Darcy Graham in tears as British and Irish Lions debut ends in injury moments after try in win against First Nations and Pasifika XV

The Edinburgh and Scotland wing was unlucky to miss out on Andy Farrell’s initial squad for the tour, but was one of a number of late call-ups.

Having joined up with the group, Graham had his mind set on impressing ahead of the second Test against Australia.

He exploded into life in the early stages of the match in Melbourne and was unfortunate to narrowly step out of play before feeding Duhan van der Merwe to touch the ball down just three minutes in.

However, the Lions did not have to wait long to get the scoreboard up and running as just minutes later, debutant Jamie Osborne collected Owen Farrell’s chipped ball before crossing the try line.

Graham’s day then reached its peak as he ran in the second try of the day for the tourists, before his jubilation was cut short when he sustained an ankle injury, which forced him out of the match.

Speaking to Sky Sports at half-time, assistant coach John Fogarty said: “He [Graham] took a few shots. He’s with medics. 

“I’m gutted for him, we’ll all be gutted for him, everyone’s gutted for him. Not a happy man at the moment but he was on the pitch, he gave it socks. Unfortunately, he’s taken something so we’ll see,” he said.

Despite not being able to provide a further update on Graham’s injury at full-time, head coach Farrell said: “It’s so upsetting because he was so upset. It obviously shows how much it means to him.

“He’s got a Lions cap, he’s played for the British and Irish Lions. He scored a try at that so he’ll remember that forever.”

Once Graham had left the field, the First Nations and Pasifika XV fought back with Triston Reilly – who spent time in the sin-bin early in the first half – racing under the posts before Seru Uru went over, with the converted try levelling the match.

The Lions picked up the pace at the start of the second half and Osborne was left free to collect Blair Kinghorn’s long pass and run in his second try of the match. 

Kinghorn proved his fitness on his return from a knee injury by completing the full 80 minutes.

Garry Ringrose thought he had extended the lead, but the action was reviewed, and the try was overturned due to a knock-on.

The fourth try did arrive for the Lions as captain Farrell showed great hands before releasing Van der Merwe to cross.

However, the First Nations and Pasifika XV once again showed their grit, and they moved within five points through Rob Leota’s try with just under ten minutes remaining.

Despite not being as impressive or dominant as they would have liked, the Lions saw out the match to take victory.

Andy Farrell will now assess whether any of the players involved did enough to push their way into the squad for the next Test.

Reflecting on the performance, he told Sky Sports: “We lost a run of ourselves after a good start, going 14 points up and started playing some fancy rugby that was never on, and we didn’t earn the right. We addressed that at half-time. I thought we had better intent in the second half. 

“In the end, so pleased for these guys because for some of them it might be the last game on tour, so glad for them to get over with a W in the end.

“There were some great performances by some individuals. I thought Ben White was very good, Jamie [Osborne] obviously and some of the lads coming in playing their first game for us, so delighted for all of them.

“There’s always food for thought. We do what we always do. We review this game and have a meeting tomorrow and select the side tomorrow evening.”

Captain Farrell was not overly pleased with how his side managed the game in Melbourne, despite their victory.

“Too tight for us, to be honest,” he told Sky Sports.

“I think massive credit must go to the First Nations and Pasifika boys. I thought they came out and fired into us today.

“We got a great start to the game but we didn’t manage to get a foothold in the last 60 minutes, so massive credit must go to them but thankful we got the job done in the end.

“It felt a bit frantic at times. If we could’ve been a bit calmer at times, I felt we could’ve settled into what we do and do that a bit better but we didn’t do that.

“We spoke at half-time and regrouped a little bit and managed to be a bit more direct at the start of the second half and get a bit more territory and so on but they found their way back into the game again.”

Speaking about his role in the tour going forward, Farrell said: “I enjoyed being out there. It’s a great tour to be a part of and it’s been pretty good so far.

“There’s a lot more to come and two big, massive games to come.”