Next Saturday’s first Test will be a far cry from this one-sided procession. The Lions were never going to rival Sir Donald Bradman’s scoring rate at this historic ground but they did their best to keep Adelaide Oval’s beautiful old scoreboard ticking over with eight tries, ensuring they can now take the psychological high road up to Brisbane.
Aside from anything else it was the first time the first six tries of a modern-day Lions victory have all been scored by Scotland players, three of them for Duhan van der Merwe. Despite some untimely injury news surrounding Garry Ringrose, ruled out of the opening Test with concussion, and Luke Cowan-Dickie, carried off after misjudging a first-half tackle, the Lions management enjoyed their most stress-free evening of the trip.
