The Lions did finally get on the scoreboard when O'Gara - on for Hook - banged over a straightforward penalty after 27 minutes, but they continued to struggle until the interval.

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Jamie Roberts, Ugo Monye and Tommy Bowe scored two tries each, with Brian O'Driscoll, Tom Croft, James Hook and Stephen Ferris getting the others.

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O'Gara, 32, came on as a replacement for James Hook, who suffered a neck injury in the first half.

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The Welsh club opened a six-point first-half lead through two Hook penalties before Ulster's young fly-half Niall O'Connor, making his first Heineken Cup appearance, reduced the deficit to three points with a 17th minute penalty.

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At fly-half Ireland's Ronan O'Gara and Wales' Stephen Jones are rubber-stamped but James Hook, Toby Flood, Danny Cipriani and maybe Cardiff Blues number 10 Nicky Robinson, after his performance against Gloucester on Saturday, are all in the frame.

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But Hook missed the conversion and the Wallabies responded with two penalties from 21-year-old O'Connor to take a 13-8 lead after 65 minutes.

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That was a huge vote of confidence in Hook and demonstrated how well the 25-year-old had performed in opposition to first Ronan O'Gara - who during the match became the fifth man to reach 1000 Test points - and his 50th-minute replacement Jonathan Sexton.

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