Some things to work on but, overall, lots of pluses

AND so, without further ado, we should plunge straight into the Lions selection game trying to second-guess the starting line-up for that first Test in Brisbane in just under three weeks' time.

- BRENDAN GALLAGHER

There is no escaping the process when the Lions visit Australia because there is so little jeopardy and angst as they tour the country limbering up. Defeat is pretty unthinkable, and although the Force put out a pretty decent representative side with a good sprinkling of their Australian squad members, don't go expecting the likes of New South Wales and the Queensland Reds to do likewise.

That reality makes selection more tricky than usual because you have to really concentrate on the minutiae and be hypercritical, which in itself can cause problems if you then fail to see the wood for the trees.

Outwardly in Perth yesterday this was a more than useful win against a Super Rugby franchise by a Lions team, the vast majority of whom were making their debut in the jersey and/or playing alongside new colleagues for the first time.

The obvious pluses were not difficult to find. A much more disciplined Joe McCarthy, had a stormer at lock, Mack Hansen was perpetual motion, Elliot Daly was all class at full-back and Henry Pollock produced his usual moments of stardust to light things up and add energy and X-factor to proceedings.

That's the glass half full approach but let's just be miserable old sods for a minute and also look at the glaring errors that punctuated proceedings. When the opposition is limited, they are less excusable. You need to be picky in the extreme in assessing a performance.

In that spirit, the Lions scarcely caught a restart all night and heaven knows they had a fair few to negotiate. And as good as McCarthy was elsewhere, he was part of a receiving unit that malfunctioned in that area.