Henry Pollock announced himself to Australian audiences as rugby's next big thing with an eye-catching performance in his first British and Irish Lions start on Saturday night.

The 20-year-old No.8 set up two of the Lions' eight tries in a 54-7 thumping of the Western Force in front of a club record crowd of 46,656 at Optus Stadium.

Pollock thrived as Lions coach Andy Farrell encouraged his star-studded squad to play attacking rugby and make amends for the historic 28-24 loss to Argentina in Dublin.

Watch all the action from the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia on Stan Sport, the only place to watch every match live and on demand

Henry Pollock of the British and Irish Lions in action.

The England prodigy went on a rampaging run in the 17th minute but then showed great composure to take the tackle, go to ground and then offload to his little halfback Tomos Williams for an easy finish.

In the 55th minute Pollock was playing like Ardie Savea, chipping and chasing to put the visitors hot on attack.

The Lions then swung the ball wide left for man of the match lock Joe McCarthy to score.

Henry Pollock of the British & Irish Lions walks off the field after being shown a yellow card.

In between Pollock was harshly yellow carded for a ruck infringement after his team had been warned earlier by referee Ben O'Keeffe.

But his confidence and athleticism will be a tantalising prospect for Farrell to potentially use him as a bench weapon in the first Test against the Wallabies in Brisbane on July 19.

"I love the big occasions," Pollock told Stan Sport.

Henry Pollock of the Lions acknowledges the crowd at Optus Stadium.

"What a great group and, yeah, I just wanted to be here. We're talking about punching lines and expecting the offload, expecting the man to break a tackle, and those 50/50s through the middle - we took them.

"It was a fun game and we all really enjoyed it... it's an amazing group and environment to be part of - we're the four best nations, the best players in the northern hemisphere.

"I'm honoured to be here... this kind of campaign and this kind of group is only together for a short amount of time and we're trying to write history. So we're just trying to get as close as we can together.

"There's loads of boys fighting for positions and that's what you want."

Lions wingers James Lowe and Mack Hansen did not score a try but they created plenty for their teammates with some audacious play.

New Zealander Lowe and Australian Hansen - who both play for Ireland - were singled out by the cheeky ground announcer before kickoff.

Mack Hansen of the British and Irish Lions in action.

"With the players we have, we can beat anyone," former ACT Brumbies player Hansen told Stan Sport.

"I don't know if that was good enough to beat Australia just yet, but we're definitely taking steps in the right direction."

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

Tomos Williams of the British & Irish Lions holds his left leg after his second try.

Halfback Williams scored a pair of tries before limping off with a left hamstring issue, fullback Elliot Daly also grabbed a brace and No.10 Finn Russell created two tries with his spur-of-the-moment judgement.

Russell also kicked five goals.

Halfback depth will be a concern for Farrell given likely Test starter Jamison Gibson-Park is also recovering from a glute injury.

Early exchanges

The Lions made changes after losing to the Pumas, putting more emphasis on short, sharp passing.

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

The Force equalised quickly after 14 phases of attack with veteran Wallabies halfback Nic White sniping over from the base of a ruck in the fifth minute.

https://x.com/StanSportRugby/status/1938905434837959099

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.

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

https://x.com/StanSportRugby/status/1938933745949532518

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.

The Lions defence got better as the game wore on although Force wingers Dylan Pietsch and Mac Grealy were both excellent.

Tomos Williams of the British & Irish Lions dives in to score.

A key moment

Williams finished off an 80m counterattacking try seven minutes into the second half.

Both wingers were involved, with Lowe making an initial break and then exchanging passes with Williams at the end.

Williams limped off after scoring, and was replaced by Alex Mitchell.

Dan Sheehan of the British & Irish Lions breaks clear to score their first try.

The Lions' attacking intent led directly to Garry Ringrose's try soon after that gave the Lions a 33-7 lead.

Pollock, the youngest member of the Lions squad, was back in the attack quickly, chipping over the defence, regathering and almost scoring himself before the Lions shifted it quickly through the hands forMcCarthy to score out wide.

Daly scored in the 71st minute after sustained attack to help the Lions take a 40 point buffer.

https://x.com/StanSportRugby/status/1938942049966846441

It was extended to 47 when Mitchell scored after the siren, taking the last pass from Hansen to put the final touches on the victory.

White claimed "the score didn't reflect that game at all."

"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 Force skipper said.

James Lowe of British & Irish Lions offloads on the way to setting up his side's fourth try.

And it wasn't all pats on the back from ex-league legend Farrell.

"We have a few things to fix, mainly our discipline," Farrell said.

"Once we gained a little bit of composure, I thought the second half was a little bit better.

https://x.com/StanSportRugby/status/1938945793614033159

"I was happy how we stayed in the fight. It was a tough old start to the game."

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 August 2.

The next stop is Brisbane for a clash with the Queensland Reds at Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday.

British and Irish Lions 54 (Tomos Williams 2, Elliot Daly 2, Dan Sheehan, Garry Ringrose, Joe McCarthy, Alex Mitchell tries; Finn Russell 5 conversions, Marcus Smith 2 conversions) Western Force 7 (Nic White try; Ben Donaldson conversion). HT: 21-7. - with AP