The British and Irish Lions made it five wins from five ahead of their first Test against Australia with an emphatic 48-0 victory over AUNZ Invitational on Saturday. 

Duhan van der Merwe scored a hat-trick as the Lions ran in eight tries, with the first six of those all coming from Scottish players within Andy Farrell's ranks. 

Van der Merwe's first two tries were sandwiched between Ben White going over, with the Lions entering the break with a commanding 17-0 lead over their opponents. 

And the tourists carried their momentum into the second half, with Sione Tuipulotu and Scott Cummings building their lead before Van der Merwe completed his hat-trick. 

The Lions turned up the heat and were rewarded when Ireland's Ronan Kelleher added their seventh try, but there was still time for youngster Henry Pollock to get involved. 

Pollock applied pressure before beating the defender to a loose ball, concluding a sensational all-round performance ahead of the first Test against Australia on July 19. 

The victory was overshadowed by Luke Cowan Dickie's injury, which saw him taken off on a stretcher just before the break after taking a knee to the head. 

from in Australia #Lions2025 pic.twitter.com/QbaDM302SH

— British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) July 12, 2025

Data Debrief: Perfect preparations for Lions

The Lions were searching for stability ahead of their final fixture before taking on Australia, with this performance sending out a statement ahead of their first Test. 

But there were still areas of improvement Farrell will be keen to address, with the Lions losing 17 turnovers, the same amount as their opponents, while AUNZ also had more carries (120) than the Lions (118). 

And along with his hat-trick, Van der Merwe also had a joint-high team total for line breaks (three, along with Mack Hansen), but Fin Smith also impressed, completing more tackles (16) than any other player on the pitch.