Western Force vs British & Irish Lions Predictions - Comfortable win forecast for the Lions tour opener

Ralph Staniforth

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Last updated: 26 Jun 2025

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Ralph Staniforth 26 Jun 2025

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British & Irish Lions face Western Force after a loss to Argentina.
Western Force has key Australian internationals starting despite recent poor form.
Lions adjustable lineup aims to find winning combinations ahead of test matches.

Lions could struggle on first week of tour (Getty Images)

Western Force vs British & Irish Lions Preview

The British & Irish Lions should have too much quality for a Western Force side that struggled in the recent Super Rugby tournament. However, it is a much-changed side, so the handicap favours the hosts in my opinion.

Western Force vs British & Irish Lions Preview
Head to Head
Western Force Form
Western Force Team News
Western Force Squad
British & Irish Lions Form
British & Irish Lions Team News
British & Irish Lions Squad

Western Force have lost their last 5 matches.
Western Force have lost 4 of their last 5 matches by 19+ points.
Western Force have 6 Australian internationals in their side.
British & Irish Lions lost their last match by 4 points to Argentina.

Head to Head

These two have not met in the last 12 years.

Western Force Form

The Western Force were good in patches this past season but ultimately fell short in Super Rugby. The Perth outfit won four, drew one and lost nine of their 14 Super Rugby games, finishing ninth on the table, 10 points off the playoffs.

There were some notable results during the season though, proving that on their day, they can cause havoc. The Force beat the Brumbies in Canberra early in the season and later drew 17-all against the Hurricanes at home.

However, after that draw to the Canes, the Force lost five straight games, all of them by quite big margins, bar the last fixture which they lost by four at home to the Waratahs.

Western Force Team News

Six current Australian internationals start for the Western Force while Kurtley Beale misses out with injury. Tom Robertson, Darcy Swain, Nick Champion de Crespigny, Nic White, Dylan Pietsch and Ben Donaldson all start before heading over to the Wallabies camp after the game.

Western Force Squad

15 Ben Donaldson, 14 Mac Grealy, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Hamish Stewart, 11 Dylan Pietsch, 10 Alex Harford, 9 Nic White (c), 8 Vaiolini Ekuasi, 7 Nick Champion de Crespigny, 6 Will Harris, 5 Darcy Swain, 4 Sam Carter, 3 Ollie Hoskins, 2 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 1 Tom Robertson

Replacements: 16 Nic Dolly, 17 Marley Pearce, 18 Tiaan Tauakipulu, 19 Lopeti Faifua, 20 Reed Prinsep, 21 Henry Robertson, 22 Max Burey, 23 Bayley Kuenzle

British & Irish Lions Form

The British & Irish Lions have finally arrived in Australia for the much-awaited tour. They beat the Wallabies 2-1 on their last tour back in 2013.

What is common with Lions tours though is that they often struggle to get going early on. The reasons are many, mostly because they are suddenly four nations in one squad and players need to get used to the systems the coach wants to play.

That was seen last week in Dublin when Argentina beat the Lions 28-24 in Dublin. The British Isles side were particularly poor at the lineout, something that will no doubt improve.

These warmup games will be used to give every one time on the park while also testing some possible combinations for the first Test.

British & Irish Lions Team News

Andy Farrell has rung the changes for this fixture, making 13 in total, which was expected and will likely happen throughout the tour. Finn Russell starts at flyhalf while Dan Sheehan campaigns the side in their first game in Australia.

British & Irish Lions Squad

15 Elliot Daly, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 James Lowe, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Henry Pollock, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Tadhg Beirne, 5 Joe McCarthy, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan (c), 1 Pierre Schoeman

Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Andrew Porter, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Alex Mitchell, 22 Huw Jones, 23 Marcus Smith