Maro Itoje’s Lions took failed to show their teeth as they kicked off their summer with a deflating defeat to rampant Argentina. The skipper was replaced with 11 minutes left and watched from the bench as his side threw the kitchen sink at the visitors but could get a clinching score.
Eleven points down at the break, the Lions fought back with a penalty try and a score from Tadhg Beirne made by Tomos Williams’ pass and a rampaging carry from Ellis Genge. But the impressive Pumas grabbed the lead back thanks to Santiago Cordero’s score and they held on when the flak was flying late on. The Lions head to Australia on Saturday but there were some positives notably in their attacking shape in what was effectively a pre-season game against a very good Puma side.
In a similar fixture in 2021, when the Lions beat Japan 28-10 in Edinburgh, seven of the starters made into the run-on team in the first Test against South Africa in Cape Town so this was a day to make a make mark.
England’s Tommy Freeman did that with some powerful runs, after taking a nasty bang contesting a high ball in the second half. But there were defensive lapses from Scotland’s Duhan van der Merwe on the other wing as the Lions tried to shake off some rust.
The Argentinians are no easy beats and knocked over all of the southern hemisphere big three in the Rugby Championship last year and are ranked fifth in the world, compared to the Wallabies who are eighth. They are also ahead of England, Scotland and Wales in the official standings.
The Lions are a massive draw, as a sell-out crowd here of 51,700 showed, and captain Itoje got the biggest cheer he has ever had in Dublin when his name was read out pre-match.
Itoje said: “We were not as consistent as we would have liked. We showed glimmers of what we can do. But we did not consistently pile the pressure. Argentina caught us napping sometimes. We weren’t accurate enough in some areas but when we looked good, we looked good.
“When we were direct, we looked awesome. At times, it was tippy-tappy football and that’s not what we want to be. We want to be aggressive. Off transition we were not sharp enough either but we are building. We’ll live and learn.
“Argentina showed us where we were lacking. It was hard fought and now we know exactly where we are. This is day one, our first game. We have quality players and we just need to work on that cohesion.”
The lead-up to the tour to Australia has gone on since Andy Farrell was made head coach last year but after all that the best of Britain stuttered in the first half to trail 21-10 at the break.
They had tries for Luke Cowan-Dickie and Scotland centre Sione Tuipulotu chalked off by the TMO, hooker Cowan-Dickie’s when he dropped the ball over the line and Tuipulotu’s for an Alex Mitchell knock on in the build-up.
Argentina were already on the board by then thanks to a score from wing Ignacio Mendy who got inside Van der Merwe.
The Lions tried plenty of attacking ploys but only made a breakthrough on 18 minutes when Ireland’s Bundee Aki took the bull by the horns and ran straight through the defence to score.
But Puma fly-half Tomas Albornoz added a try from his own half to his three first half penalties just before half-time with a superb move started by Harlequins winger Rodrigo Isgro and a backhanded pass from Bath-bound Santi Carreras.
Then came the Lions revival before Albornoz continued his night by creating the score for replacement Cordero and the lead stayed with the Pumas.
Scorers
Lions: Tries: Aki, Penalty try, Beirne; Cons: F.Smith (2); Pen: F.Smith
Argentina: Tries: Mendy, Albornoz, Cordero; Cons: Albornoz (2); Pens: Albornoz (3)