Star Metro - Farrell says Lions will learn from stuttering Waratahs win

A disjointed Lions struggled to assert themselves and adjust to the playing style of the Waratahs, despite the home side missing a host of key players who are on duty for Australia, who play Fiji on Sunday.

"I mean, there's a bit of frustration there, but it's nice to get a win," said Farrell.

"Disappointed though with the amount of possession and territory that we had, and how we dealt with certain situations.

"It was a different type of game. But are we glad that's happened to us? Yeah, we are, because there's some good learnings."

The Lions dropped the ball nine times and were unable to penetrate the Waratahs defence, despite making twice as many carries and passes.

Asked what the problems had been, Farrell said: "Adjusting to what's been put in front of us on the run and making sure that we're playing the game that's happening at that moment in time.

"I mean, let's congratulate the Waratahs for the type of game that they had.

"But, when you have 70 percent territory, 60 percent possession and, I think, 20 turnovers, that's by far not clinical enough."

Lions captain Tadhg Beirne admitted it was "quite scrappy", but also saw some positives.

"The ball was slippy out there and we didn't hold on to it and we lacked that cohesiveness we were looking for," he said.

"That's what we'll be looking to improve on but we certainly took a step up in terms of our scrum and our lineout which was a great part of our game tonight.

"But overall, I can imagine we'll be a bit frustrated with not being as clinical as we could've been."

The Lions must now regroup to face the ACT Brumbies, Australia's top-ranked Super Rugby side, in Canberra on Wednesday in the fourth game of their tour.

They play three Tests against Australia, starting in Brisbane on July 19.

A.Hill--SMC