Lions must learn from errors in Pumas loss
Head coach Andy Farrell says the British and Irish Lions must learn "a lot of lessons" from a "disconnected" performance in Friday's 28-24 loss to Argentina in Dublin as they prepare to embark on their Australian tour. The Lions' hopes for victory in their first game on Irish soil were dashed by a slick Pumas side, who scored breakaway tries through Ignacio Mendy, Tomas Albornoz and Santiago Cordero to secure a deserved first win over the hosts at the eighth attempt. Farrell's side travel on Saturday and must regroup in time for their tour opener against Western Force in Perth on 28 June. "We made it a tough game," said Farrell, who was taking charge of his first Lions game."The first and appropriate thing to say is congratulations to Argentina, they thoroughly deserved to win. They capitalised very well on quite a few errors from us, so congratulations and I'm sure that's a big moment in Argentina's history."
Bundee Aki and Tadhg Beirne scored tries for the Lions, who were also awarded a penalty try early in the second half, but it was not enough to beat the world's fifth-ranked team. "You can try and throw it all around and say we had plenty of opportunities and we should have done better, but the story of the game is we compounded too many errors and weren't able to put the pace on the game that we wanted to because of that," added Farrell.The Lions travelled to Portugal for a week-long training camp before facing Argentina, but when asked if the squad has not had enough time together, Farrell said he "wouldn't give that excuse". "We need to be better than that. It is what it is," he added."The Lions players are good players coming together. We ask a lot of them and maybe we put too much pressure on the side because it certainly looked like we were a bit disconnected at times. "We'll review what we said we were going to own and we need to make sure we get something positive from that because it's all about how we move forward."
'Some players will be happy, others won't'
Given that Farrell was without the sizeable portion of his squad who contested domestic finals last weekend - Ronan Kelleher being the sole exception - Friday's game against the Pumas was a chance for some to stake an early claim for Test selection. And when asked what positives he could draw from the defeat, Farrell said "some people will have done themselves proud" without singling out any players."They'll be hurting for the team because they're all team players," he added."Some players will be happy, others won't and will be dying to get another chance, but look we know where we're at, we're under way so we need to learn a lot of lessons from that."
The Lions fielded 14 debutants on Friday and a new captain in Maro Itoje, who described his first outing as skipper as a "spectacular occasion" before echoing Farrell's downbeat comments about the performance. "We gave ourselves numerous opportunities but we weren't accurate enough at times and weren't consistent enough in putting pressure under Argentina," said Itoje. "As we improve our relationships and spend more time together in training and understanding each other's triggers, it'll come. "There are no excuses. We should have been better today but as with other areas of the game, we'll learn and get better together."
Line-ups
British and Irish Lions: Marcus Smith; Tommy Freeman, Sione Tuipulotu, Bundee Aki, Duhan van der Merwe; Fin Smith, Alex Mitchell; Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Finlay Bealham, Maro Itoje (capt), Tadhg Beirne, Tom Curry, Jac Morgan, Ben Earl.Replacements: Ronan Kelleher, Pierre Schoeman, Tadhg Furlong, Scott Cummings, Henry Pollock, Tomos Williams, Elliot Daly, Mack Hansen.Argentina: Santiago Carreras; Rodrigo Isgro, Lucio Cinti, Justo Piccardo, Ignacio Mendy; Tomas Albornoz, Gonzalo Garcia; Mayco Vivas, Julian Montoya (capt), Joel Sclavi, Franco Molina, Pedro Rubiolo, Pablo Matera, Juan Martin Gonzalez, Joaquin OviedoReplacements: Bautista Bernasconi, Boris Wenger, Francisco Coria Marchetti, Santiago Grondona, Joaquin Moro, Simon Benitez Cruz, Matias Moroni, Santiago CorderoSin-bin: Vivas 45Referee: James Doleman (New Zealand)Assistant referees: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia) and Andrea Piardi (Italy)TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Why three-time Olympic gold medallist Jessica Fox has no doubt she can excel ahead of canoe world titles despite recent form slump
There's been some rough water for Jessica Fox since her Paris Olympics medal blitz, but the canoe great feels her title defence is on track 100 days out from the world championships in Penrith. Fox will defend her kayak crown on her home course, with the competition getting under way on September 29, but despite winning gold in the event in Paris, her results this year haven't been at her usual standard. The 31-year-old, who owns six Olympic medals, including three gold, has missed the K1 final at both of the opening World Cup events in Europe. In the opening race in La Seu in Spain, Fox finished 48th in a field of 50 after incurring a 50-second penalty for missing a gate. She also missed the K1 final at the second World Cup event in Pau in France, but at both she bounced back to win gold in the C1 races. 'It's funny, people are always almost shocked when you don't qualify for the final, or when you don't win, as when you've done it so many times it's just expected, but actually it's hard every time,' Fox said from Prague, ahead of another World Cup later this month. 'Even the best athletes make mistakes, so it was disappointing, I was upset, I had a good cry about it, and then I just got back on the horse the next day, got back in my boat and had another crack. 'I'm fine-tuning things and I'm still in a training and building phase at the moment before the worlds, and I'm taking in as much info as I can.' Fox said the gates hung quite low in Spain, and she was too cautious in her approach. But after taking time out to savour her Olympic success, also winning gold in the C1 while her sister Noemie won the kayak cross, she felt she was building nicely for the world championships. Fox admitted the pressure of defending her title on her home course could be on par with the Olympics. 'Paris was magical in every way and it went perfectly, and was a very successful campaign, and fantastic to perform in that way,'' she said. 'Now looking forward, obviously you're always going to have that expectation and target on your back, you're the reigning Olympic champion, reigning world champion in the kayak, and that hovers there, like a cloud, if you let it. 'Everyone's hungry for that race, and just because you're world number one or just because you're the reigning champion doesn't mean it's different. 'Coming into a world championship at home is going to feel very much like an Olympics in terms of the pressure and the expectation, but I think we'll be ready. 'I love our home course and that's going to serve me, and I'm going to try and make it an advantage.' While she's set to compete in the next Olympics in Los Angeles, Fox is also looking beyond her paddling career and has partnered with charity organisation High Impact Athletes, with sponsors pledging an amount for each 'clean' gate on the course. 'It's about looking beyond sport and going, how else can I have an impact, and how do I keep this interesting and exciting, and what's my legacy going to be?,'' she said.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Nicola Olyslagers raises the bar with back-to-back Diamond League victories
