to take the psychological high road to Brisbane for next week’s first Test.

Aside from the premature departure of Luke Cowan-Dickie, who was carried off after misjudging an attempted first-half tackle, and Garry Ringrose, not involved here, ruled out, there was almost nothing to ruffle the Lions management. Duhan van der Merwe claimed a hat-trick, Henry Pollock stole in for a typically opportunist second-half score that few others would have made and, defensively, the AUNZ side were barely given a sniff.

The Lions should expect to be facing rather more fired-up opposition next week, however, with the Invitational XV struggling to escape first gear for much of the contest. The outcome was not remotely in doubt from an early stage and a subdued crowd were only awoken from their slumbers when Owen Farrell arrived as a 49th-minute replacement.

The former England captain was quietly effective, his excellent midfield pass helping to set up Van der Merwe for his third try, and Mack Hansen also caught the eye with another busy performance on the wing. Suddenly there are no shortage of bench options for Andy Farrell as he turns his attention towards beating Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies in the best-of-three Test series.

Owen Farrell carries the ball forward after coming on as a replacement for Huw Jones early in the second half. Photograph: James Elsby/AP

South Australia is rightly proud of its vineyards, its food and its abundant nature but Adelaide Oval also merits bucket-list status. The Lions are playing in some fabulous venues on this trip and the stroll over the River Torrens to this artfully updated stadium is right up there.

For a while, too, it even seemed the Lions might be about to run up a cricket score against a combined AUNZ squad who, despite containing 17 internationals, had been together for just three pre-game training sessions. The touring team had two tries on the board inside the first nine minutes, the first by Van der Merwe after a smart quick throw-in by Hugo Keenan and the second courtesy of Ben White’s sharp individual break from the base of an attacking ruck.

Luke Cowan-Dickie receives medical attention after a blow to the head. The Sale hooker is a doubt for the first Test. Photograph: David Davies/PA

The Invitational XV were being made to look distinctly sluggish by comparison and found themselves 17-0 down after 20 minutes when more purposeful buildup play and a deft scoring pass from Hansen presented Van der Merwe with a gift-wrapped second. So far so easy.

Unfortunately they were about to suffer more injury disruption after Cowan-Dickie’s ill-fated attempted tackle on the massive Lukhan Salakaia-Loto resulted in the Sale player being transported away on a medicart. He was able to give a thumbs-up from his supine position but another hooker – potentially Wales’s Dewi Lake – will have to be lined up as cover.

Duhan van Der Merwe breaks through to score his second try. Photograph: Matt King/Getty Images

Keenan also left late on with an apparent touch of cramp, but by then the game was long since over. Van der Merwe had a mixed game despite his hat-trick, but Pollock was effervescent throughout, capping it off by diving in to punish a defensive mistake by Harry McLaughlin-Phillips.

Onwards to Brisbane, where the scoreboard is unlikely to rattle around to this extent.