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As it happened: British and Irish Lions thrash Western Force in Perth

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Lions' Super squad gripes 'storm in a teacup' (1:45)

The ESPN Scrum Reset team react to Lions' management angst about how many Wallabies will be released to their Super franchises for games against the tourists. (1:45)

The British and Irish Lions kick-started their summer tour of Australia with a huge 54-7 rout of Western Force in Perth on Saturday.

Lions hooker Dan Sheehan scored in the game's opening minute at the Optus Stadium but the tourists were made to battle through a well-contested first half, with the score at 21-7 at the break.

The floodgates opened soon after the restart, though, with second-half tries from Tomos Williams, Elliot Daly, Garry Ringrose, Joe McCarthy and Alex Mitchell helping the Lions over the half-centry mark.

The result doesn't come as a huge surprise -- ESPN's Sam Bruce wrote this week that this matchup was meant to be one of the softest on the Lions' schedule Down Under, with more challenging tasks against the Queensland Reds, ACT Brumbies and AUNZ Invitational Team still to come.

Still, it will provide a a huge confidence boost to the team who suffered a 28-24 loss to Argentina in their tour farewell in Dublin last week.

Follow ESPN's live coverage in Perth!

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