Argentina stun Lions in Dublin send-off
Fin Smith, left, and Finlay Bealham of British & Irish Lions after their side's defeat to Argentina. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
The British & Irish Lions will board the plane for Australia on Saturday with more questions than answers from this historic first pre-tour appearance in Ireland.
With the first Test of the summer series with the Wallabies still a month away, this defeat to Argentina on Friday night will not matter a jot if head coach Andy Farrell can find solutions to the issues which presented themselves on an otherwise glorious night at Aviva Stadium as a 51,700 sell-out crowd turned Lansdowne Road red.
They delivered a party atmosphere in the evening sun as a matchday squad missing a considerable chunk of the touring party’s 38-player complement played its first game together in the full glare of the spotlight.
There was always going to be teething problems, even if Farrell had had his dozen Leinster players, and three English Premiership finalists available and an inconsistent lineout, difficulties in dealing with Argentina’s aerial threat and other defensive lapses will be the chief concerns as the Lions prepare to face Western Force in Perth next Saturday.
That said, they outscored the Pumas by three tries to two, with Bundee Aki and Tadhg Beirne giving Irish supporters plenty to cheer either side of a penalty try awarded off the back of a strong driving maul, while the Maro Itoje-led forward pack produced a dominant scrum that promises a strong attacking platform Down Under.
Indeed there were elements of the Lions play which fitted the occasion as the IRFU marked its 150th anniversary in style. The Pumas had not read the script, however. Despite those encouraging signs for Farrell, including some smart handling along the line in attack, Argentina took a 21-10 lead into the half-time break.
Fly-half Tomas Albornoz was the star of the show with a try on the cusp of half time which he converted himself to add to his three penalties. The Benetton star had opened the scoring from off the tee on five minutes when the Lions strayed offside in front of their posts as the Pumas swarmed forward.
Yet they were momentarily behind their own tryline as the Lions struck through their lineout maul, hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie’s try ruled out having lost the ball forward over the line.
Fin Smith got the Lions back on level terms with a penalty on 10 minutes but Argentina’s tactical kicking was causing problems and putting their hosts on the back foot paid dividends two minutes later as they moved the ball left, isolating full-back Marcus Smith in a two-on-one as wing Ignacio Mendy profited. Albornoz missed the conversion from wide out but the Pumas were 8-3 up.
The first scrum of the game came soon after and the Lions flexed their muscles, winning a penalty at the first engagement and then earning another in front of the posts as Argentina scrambled to hold out some fluid attacking movement with ball in hand. From there, the Lions worked an overlap out wide on the right, Fin Smith finding outside centre Bundee Aki with wing Tommy Freeman outside him. Aki faked a pass to the edge, swiveled around and the Ireland star bulldozed through three defenders to score the 2025 Lions’ first try on 19 minutes, Fin Smith adding the conversion.
The Lions failed to capitalise, their lineout starting to creak and handling errors undoing much of their positive attacking shape. Instead, Albornoz struck at the other end, kicking two more penalties and then finishing a swift counter attack after some confusion at the back of a Lions ruck inside the Argentine 22.
Again, Marcus Smith was exposed in a two-on-one, the Pumas fly-half then cutting inside to score behind the posts and then ending the opening period with a conversion in front of the posts to give his side an 11-point interval lead.
If the Lions had lost their way in the second quarter, they were right back on track after half-time, their forward pack gaining the upper hand through their lineout maul to eke a penalty try on 46 minutes as Argentina prop Mayco Vivas was yellow carded for collapsing.
It got better again for the Lions when Tadhg Beirne got his 2025 tally up and running, crashing onto a pass to score from short range, with Fin Smith’s conversion pushing his side back in front at 24-21.
Back came the Pumas yet again, profiting once more from the aerial route to advance upfield. Albornoz fended off replacement Henry Pollock and Matias Moroni kicked ahead along the ground, fellow benchwarmer Santiago Cordero beating Marcus Smith in a foot race to the ball for the try, the fly-half’s conversion making it 28-24 to Argentina.
Tadhg Furlong’s introduction off the bench following a season riddled with calf issues was a bonus but the tighthead prop did not finish the game, removed for a Head Injury Assessment as the Lions tried to rescue victory. It did not happen and when the full-time whistle blew the celebrations belonged to the Pumas and their own piece of history.
M Smith; T Freeman, S Tuipulotu, B Aki (E Daly, 59), D van der Merwe (M Hansen, 59); F Smith, A Mitchell (T Williams, 49); E Genge (P Schoeman, 59), L Cowan-Dickie (R Kelleher, 49); F Bealham (T Furlong, 59; Bealham, 80 - HIA); M Itoje – captain(S Cummings, 72), T Beirne; T Curry, J Morgan (H Pollock, 49), B Earl.
S Carreras; R Isgró, L Cinti (M Moroni, 55; J Moro for Moroni, 61– HIA), J Piccardo, I Mendy (S Cordero, 45 - HIA); T Albornoz, G García (S Benitez Cruz, 70); M Vivas (B Wenger, 67), J Montoya – captain (B Bernasconi, 80), J Sclavi (F Coria Marchetti, 47); F Molina (S Grondona, 59), P Rubiolo; P Matera, JM Gonzalez, J Oviedo (B Bernasconi, 48-56 FR sin bin sub; J Moro, 66 - HIA).
M Vivas 46-56 Referee: James Doleman (New Zealand).
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