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Lions ratings

Following the Lions' victory over the Rebels in Melbourne, we assess how the players fared.

The British and Irish Lions wrapped up their schedule against non-Test opponents with a 35-0 victory over the Rebels.

15 Rob Kearney

The Ireland international will be pleased with his run out and will be in contention for a place on the bench on Saturday. He was always looking to get involved, made 90m with the ball in hand and linked up well with the wingers. 7

14 Sean Maitland

The winger enjoyed his best match on the tour to date. He scored one try and made good yardage with the ball in hand. Unlikely to break into the Test XV, though, while there is intense competition for a place on the bench. 8

13 Manu Tuilagi

Another player who took his chance. Tuilagi needed a big performance after being sidelined with a shoulder injury and he duly delivered. Made the sort of inroads going forward the Lions will be looking for while he also showed greater awareness to pass. 7

12 Brad Barritt

A quietly effective performance from the England centre. He is not going to be threatening the Test team but his defence certainly deserves credit. He made eight tackles and was happy to act as a link man in attack. 6

11 Simon Zebo

The Irish winger brings something different to the party and there is a buzz when he has the ball. He covered 75m with the ball in hand, unselfishly passed to put Maitland over and was constantly trying to find a way through. Turnovers are a worry, though. 7

10 Owen Farrell

Asked to play on the gainline rather than sitting deep, Farrell showed a different side to his game. He looked lively with the ball in hand a showed a greater awareness to what was going on around him. 7

9 Conor Murray

The Ireland scrum-half put in a solid shift but it will not be enough to displace Mike Phillips from the Test time. He was alert enough to snaffle the opening score and got the Lions moving over the gainline. 7

1 Ryan Grant

He has been tipped as a possible starter against the Wallabies and he showed his strength up front in the scrum, however he did come up short in the loose. If Alex Corbisiero is missing then Warren Gatland has a real headache. 7

2 Richard Hibbard

It was a disappointing night for the Wales hooker, who would have wanted to make a bigger impression ahead of the second Test. He missed three of his throws - although he did attempt to mix things up a little - and four tackles, but he did carry well. 6

3 Dan Cole

The Lions scrum was impressive throughout and Cole played his part in that. However he did not do anywhere near enough to close the gap between himself and Test tighthead Adam Jones. 7

4 Richie Gray

In a straight shoot out for a place on the Test bench with Ian Evans and Gray just edged it with an all-round display. He carried impressively, he won his six lineouts and put in an impressive shift defensive. 8

5 Ian Evans

The Wales internationals did his best to force his way in to the Test equation and got stuck into the breakdown. He was also a menace to the Rebels' lineout, snaffling three throws. 7

6 Dan Lydiate

The captain faces an all-out war to claim a place in the Test squad however he cannot be faulted for his display. He does all the dirty, unseen work on the deck, while his tackle count is something special.8

7 Sean O'Brien

The Irishman was a surprise omission from the squad for the first Test and he took his anger out on the Rebels. He was seemingly everywhere as he carried nine times, looked to offload and made 10 tackles. He fully deserved his try. 9

8 Toby Faletau

The Wales No 8 was a colossus as he formed part of an impressive back-row combination. Made 60m from 16 carries, while he also weighed in with 13 tackles and three lineout takes as he put pressure on Jamie Heaslip. 8

Replacements

16 Rory Best (Did everything that was asked of him)
17 Tom Court (A 20-minute run out foer the late call-up)
18 Matt Stevens (He defended well but little else.)
19 Tom Croft (Had a hand in the last try and got stuck in)
20 Justin Tipuric (Lively introduction, especially at the breakdown)
21 Ben Youngs (A try-scoring appearance)
22 Billy Twelvetrees (Stepped in at fly-half and did little wrong)
23 Stuart Hogg (Put the nightmare of seven days ago behind him) Watch every Lions game live only on Sky Sports. Click here to sign up or upgrade now.

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