British and Irish Lions surge in second half to beat Queensland Reds 52-12

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — The British and Irish Lions already had the win secured deep in stoppage time when Maro Itoje had the choice of either finishing off on a cool, windy Wednesday night or pushing for one more try and a 50-plus tally against the Queensland Reds.

“Why would we not?” Lions skipper Itoje said. “We were leading, we had the opportunity to score. So we just wanted to play, wanted to attack. We’re not getting much training, so we need to max out matches.

Seconds later, Garry Ringrose scored in the corner to complete a 52-12 win for the Lions, who had conceded two early tries to the Reds and trailed 12-7 in the first half.

The Lions are now two from two in five days in Australia after a 54-7 tour-opening win over Western Force in Perth. The back-to-back wins followed a 28-24 loss to Argentina in a warmup in Dublin before the Lions traveled to Australia for a nine-game tour, which includes three tests against the Wallabies on July 19, 26 and Aug. 2.

Next up: The New South Wales Waratahs on Saturday night in Sydney, where a big crowd is expected. The combined attendance for the two games in Australia is 93,000.

“We have five (tour) games in two weeks. We don’t have loads of time on the training field but what we do have is loads of games,” Itoje said. “You improve and you learn probably more so in games than you do in training, so it’s a blessing in disguise.”

Second-half surge

The Lions have scored five unanswered tries in both of their games in Australia.

Skipper Itoje, who was rested for the first game, ran powerfully onto an inside pass from scrumhalf Jamison Gibson-Park five minutes into the second half Wednesday to crack the game open.

The Lions were determined to play with pace and high-tempo, spreading the ball to the edges regularly and maintaining a positive attacking shape to generate space and scoring opportunities.

Winger Tommy Freeman was a beneficiary, scoring two tries. Flyhalf Finn Russell again orchestrated the Lions attack before he was rested after 55 minutes, while Bundy Ake created opportunities in midfield.

Openside flanker Jac Morgan put in a player-of-the-match performance in a dominant forward pack, including scoring a try.

Huw Jones plucked an attempted chip kick out of the air and sprinted 60 meters to make it 47-12 near the end and Ringrose capped it off with a try five minutes into stoppage time.

“We just wanted to be better today, take a step forward. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a step in the right direction,” Itoje said. “We were a little bit more clinical, sharper, a little bit more accurate on the ball.

“We still made quite a few errors ball in hand, but I thought it was better in that regard.”

Injuries

Elliot Daly hurt his left forearm in a tackle late in the second half and had to be taken for medical scans. He was supposed to have the night off and he’d completed a gym session before getting a call from head coach Andy Farrell to let him know he’d be rushed into the starting XV because Irish fullback Hugo Keenan had a stomach bug.

“We’ve got our fingers crossed for him,” Farrell said.

The injury comes days after Welsh scrumhalf Tomos Williams was forced out of the tour with a hamstring injury sustained while scoring a long-range try against the Force.

Early pressure

The Reds stunned the Lions when prop Jeff Toomaga-Allen powered through the defense and reached over to score the opener in the ninth minute.

The Lions missed two clear opportunies when Ake was held up over the line and Daly’s pass went astray with the tryline open before Freeman equalized with a try in the 20th minute.

The Reds, playing in maroon and navy colors, were missing a host of starting players on duty for Australia’s test against Fiji on Sunday, but still threatened regularly.

Center Josh Flook swooped onto Kalani Thomas’s short grubber kick to give the Reds a 12-7 lead after 25 minutes but it was all Lions after that, with the visitors scoring the next seven tries.

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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby