Saints ace Pollock produces more moments of magic on first Lions start

Henry Pollock impressed for the Lions in Perth (photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)placeholder image
Henry Pollock impressed for the Lions in Perth (photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
Henry Pollock added a couple more moments to his personal highlights reel as he helped the British & Irish Lions get their tour of Australia off to a winning start.

Pollock was making his first start for the Lions as he lined up at No.8 for the clash with Western Force in Perth, which kicked off at 11am BST.

And the incredibly talented 20-year-old wasted little time making his mark on tour, delivering a stunning try assist for Wales scrum-half Tomos Williams during the first half.

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Pollock did pick up a yellow card just before the break, but it was a debatable decision as he had appeared to have released in the tackle before being punished by referee Ben O’Keeffe.

The Saints forward didn’t let that spell off the field affect him though as he returned to produce a sensational chip and chase, which ultimately helped the Lions to engineer a try for Joe McCarthy.

Another Saints star, Alex Mitchell, also played a key role as he came off the bench for the final 32 minutes, replacing the injured Williams.

And Mitchell was able to round off the scoring with his first try for the Lions, taking the men in red past the half-century mark on the night.

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After the 54-7 victory, Lions head coach Andy Farrell said: “It’s a newish team, there were plenty of learnings from last week (when the Lions lost to Argentina in Dublin), and it’s the same again from this week, I would have thought, mainly our discipline in the first half.

"We regained our composure in the second half and we were able to be nice and calm.

"Our defence improved out of sight and we were able to force a few errors and score a few tries off the back of that.

"Let’s be honest, the Force took it to us there, certainly in the first 25 minutes. I thought they played a tough, high percentage game – they kept the ball really well.

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"We kept them in good field positions through our ill discipline and they were physical at the breakdown, so it was a really good test for us in that first half.

"But I’m happy with how we composed ourselves at half-time and kept our composure during the second half.”

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