It wasn’t the start that British and Irish Lions head coach Andy Farrell would have wanted. Instead of witnessing an exhilarating curtain raiser to the 2025 tour of Australia this summer, Farrell saw his squad fluff their lines in front of a 51,700 crowd in Dublin as they were deservedly beaten 28-24 by Argentina.
While the result won’t spark mass panic, it will have dampened the notion that the tourists are resounding favourites to seal a first series win in 12 years down under. The Lions will now fly to Perth ahead of their opening tour clash with Western Force next Saturday and board the plane amid new concern and scepticism. The stern assessment issued by Farrell after the match at the Aviva Stadium spoke volumes, and the 50-year-old knows he has immediate issues to address.
Express Sport looks at four concerns the head coach must sort out in the next seven days…
The Marcus Smith conundrum
Like with England in the 2025 Six Nations, Farrell ultimately decided that Fin Smith was the better option at outside half than his namesake Marcus. Also, like with England, the Lions coaches decided the mercurial ability of the 26-year-old meant he still needed fitting into the XV and started him at full-back.
In the opening 40 minutes, Smith seemed torn between carrying the ball up from deep or opting to kick it back to Argentina. Ultimately, he did neither with conviction, and was just a yard too slow when covering across as Santiago Cordero won the foot race to score the winning try in the second half.
Test matches and Test series are won and lost on such margins. Smith is a naturally gifted performer, but he is not a natural No.15. Both Blair Kinghorn and Hugo Keenan will be back available for Perth, and other than a back-up option in midweek games down under, the Smith at full back experiment must end here.
Ambitious offloads
The Lions impressed when it came to taking the ball on the gain line and making gains in attack. Equally, they frustrated fans by wasting those gains with a series of unnecessary offloads, which either ended up on the ground or in the hands of an Argentinian defender.
Hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie was a prime example in the second half, charging into the 22 before wasting the platform with a ‘no look’ offload that was easily intercepted. Players trying too hard to impress? Communication issues? Regardless, the Lions can ill-afford such recklessness in Australia.
Lineout woes
Cast your mind back to that decisive third Test in Sydney in 2003, the Lions with a close-range lineout in a last-ditch bid to win the series, and Justin Harrison stealing it. Such memories came flooding back in the dying moments in Dublin as Rowan Kelleher twice failed to find his man from an attacking platform.
In his defence, Cowan-Dickie had struggled just as much beforehand. While the scrum prospered, Farrell would know that opposite number Joe Schmidt will have noted the faltering throw-ins with intrigue. We don’t want history to repeat itself.
Aerial woes
Afterwards, Farrell pointedly bemoaned his side’s inability to win the aerial battle, with Fin Smith guilty of kicking too deep to the Pumas. With Tommy Freeman and Duhan van der Merwe at his disposal out wide, it was a waste of a potential attacking weapon, while the back three also struggled in that department defensively.
Schmidt is a shrewd operator and will know that Test matches are not won on entertainment. While the Wallabies might favour a running game, unless the aerial capabilities of the Lions improve, expect to wait about 30 seconds until the first ‘bomb’ goes up in Brisbane on July 19 (first Test).