'Frightening' British and Irish Lions demolish Queensland Reds in statement win in Brisbane

Andy Farrell must feel like he's perusing the menu at a Michelin star restaurant.

The British and Irish Lions coach is spoilt for choice with selection options after watching another supreme second-half performance in a 52-12 rout of the Queensland Reds in Brisbane on Wednesday.

The Reds led early and were still in the contest trailing 21-12 at halftime.

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

But for the second straight game, the tourists did not concede any second half points as Farrell had the luxury of unloading a powerful bench on an outmatched Reds side missing Wallabies leaders Harry Wilson, Fraser McReight and Tate McDermott.

The Lions had thrashed the Western Force 54-7 on Saturday but this was a more complete performance given Queensland is Australia's second best Super Rugby team.

Farrell fielded a team at Suncorp Stadium with 13 changes to the starting XV that beat the Force.

READ MORE: Luai among five NSW stars battling injury or illness

READ MORE: Inside 'longest ever' meeting that sealed Walsh's Maroons fate

READ MORE: 'I feel very alone': Zverev to seek therapy after Wimbledon exit

And there aren't any passengers in this 38-man squad.

"The depth that they have in their squad is frightening," Olympic gold medallist Alicia Lucas said on Stan Sport.

"It's really astonishing."

NEW PODCAST! Fraser McReight joins the boys live from inside Wallabies camp as they prepare for their clash against Fiji

Wales legend and ex-Lions playmaker Dan Biggar agreed it was a step up from their opening game in Australia.

"I thought they were really good tonight," Biggar said on Stan Sport.

"They looked a little bit more cohesive, they looked a little bit more in sync, and they made 544 metres with ball in hand. So that's a big number.

"The one concern I think Andy Farrell will have is the unforced errors and the handling errors, 14 tonight. So that's concerning when you come up against clearly better opposition, which the Wallabies will be."

Maro Itoje bounced over to score beside the posts to trigger the second-half surge from the Lions.

The skipper, who was rested for the first game, ran powerfully onto an inside pass from halfback Jamison Gibson-Park five minutes after the break to crack the game open, with the Lions scoring three tries in 15 minutes.

No.10 Finn Russell again orchestrated the Lions attack before he was rested after 55 minutes.

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, while Bundy Aki created opportunities in midfield and openside flanker Jac Morgan put in a player-of-the-match performance in a dominant forward pack, including a try for his efforts.

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

The Lions will play the NSW Waratahs on Saturday in Sydney.

The first Test is on July 19 in Brisbane.

"This forward pack… it's ominous signs for the Wallabies," former Australia captain James Horwill said on Stan Sport.

"They've got so much depth across the park to pick from, so it'll be interesting which way Andy Farrell goes with this forward pack for the Tests."

Injuries

Irish fullback Hugo Keenan was ruled out just ahead of the match and replaced by Elliot Daly, who scored two tries in the win over the Force.

Daly hurt his left forearm in a tackle late in the second half and didn't finish the match.

Welsh halfback Tomos Williams was ruled out of the tour this week after injuring his left hamstring while scoring a try against the Force.

Early pressure

The Reds stunned the Lions with an early try and twice led in the first half.

Prop Jeff Toomaga-Allen powered through the defence and reached over to score the opener in the ninth minute after a strong break by centre Hunter Paisami.

Aki was held up over the line at the back of a driving maul from a lineout in the 12th minute, and the Lions again went close to scoring in the 16th minute until Daly's last pass went astray with the tryline open.

The pressure paid off in the 20th minute when the Lions created an overlap and spread the ball wide for Freeman to score untouched.

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

Centre Josh Flook swooped onto a short, stabbed grubber kick from halfback Kalani Thomas as the Lions defence rushed up, collected the half volley and dived over to give the Reds a 12-7 lead after 25 minutes.

The Lions went within inches of scoring two minutes later but couldn't ground the ball.

There was no doubt over prop Andrew Porter's barging try from close range in the 29th minute, though, and the Lions regained the lead 14-12.

The Lions took a quick tap in the 35th minute after the Reds were penalised for a hand in the scrum and spread it wide quickly for Duhan van der Merwe to dive inside the corner post.

It was all the Lions after that.

"As a team 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 of his first win as Lions captain.

"I think 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.

"We have five games in two weeks. We don't have loads of time on the training field but what we do have is loads of games. You improve and you learn probably more so in games than you do in training, so it's a blessing in disguise."