Farrell lauds Lions' 'team performance' ahead of first Australia Test

British and Irish Lions coach Andy Farrell was delighted with how his team performed as a unit in their final game before their first Test against Australia.

Farrell watched on as the Lions romped to a 48-0 victory over the AUNZ Invitational, led by Duhan van der Merwe's hat-trick as Henry Pollock also got on the scoresheet.

Van der Merwe also had a joint-high team total for line breaks (three, along with Mack Hansen), while Fin Smith completed more tackles (16) than any other player on the pitch.

It saw the Lions pick up their fifth straight victory of their tour of Australia, ahead of taking on the Wallabies in the first Test on July 19.

Despite strong individual performances from his side, Farrell said he was more focused on the team performance after a hectic start to their time down under.

"I thought it was a good and professional performance," Farrell told Sky Sports.

"When you play these types of games and the personnel you can face, anything can happen, but I thought we played nice, controlled rugby, and we didn't let them in the game.

"We are pleased with our game control.

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"We stayed at it, it was never going to be perfect, and kept going as a team, that's the main thing. There were some great individual performances but we gelled well as a team.

"We need to enjoy a bit of down time as it has been full on for 14 days, it has been a tough old block.

"We want people to put their hands up and this group will roll on together and go after the Test series together."

Not everything went swimmingly for Farrell after Luke Cowan-Dickie was stretchered off following what seemed to be a knockout during a tackle.

England and Saracens hooker Jamie George has since been called up to the Lions squad as cover for Cowen-Dickie, while Garry Ringrose will miss the first Test against Australia due to a concussion.

"He [Ringrose] had headaches for a day and they carried on the next day so he went through concussion protocols and he failed those," Farrell added.

"He needs 12 days so that puts him out of the first Test.

"He's [Cowan-Dickie] good and in good spirits.

"He got up straight away off the stretcher. It's unfortunate for him and it looked like a concussion. We'll see what the medics say."