Brumbies 24-36 British and Irish Lions: Leaky tourists click to secure fourth victory but Blair Kinghorn limps off injured
Ollie Chessum, James Lowe, Marcus Smith, Garry Ringrose and Josh van der Flier score tries as Lions beat Brumbies in Canberra; Blair Kinghorn limps off early with knee injury; Watch every game of 2025 Lions tour, including all three Tests vs Australia, live on Sky Sports
Wednesday 9 July 2025 19:49, UK
The British and Irish Lions secured a fourth victory on Australian soil, clicking to beat the Brumbies 36-24 in Canberra as full-back Blair Kinghorn limped off early.
The tourists scored five tries through flanker Ollie Chessum, wing James Lowe, replacement full-back Marcus Smith, centre Garry Ringrose and back-row Josh van der Flier.
Lions fly-half Finn Russell added 11 points via the boot (one penalty, four conversions), but the Brumbies did get in for four tries themselves through Tuaina Taii Tualima, Corey Toole, Hudson Creighton and Liam Bowron.
Kinghorn - who was recently out with an injury to his right knee - suffered a knock to his left knee early into the contest and eventually had to depart in what will be a worry for Andy Farrell and his staff just 10 days before the opening Test against Australia.
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The Lions made a scruffy start to the contest, as even though Kinghorn got up to win their own kick-off, the Brumbies recovered the second ball and were soon deep in the visitors' corner when Dan Sheehan was penalised for obstruction under a high ball.
The Brumbies took ruthless advantage as pick-and-go carry after pick-and-go eventually paved the way for No 8 Tualima to force his way over.
The Lions were counter-rucked off the ball in their first 22 attack, but they were level in the 15th minute through Chessum after a monster scrum drive provided a perfect platform, before Bundee Aki made key yards in the carry and the ball was shipped left to Russell, who passed on for the try.
Lowe somehow didn't score on 23 minutes when home full-back Andy Muirhead got his leg under the ball in-goal to stop a near-certain try, but by the half-hour the Ireland wing got his try.
Indeed, Lowe finished a stunning Lions move involving multiple passes through Joe McCarthy, Russell, Aki, Ringrose, Sheehan and Jack Conan at pace, earning space for the left wing to dot down in the corner.
A textbook breakdown steal from Brumbies lock Cadeyrn Neville saw the hosts back into the corner before long, with wing Toole easily finishing in the corner after replacement full-back Smith had been dragged in way too narrow.
Ryan Lonergan missed the conversion to leave the Lions in front, and the tourists ensured they would end the half in the ascendancy as Ringrose, Russell and Tom Curry combined for Smith to dive over in the final play.
Russell converted for a nine-point lead, with Lions captain Maro Itoje denying the Brumbies a fast start to the second half with a crucial five-metre lineout steal.
Instead, the Lions struck for their fourth try as centre Ringrose sold a sumptuous dummy to break the line, passing on to Smith, who kicked on for the former to reach and ground.
Freeman and Jamison Gibson-Park got into a mess to carry back over their own try-line soon after, however, and the Brumbies struck for a third try via replacement back Creighton off the subsequent five-metre scrum.
The Lions were denied a further try via a rolling maul despite replays potentially showing the ball being grounded momentarily, with the away side surprisingly taking three points via a Russell penalty from their next attack.
A rampaging Henry Pollock carry preceded the Lions mauling over for their fifth try through Van der Flier, but things ended on a frustrating note for the visitors as replacement hooker Bowron scored from close range and Chessum had a second try ruled out as replays showed he has held up.
Farrell: We dominated territory but kept them in the game
Lions head coach Andy Farrell speaking to Sky Sports:
"It was the same as the other games, there was some good stuff, especially in the first half. There was some nice, flowing attacking play that was played at a good tempo.
"On the flip side, we kept them in the game. We dominated field position, but we kept them in with a sniff, especially when you get over the line three times and don't convert them.
"Congratulations to the Brumbies, they came out of the blocks and stayed in the fight until the last minute.
"I was just speaking to him [Kinghorn]. He said somebody landed on his knee and he was just feeling something. He's walking around, so hopefully it's not too serious."
Lions captain Maro Itoje speaking to Sky Sports:
"I think a step forward. Obviously, we left a few tries out there. We probably wanted to be a bit more clinical. We invited a lot of pressure back on ourselves. We want to be a bit more ruthless in that regard.
"We are happy with the win. Rugby is a tough sport, so you take the wins when they come. We know there is loads more, we know we can be better. That is the exciting opportunity for us.
"We've got another tough game on Saturday then the real fun begins. We just need to get better, tighter, we'll learn from our errors and move forward."
What's next: British and Irish Lions tour of Australia on Sky Sports
Sky Sports will exclusively show the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, with all three Tests against the Wallabies and six warm-up matches to be shown exclusively live.
