The British & Irish Lions beat Japan 28-10 in the warm-up for their South Africa tour on Saturday but the match was overshadowed by a shoulder injury for captain Alun Wyn Jones which could jeopardise his participation.
The veteran Welsh lock was forced off after eight minutes supporting his left arm, seemingly in some distress and helped by a doctor.
The Lions management said it was a shoulder injury and he later reappeared in the stand without a sling, though how serious the problem is and whether it will prevent him taking his place on his fourth tour remains to be seen.
The better news for coach Warren Gatland was that the Lions found their attacking groove early, albeit against some soft defending by a Japan team playing their first Test since the World Cup quarterfinal defeat by South Africa in 2019.
In front of 16,500 fans at Murrayfield, likely to be the biggest crowd they will play in front of this summer, the Lions were in control for the first hour of the game, their first in Britain since 2005.
They struck first after 13 minutes when Bundee Aki blasted through and Wales wing Josh Adams took advantage of the space to open his try account.
Scotland’s South African-born winger Duhan van der Merwe sneaked round from the back of a ruck for the second try and Ireland centre Robbie Henshaw ran in the third, all converted by Dan Biggar to give them a 21-0 half-time lead.
Ireland’s Tadhg Beirne got the fourth try 10 minutes into the second half but the home fans expecting a thrashing were forced to think again.
Japan, who warmed up with a match against a club side, had struggled to get any sort of foothold in their first ever game against the Lions and were unable to generate any of the quick possession their livewire backs thrive upon.
But as the second half went on they began to link better and make ground and were rewarded when Kazuki Himeno was bundled over from a line-out after an hour.
The Lions were forced to play the last 10 minutes with 14 men after Jack Conan went off injured with all the replacements already on the pitch, and they spent most it defending their line.
The Lions play the first match of their eight-game, three-Test tour in Johannesburg on July 3.