Duhan van der Merwe’s hat-trick helped The British & Irish Lions to a statement 48-0 victory over an AUNZ Invitational XV in Adelaide.

The Scotland wing dotted down either side of compatriot Ben White’s score in the first half, which ended with the tourists 17-0 to the good.

Sione Tuipulotu and Scott Cummings continued the tartan try-fest after the break before Van der Merwe completed his treble on the hour.

Ronan Kelleher and Henry Pollock added their names to the scoresheet late on as the Lions warmed up for next Saturday’s first Test against the Wallabies in the best possible fashion.

QUICK OUT THE BLOCKS

The Lions have been vocal in their desire for a fast start, which has largely eluded them on this Tour so far, and they certainly enjoyed one at the Adelaide Oval.

After spending the early exchanges on the front foot, some smart thinking from Hugo Keenan led to the first try on seven minutes.

The full-back sprinted up the touchline and took a lineout quickly following a kick being sliced out of play. The result was numbers on the left and Van der Merwe took advantage to stroll in for his side’s opener.

Three minutes later, a trademark piece of opportunism from White saw the scrum-half exploit a gap in the AUNZ defence and dart under the posts, with Fin Smith’s conversion stretching the lead to 12-0.

The Lions were forced to defend for a period, Van der Merwe and Keenan scrambling to deal with kicks in behind from AUNZ, before unleashing their attacking threats once more.

Pollock was held up over the line in the left corner but there was no denying Van der Merwe two minutes later after more quick hands.

Tuipulotu stepped in as first receiver and popped to Smith. His pass was perfect for the influential Mack Hansen, who released his fellow wing for another routine finish.

Hansen almost had another assist on the half-hour mark following another flowing move.

Huw Jones burst through a gap and made the initial yards before Hansen’s show-and-go took him to within five metres. He offloaded to Luke Cowan-Dickie, who spilled with the line at his mercy as the Lions were denied a superb try.

Cowan-Dickie was later forced off after a collision at a ruck in the latter stages of an otherwise promising first half for the tourists, who went in 17-0 to the good.

ONE-WAY TRAFFIC CONTINUES

Just as they had in the first 40, the Lions flew out the traps early in the second half.

Andy Farrell’s side were straight on the front foot and camped themselves in the AUNZ 22, with the pressure telling when Tuipulotu breezed in under the posts.

Owen Farrell was introduced for his first appearance of this Tour on 50 minutes, leading to a backline reshuffle which saw Marcus Smith replace namesake Fin at fly-half, Farrell slot in at 12 and Tuipulotu shift to outside centre.

White remained the orchestrator at scrum-half and looked to be in for his second of the night, only to be pulled back for a forward pass from Pollock.

But it did not take long for the Lions to add to their tally as Cummings barged over. Farrell was involved, making a break in midfield before popping to White, and the impressive Earl kept the momentum going before feeding the giant Scottish lock to finish.

Four minutes later, the ball went through the hands to Van der Merwe, who completed his treble of very similar finishes, and there was no let-up in the closing stages.

Kelleher was next to get in on the act through some innovative work at the lineout. The Ireland hooker went short to Pierre Schoeman, got it back from the prop and somehow burrowed his way over when faced with a couple of AUNZ roadblocks in his way.

Perhaps inevitably, there was still time for Pollock to have the final say. Farrell started the move with a grubber kick and when Harry McLaughlin-Phillips spilled a pass in the in-goal area, Pollock got a hand to the loose ball to score his first try in a Lions shirt.

That was the end of the scoring on a hugely productive night in Adelaide which will only intensify the debate around Test selection in the coming week. As warm-ups go, this was about as satisfactory as it gets.