The British & Irish Lions fans soak up the atmosphere © Getty Images

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Features: Wallabies won't yet be quivering

Match Pack: Lions sweep Western Force aside

This was Perth's big chance to show the watching world rugby union had officially arrived in the west of Australia. But Michael Foley's decision to field a largely second-string side saw the Western Force cause the British & Irish Lions about ten minutes of bother.

For the first time, the Force are supplying home-grown talent to the Wallabies and some of the fresh faces in the Australian's ranks may look back at this match as an important stage in their development but that is for the future, the Lions are here now and looking for some important pre-series match practice.

That they were right to be in Perth is beyond doubt; the Force are garnering a reputation as a well-respected Super Rugby franchise and have already put the Reds and the Crusaders to the sword this season. But the Lions can expect a significantly harder challenge when they come up against the Reds on Saturday. This was nothing more than a procession.

More than big slabs of red meat

• ESPNscrum's Tom Hamilton is joined by Inside Rugby's Alex Broun to deliver their verdict on the Lions second match of the tour against Western Force ... click here for the full audio verdict

The build-up to the match in Perth had limited coverage in the press, with the game receiving a token article here and there in the local newspapers. AFL is still the dominant sport for this region and elsewhere in Australia, all eyes were on the 'conveniently' scheduled Stage of Origin game which was taking place on the east coast at the same time.

Rugby Union faces an uphill battle here and the Force running the Lions close would have done more for the local XV scene than getting turned over. Instead of attempting to sell the remaining seats in the ground, the only radio coverage from the local station I heard a couple of hours before the match concerned the traffic en route to the stadium.

In and around the city in the few days running the up to the game you saw the red shirts of the travelling support filling up the bars and cafes in the main central area of Perth. Various offers attempted to lure the supporters in, with the promoted prices enough to make you baulk back in the UK but here they are cheap for those of the Australian-dollar persuasion.

But there was a good crowd inside the stadium with Lions fans, benefitting from Perth's large expat community, probably just outnumbering the local Force faithful. The crowd seemed to enjoy seeing the Lions run out against their local side and the atmosphere, at times, resembled a Barbarians game with the crowd booing the Lions' option to kick for the sticks early on - "a goal for the Lions", was how the PA announcer described Leigh Halfpenny's successful attempt at three points.

Those wearing red had numerous chances to celebrate the Lions' scores, with the Force mustering a couple of tries of their own. When the Western Australia side lost 116-10 to the Lions 12 years ago, the two scores gave the amateurs a "buzz", but for a fully professional Force side, these were nothing more than consolation.

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Before the tour started, ex-Wallaby Michael Lynagh predicted this match would be the hardest for the Lions. After fielding just two players from the side that faced the Highlanders in their previous Super Rugby match, Foley took the Western Australians out of the equation.

At times they were more farce than force.

Reports within the press box - stationed far away from the pitch enough to warrant the use of binoculars when trying to distinguish player from player - prior to the game suggested there was an element of frustration from those who missed out on selection in the Force camp. For the majority, it was a once in a 12 years chance to face the men in red but those picked only showed moments of attacking capability.

On Thursday, the day after the night before, Perth will return to its slow-paced normal self and the Force supporters will be gearing up for welcoming the Waratahs on Sunday, in what is nothing more than a dead-rubber from a local perspective.

But you cannot help but feel they missed a trick here in attempting to put the Force firmly on the map.