The British and Irish Lions kicked off their warm-up ahead of their tour of South Africa with a 28-10 win against Japan at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The game was played with 16,500 fans in attendance, rugby's biggest since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

The Lions raced into a 21-0 lead thanks to tries by Josh Adams, Duhan van der Merwe and Robbie Henshaw in the opening 23 minutes. Fly-half Dan Biggar added six points successfully kicking his conversions.

Japan, meanwhile, appeared off the pace as this, understandably, was their first outing since hosting the 2019 Rugby World Cup where they reached the quarterfinals.

Tadhg Beirne went over for another five-pointer minutes after the restart with Biggar successfully adding the conversion to make it 28-0.

Japan then hit back through a try by Himeno Kazuki and a conversion and penalty from Yu Tamura. However, the game was already beyond the Brave Blossoms' reach.

The Lions' victory, however, was marred by two injuries to captain Alun Wyn Jones and fellow Welsh forward Justin Tipuric in the first half.

35-year-old Jones was replaced by Courtney Lawes after just eight minutes because of a dislocated shoulder suffered when he contested a ruck. The injury meant Jones will not participate in the Lions tour from July 3-August 7.

Tipuric was also forced off just after the midway point in the first half with an injury that was unclear. Taulupe Faletau came on in place of Tipuric.

Lions coach Warren Gatland said discussions will be held on who to call up as a replacement for Jones, and who to name as captain.

The squad is expected to depart for South Africa where they will play five matches against South African rugby franchises, starting with the Emirates Lions in Johannesburg on July 3, before playing three tests against the World champions.

(With input from agencies)