Lions in numbers: Conan and Morgan stand out against Reds

The Qatar Airways British & Irish Lions Tour to Australia 2025 is in full swing, and the games are coming thick and fast after the first mid-week encounter of the summer.

The Lions beat Queensland Reds 52-12 in an entertaining game at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium, running in eight tries.

Once again, the stats gurus at Oval Insights have crunched the numbers – here are some of the standout stats from the victory.

9 – Number of lineouts won by Maro Itoje

Left out against Western Force, this was captain Maro Itoje’s first game on Australian soil and it is fair to say he did not disappoint.

After Joe McCarthy’s excellent display against the Force and Tadhg Beirne’s strong start to the Tour, the race for a second-row berth is red-hot.

Itoje responded brilliantly, winning nine lineouts for the Lions and helping them to an 87% success rate on Wednesday night.

Teams generally look for a 90% or above success rate, so there is still work to do on the training ground.

But Itoje also stole two the Queensland Reds’, suggesting he is at the top of his jumping game.

21 – Number of tackles made by Jac Morgan

With 21 tackles, two turnovers and a well-deserved second-half try, it is no wonder flanker Jac Morgan was named man-of-the-match.

The Welshman admitted his performance against Argentina was below-par by his own lofty standards and he wanted to set the record straight.

Morgan was simply everywhere, making tackle after tackle and carrying hard. He added 49-metres with the ball-in-hand to supplement an excellent defensive effort

With Josh van der Flier superb against Western Force, as well as Tom Curry and Ben Earl in the reckoning, the openside jersey is tough to call.

4 – Number of defenders Jack Conan beat

The No.8 position is also one of the most interesting on the team, with several options for the starting berth. Jack Conan was the latest to get a go, following Earl and Henry Pollock, and he was excellent throughout.

The Irishman, who started all three Tests at No.8 against South Africa four years ago, beat four defenders in open play and made 13 carries in all – both leading totals for the Men in Red.

556 – Number of metres made by the Lions

Andy Farrell hailed the Lions increasing fluidity on the ball, and eight tries at Suncorp Stadium was another indication that the group are gelling nicely.

In total, they made 556 metres, cutting through the Reds defence time and again.

Duhan van der Merwe, never the easiest to stop, made the most with 96, while Huw Jones weighed in with 77 – though no doubt helped by his excellent second-half try.

30 – Number of Lions defenders beaten

While happy with his teams’ performance, Andy Farrell will be keen to tighten up some defensive mistakes.

The Reds beat 30 defenders with the ball, despite making less than half of the Lions metres.

The Lions success rate was just a tick under 80%, though they did limit the Reds to just five clean breaks.