Australia v Lions live: Tom Curry overpowers the Wallabies as tourists make perfect start to series

The Wallabies were now attacking with more fluency but the impressive Lions defence held on until a minute from time when McDermott skipped over the line for what was another consolation try.

"It's obviously disappointing," said Wallabies captain Harry Wilson.

"We came in wanting to win, and I feel as if we probably didn't really get our game going there like we would have liked.

"They won a few big moments, and that's something which we want to do and make sure we do next week."

"We're delighted with the win. The game was a tough test match," said Lions captain Maro Itoje. "I thought we started well in the first half. We played a lot of good stuff.

"Then the second half was a bit to and fro from both sides. I think that's a good position for us to be in."

Former Wallabies captain Michael Hooper speaking to Sky Sports:

“Like most Australian supporters, I’m little bit flat.

"The game was dominated by the Lions in the first half. The Wallabies showed some really good signs coming on late, maybe that’s a blueprint of what they need to play 80 minutes of in Melbourne next week.

"It was an interesting build-up to the game, the team Joe decided to go with was always going to be interesting. It was a real learning experience for me tonight to see what the team was trying to do."

More from Lions fly-half Finn Russell speaking to Sky Sports:

"It will be a different team we face next week. Will Skelton will be back, as well as a couple of the other boys. Joe Schmidt is a great coach, he will have a different plan for next week, they might change their team.

"We will need to tidy up the mistakes we made, discipline and individual errors. We’ve had a taste of what it’s like against the Wallabies. Next week, we won’t be more relaxed, but we’ll know what to expect in terms of the atmosphere and everything that is on the line."

Former Lions coach Warren Gatland on incentive for fringe players to perform against First Nations & Pasifika on Tuesday:

"There's an opportunity for the players. There's a lot of Lions players who will be looking at tonight's performance and the result and thinking 'I need to really perform well on Tuesday to give myself a chance of being selected for next week or for test match three.

"Choosing becomes really, really important. I think one of the things Andy's got to do, and I know we've done that in the past, is you've got to make the players believe a really good performance on Tuesday will give them a chance of being selected for the next test. In 2013 when we were here, after the first test we had some players who didn't play who did get selected for the second one.

"It's going to be hard to make some changes, maybe a couple of players off the bench or something. You might want to give players an opportunity, but I can't really see any changes being made between now and the second test. Still, you've got to make players believe, go out there and perform well in Melbourne on Tuesday and you don't know what can happen."

For much of the match Australia were clearly second best, but they showed improvement in the final 20 to 30 minutes.

Impact players off the bench like Angus Bell, Carlo Tizzano, and Tate McDermott - made a noticeable difference and will be pushing for starting spots next week.

Head coach Joe Schmidt will also be hoping key forwards Rob Valetini and Will Skelton recover in time for the second Test, as their return could be crucial in keeping the series alive.

Lions fly-half Finn Russell speaking to Sky Sports:

"The first half we played really well. We talked about managing and controlling the game, putting them under pressure with our kicking game.

"We probably didn’t have enough of the ball to do that in the second half, but we played that pretty well in the first half and that showed in the score.

"We had all the territory in the first half and score have scored more points, but game plan wise and management, we were pretty happy with that."

Australia edged possession with 57% to the Lions’ 43%, and made more carries - 150 compared to the Lions’ 125.

However, the Lions were far more effective with ball in hand, gaining 436 metres to Australia’s 301.

Defensively, the Lions had to put in a massive shift, making 208 tackles to Australia’s 156. Despite that, they missed only 18 tackles, while Australia missed 30.

Both sides were even on turnovers, winning six each. In terms of discipline, Australia conceded 7 penalties, while the Lions gave away 11.

Chris Ashton, former England wing:

“The Lions had complete control from start to finish, in the first half they were so good, way more intense and physical.

“They all raised their game to the standards we know, they dropped off in the second half but they were always in control.”

British & Irish Lions rode a rampant first-half display to a 27-19 victory over Australia in the first test on Saturday, running in three tries in the first 41 minutes and holding off a late Wallabies fightback for a comfortable victory.

Superior in all facets of the game in the first hour, the Lions scored tries through Sione Tuipulotu, Tom Curry and Dan Sheehan while Finn Russell added nine points from the kicking tee.

Max Jorgensen crossed in the first half for the Wallabies and they improved when they cleared the bench in the second half but tries from replacements Carlo Tizzano and Tate McDermott were too little, too late.

The second test is at the Melbourne Cricket Ground next weekend and the series concludes at Sydney's Stadium Australia on August 2.