'Not sugar coating anything' - Farrell laments Lions' costly errors in Argentina loss

PLENTY TO PONDER: British & Irish Lions head coach Andy Farrell before the Lions 1888 Cup match between the British & Irish Lions and Argentina at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Andy Farrell refused to sugar coat the British & Irish Lions’ defeat to Argentina as he took full responsibility for the 28-24 loss ahead of the squad’s departure for Australia.

The Lions head coach admitted his side’s performance in a historic first Lions game on Irish soil at a sold-out Aviva Stadium had not lived up to his expectations as Pumas fly-half Tomas Albornoz led Felipe Contepomi’s Pumas to a famous maiden victory over the tourists.

Tries from Bundee Aki and Ireland team-mate Tadhg Beirne either side of a penalty try off the back of a powerful Lions lineout drive were some of the highlights. But a matchday 23 missing 14 players who were involved in English and URC finals six days earlier for Bath, Leicester Tigers and the largest one-club contingent within the touring party, 10 of the dozen Leinstermen selected by Farrell, went down to defeat.

Argentina prevailed in front of the remarkable sight of 51,700 supporters forming a “Sea of Red” in Dublin more readily associated with stadia of the ilk of Loftus Versfeld or Eden Park.

The Lions will fly Down Under on Saturday, heading to Perth, Western Australia ahead of a tour opener against Western Force seven days later and asked for what response he wanted from his squad, Farrell said: “Obviously a better all-round performance. You can single out one thing but it’s not just one thing, it’s a compounding of quite a few bits.

“The amount of balls that we threw blindly, either to the opposition or the floor, is probably a stand-out. If you combine that with the kicking game and the aerial battle and what is disappointing is scraps on the floor from that type of battle, it always seemed to go to Argentina so there’s a bit of fight and hunger from them that we can’t accept.

“Then you combine stuff at the breakdown, the lineout or whatever, and it’s too much. It’s too much when it all comes together, it’s just compounded, and there’s a reason why people do get cramp or look a bit tired or are not able to capitalise on opportunities you have created, because probably subconsciously you’re suppressing yourself with the compounding of errors. It obviously needs to be addressed.” 

Asked about his own performance as head coach, the 2023 Grand Slam-winning Ireland boss said: “Obviously not good enough. I always take full responsibility, that’s my role. It doesn’t matter what department or whatever, I’m in charge of the job lot so it obviously wasn’t good enough and I need to be better.

“We’re not sugar-coating anything because we need to be honest because if we’re not honest how do we gain trust with each other? We have to say it as it is. There are certain things we said we were going to do and we need to own that and review that properly.” Farrell urged his players to take ownership of the red jerseys of which they were now in possession.

“We’ve got to own that. We’ve got to take responsibility for that.

“We are the British & Irish Lions so we’ve got to own the right to take that jersey forward. It shouldn’t be heavy. We’ve got brilliant players within our squad and they need to embrace that.”