A blow by blow look at Owen Farrell's Lions captain's knock

Owen Farrell’s late call-up to tour with the Lions for his fourth tour by his dad, Andy, was seen as almost as controversial as being named as skipper for the first time in the 24–19 win over the First Nations & Pasifika XV.

The bedroom experts dubbed his partnership with Jamie Osborne as the worst Lions midfield partnership ever, but as ever, he was at the heart of the action.

His presence arguably helped Fin Smith to have his best game of the tour so far, and only added fuel to the predictions that he will see action in either of the final two Tests.

RugbyPass kept a close eye on the Saracens and England legend, and here are his highlights:

2 mins – First touch providing the link with Smith to allow Blair Kinghorn to charge into the 22 in a move that sees Darcy Graham foot in touch costing the Lions a try.

4 – Combines well with Kinghorn and was then in the middle of the fracas after Triston Reilly crashed into Graham, earning the FNP winger a ten-minute rest.

8 – Drops in at first receiver and spots an acre of space before chipping the ball over the top on his left foot, which isn’t dealt with, and Osborne applies the finish.

11 – His decoy run in midfield occupies the defence and allows Smith to throw out a pass to Graham to score the Lions’ second try.

17 – Blair Kinghorn’s risky long pass just falls short and he agonisingly watches helplessly as Reilly picks it off and runs in under the posts.

25 – Tries another chip in behind the FNP defence, looking for Osborne. This time, however, the bounce is kind and it’s collected safely.

30 – Smashes the ball high up into the Melbourne night sky, but Kalani Thomas collects the long kick without any problems.

43 – A couple of short passes to Garry Ringrose before he attempts another chip through in what was a free play, but it’s easily collected.

45 – Moves into the fly-half role with Smith in at inside before Kinghorn spins out another long-range pass for Osborne to score his second try.

53 – Picks up the ball ten metres out but finds his route blocked, so decides to go it alone and is soon wrapped up.

63 – Takes a pass from Smith to provide the link with a feint, goes through the gap and dinks out a short pass to Duhan van der Merwe, who walks in for the try.

65 – Swiftly moves the ball out to Ringrose before he is lined up for a crouchling tackle by Reilly.

70 – Body on the line with a tackle on Rob Leota, but it only delays the inevitable with the Waratahs man scoring on his return to his hometown.