Moments after leaving her rivals in her wake in the Diamond League yet again, Nicola Olyslagers set the bar even higher. Australia's high-jumping royalty leapt to gold under the Parisian sky on Friday, rising over 2.00m to claim back-to-back gold medals on the world's premier athletics circuit. It was her second jump that made the difference, relegating Ukrainian world record holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh to second and compatriot Eleanor Patterson to bronze. But despite her seventh success overall after her most recent win in Stockholm, Olyslagers is not entirely happy. 'Tonight was great, it was the first time we jumped so late (at night), so for mindset it can be difficult,' she said. 'I'm very thankful for another two-metre jump, but I really want a personal best, so we keep training.' The NSW jumper has her sights set on equalling or bettering her own national record of 2.03m, one of the goals motivating her for future meets. The dual Olympic silver medallist believes one way of improving is by getting stronger. At the top of her game tonight 🔥Nicola Olyslagers 🇦🇺 makes it another winning performance as her best jump of 2.00m gives her victory in Paris in the women's high jump.📸 Marta Gorczyńska for Diamond League AG#DiamondLeague 💎 #ParisDL 🇫🇷 'I tend to have very strong jumps in the first five jumps of the competition and then it slowly goes down,' Olyslagers said. 'Potentially, I need to work a lot more on my muscles to stay strong as I'm running towards the bar.' Opening her competition at 1.91m, the double world indoor champion says entering any later may not be worth the risk. '1.91 is very high,' she said. 'We need to work to find the best possibility, or some more training so I have the endurance to give my best at the end.' Compatriot Patterson's third-place finish (1.97m) was her third Diamond League podium of 2025 and the Victorian is closing in on the two-metre barrier. In the women's 1500m, Linden Hall finished fourth in 3:57:63 to prevail in the domestic battle including Victorians Georgia Griffith (4:01:36) and Abbey Caldwell (4:01:86). Kenya's Nelly Chepchirchir won the race in 3:57.02. Sign up to Australia Sport Get a daily roundup of the latest sports news, features and comment from our Australian sports desk after newsletter promotion Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino outfought Salwa Eid Naser to win the women's 400m, while Grace Stark set a personal best to outgun Tobi Amusan in the women's 100m hurdles. Dominican Republic's Paulino needed a season's best time of 48.81, a new meeting record, as the world champion came from behind to pip Bahrain's Naser, who took silver at last year's Olympics. Nigeria's world record holder and 2022 world champion Amusan settled for second as the 24-year-old American Stark led from the start to win in 12.21 secs, knocking one-tenth of a second off her personal best. Next stop in the Diamond League, which offers significant world ranking points, is in Eugene, Oregon, on 5 July.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Footy spectator banned for two years for abusing referees and opposition players
A rugby league match between Darwin Brothers and Litchfield Bears was dramatically halted after a spectator launched a tirade at the referee and opposition players. The top-of-the-table NRL NT Round 8 clash was in full swing when tensions flared from the crowd at TRL Stadium. After Darwin Brothers scored to close the gap to 20-18, match officials were alerted to abusive comments coming from the hill behind the goalposts. The remarks were described as personal and targeted, aimed at both the referee and Litchfield players. The referee, who had flown in from Queensland for the game, immediately stopped play. With the clock reading 61:39, he informed both team captains of the situation. Security and match officials stepped in to calm the crowd and identify the individual involved. The game resumed after a seven-minute pause. Litchfield Bears responded with two late tries to eventually win the game 28-26. The incident overshadowed what had been an entertaining and hard-fought contest between two of the competition's best sides. The spectator, identified as a Brothers supporter, has now received a 30-month ban from all rugby league activity. The 30-month ban is one of the harshest handed down in NRL NT history. The penalty includes 12 months for referee abuse, 12 for abuse of opposition players and six for bringing the game into disrepute. NRL NT operations manager Sheron McDougall said the suspension sends a clear message. 'It's a timely reminder to all clubs and participants that we need to be mindful this is a sport and we have a responsibility to abide by the code of conduct,' she told News Corp. 'We're drawing a line in the sand, it won't be tolerated. 'We hope these matters can be solved without a game being paused but the referee is well within their right to do so and we support that.' The game's governing body backed the referee's decision to stop play. NRL NT general manager Tony Crowe said the match official acted correctly. 'We 100 per cent support the referee's decision to pause the match,' he said. 'We've all come here to enjoy rugby league, not listen to some individual that thinks their opinion is above everyone else's.' Darwin Brothers president John Adams also condemned the incident. 'Our club doesn't condone any sort of abuse, verbal or otherwise, towards the officials,' he said. In a separate case, a Katherine spectator has also been banned for 12 months. That penalty came after they used obscene language towards a junior referee and behaved in a way that discredited the game. McDougall said all sports were seeing similar problems and urged better behaviour. 'This is happening across all sports and we have to be mindful,' she said.
