British and Irish Lions dominate Force in the opening game of their Australian tour

PERTH, Australia (AP) — Dan Sheehan made the perfect start on debut for the British and Irish Lions.

The Ireland hooker led the Lions for the first game of their Australian tour, scored in the second minute and steered the team to a commanding 54-7 win over the Perth-based Western Force in front of a crowd of 46,656 on Saturday.

“It’s all sinking in now. All week I’ve been focused on the game and making sure I don’t lose the plot in my head,” said Sheehan, who was captain while Maro Itoje was rested. “I’ve grown up wanting to play in this jersey, never mind captaining. There’s a lot of lads who’ve worn the jersey for the first time — we need to enjoy this."

After an arm-wrestle of a first half where the Lions led 21-7 despite having only 40% of possession and spending most of the time in their own half, the bigger, more polished British and Irish lineup opened up and put five unanswered tries on a tiring defense in the second.

Scrumhalf Tomos Williams scored a pair of tries before limping off with a left hamstring problem, fullback Elliot Daly scored two tries and No. 10 Finn Russell created two tries with his spur-of-the-moment judgement. He also kicked five goals.

Henry Pollock, the 20-year-old England No. 8, played an integral hand in two tries and also spent 10 minutes in the sin-bin in his eventful starting debut for the Lions.

“We have a few things to fix, mainly our discipline,” Lions head coach Andy Farrell said. “Once we gained a little bit of composure, I thought the second half was a little bit better.

“I was happy how we stayed in the fight," he added, "it was a tough old start to the game.”

The Lions made changes after a 28-24 loss to Argentina in a warmup last week in Dublin, putting more emphasis on short, sharp passing.

The Lions had the ball for 11 phases until Russell kicked wide to the right touchline where Sheehan took the ball high and tapped infield for winger James Lowe, who flicked an inside pass back to him to score.

The Force equalized quickly with veteran Wallabies scrumhalf Nic White sniping over from the base of a ruck in the fifth.

The Force opted against taking penalty goals in order to keep up attacking intensity but the Lions held firm and relieved pressure with some crucial turnovers.

Flyhalf Russell set up the first try with his pinpoint kick wide and the third with a quick penalty tap and go in the 35th, scooting up to the five-yard line before popping up a ball off the ground for fullback Daly to score.

In between, Pollock was instrumental in the Lions' second try, bursting onto a sharp inside ball from openside flanker Josh van der Flier, stepping inside and out and going to ground before popping a ball up to scrumhalf Williams to score.

The tourists went into halftime with a man down after Pollock was yellow carded for a ruck infringement deep inside his own quarter. The Force crossed the line from the resulting penalty but were held up.

Williams finished off an 80-meter counter-attacking try seven minutes into the second half. He limped off after scoring, and was replaced by Alex Mitchell.

Garry Ringrose scored soon after and Pollock, the youngest member of the Lions squad, was back in the attack quickly, chipping over the defense, regathering and almost scoring himself before the Lions shifted it quickly for lock and player-of-the-match Joe McCarthy to cross out wide in the 55th.

Daly scored in the 71st and Mitchell extended the final margin to 47 points when he scored after the siren, taking the last pass from Australian-born Ireland winger Mack Hansen.

“The score didn’t reflect that game at all,” Force scrumhalf White said. “Certainly, that first 50 minutes, we go stuck right into them. One turnover — they go the length and the game kind of blew out from there.”

The Lions are playing nine games in their first tour to Australia since 2013, including tests in Brisbane on July 19, in Melbourne on July 26 and in Sydney on Aug. 2. Their next match is against Queensland next Wednesday in Brisbane.

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

Tomos Williams of the British & Irish Lions is assisted from the field during their rugby match against the Western Force in Perth, Australia, Saturday, June 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Trevor Collens)

Finn Russell of the British & Irish Lions takes a shot at goal during their rugby match against the Western Force in Perth, Australia, Saturday, June 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Trevor Collens)

Dan Sheehan of the British & Irish Lions leads his team onto the field for their rugby match against the Western Force in Perth, Australia, Saturday, June 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Trevor Collens)

Elliot Daly of the British & Irish Lions leaps in the air to catch the ball during their rugby match against the Western Force in Perth, Australia, Saturday, June 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Trevor Collens)

Tomos Williams of the British & Irish Lions scores his team's second try during their rugby match against the Western Force in Perth, Australia, Saturday, June 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Trevor Collens)

Dan Sheehan, right, of the British & Irish Lions is congratulated by teammate Henry Pollock after scoring his team's first try during their rugby match against the Western Force in Perth, Australia, Saturday, June 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Trevor Collens)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nadia Comaneci, Apolo Ohno, Bart Conner and Cullen Jones were among the more than 300 Olympic and Paralympic athletes who gathered Tuesday under the peristyle at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where the Summer Games will open in 2028.

In an effort to promote Wednesday's registration launch for tickets to the Los Angeles Games, the athletes representing 28 different Olympics dating to 1960 joined Janet Evans in a short countdown to the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron against a clear blue winter sky.

“LA is committed to delivering an athlete-centered games and that can only happen if athletes are actually at the center of our planning,” said Evans, the Olympic champion swimmer who is chief athlete officer for the LA28 organizing committee.

The get-together felt like a homecoming to Ohno, the most decorated U.S. Winter Olympian ever with eight short track speedskating medals.

“I walked in and I literally saw like 50 of my friends that I'd grown up in the Olympic training center with for many years,” he said. "I haven't seen some of these people for 10 years or more."

The athletes met with LA28 officials beforehand, with several offering suggestions on how to improve the athlete experience.

“We have the athlete voice in the areas that really need to be heard,” said Jones, the retired swimmer who joined the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee last summer as associate director of athlete marketing. “I'm really excited to see what LA28 looks like.”

Conner noted that with the majority of venues already built in Los Angeles and Oklahoma City, which will host softball and canoe slalom, organizers can focus on the competitors. The three-time Olympic gymnast capped his career at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

“The athletes know that they're the center of every decision,” he said. “It's not just like, let's call the athletes and see what they think about it. The athletes are already in all the board meetings. I understood today that there's more athletes involved in leadership here in the Olympic organizing committee than there are at the IOC.”

Nearby, Comaneci twirled for photographers under the peristyle. The Romanian gymnast became a teenage superstar at the 1976 Montreal Games, where she earned the first perfect 10.0 mark in Olympic history. She and Conner will mark their 30th wedding anniversary in April.

Registration opens at 10 a.m. EST on Wednesday at Tickets.LA28.org. It's the first step for a chance to secure a time slot to buy tickets starting in April. After registering, fans will be randomly assigned time slots to buy tickets throughout future ticket releases.

Individual tickets, hospitality packages including tickets and packages involving travel and accommodations will also go on sale later this year.

The Olympic cauldron is lit at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ahead of the launch for ticket registration to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Former Olympians gather for a group photo at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ahead of the launch for ticket registration to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

The Olympic cauldron is lit at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ahead of the launch for ticket registration to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Former Olympian Jane Evans, LA28 Chief Athlete Officer, center right, stands next to Casey Wasserman, LA28 Chairperson and President, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ahead of the launch for ticket registration to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

The Olympic cauldron is lit at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ahead of the launch for ticket registration to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)