The many reasons to be cheerful about Lions despite defeat
A 28-24 loss to Argentina means the British and Irish Lions will head to Australia on a note of frustration. For anyone keen for a good omen, the last time they lost their opening game was in 1971, and that did not turn out badly.
Andy Farrell refused to offer caveats for what he called a 'disconnected' display. Indeed, he positively squirmed at any hint of mitigation for a disappointing result.
That said, a strange evening presented plenty of encouraging aspects for the class of 2025. And, frankly, Farrell cannot disregard them because his team has a foundation on which to build in Australia.
Strength of opposition
Put simply, unless the Invitational Australia and New Zealand side is loaded with All Blacks, the Lions are unlikely to face opposition as strong as they did on Friday evening until July 19 when the Test series against the Wallabies begins in Brisbane.
It always seemed punchy that Argentina were 17-point underdogs with some bookies, and so it proved. Despite fielding a few relative rookies who will have been unfamiliar to viewers outside of South America, they were always going to pose attacking threats.
Argentina spoil the party in Dublin as Ignacio Mendy scores the opening try 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/hUOfBuznKJ
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) June 20, 2025
Their cohesion and clinical edge, and strength of their progress under Felipe Contepomi, were crystalised in three fine tries. The first was created when Santiago Carreras ghosted onto a pass from Tomás Albornoz. Juan Martín González sparked the second, which was finished by Albornoz, by pouncing on a loose ball.
Then, for the third, Argentina thrived in open space once more. Albornoz was the architect, stepping past Tom Curry and brushing off Henry Pollock before offloading to Joaquin Oviedo. Justo Piccardo took it on and two replacements, Matias Moroni and Santiago Cordero, capped the 70-metre move as the former grubbered ahead for the latter. 'We took our chances,' said head coach Contepomi afterwards. This was the difference.
The Pumas capitalise on the Lions' sloppiness and take the lead right before half-time 👀 pic.twitter.com/TDN9QqsRJn
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) June 20, 2025
Shades of shape…
Intricate and varied phase play is Farrell's calling card and, while the end product went missing too often, the Lions did seem to have made impressive progress in that facet. How often do we hear coaches insist that attack is the last piece of the puzzle to come together? There were no such pleas here.
On the back of an Argentina drop-out in the eighth minute, the Lions retained possession and probed on both flanks, with Fin Smith ghosting behind a four-man pod before Tommy Freeman arced all the way from the right wing onto the left a phase later.
Smith's attempted kick-pass towards Jac Morgan, one of the many forwards who migrated to the touchline, was then plucked by Ignacio Mendy. Patience and greater accuracy can enhance such foundations.
The PACE from Cordero ⚡️
Argentina hit back ‼️ pic.twitter.com/XMyEOFLZZ0
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) June 20, 2025
…and a line-out that is bound to improve
Maro Itoje admitted that the Lions were short of line-out rhythm after both Luke Cowan-Dickie and Ronan Kelleher missed their men over the 80 minutes. Just as the presence of Ollie Chessum immediately polished England's line-out during the Six Nations earlier this season, so he will better the Lions' scruffy set-piece efforts upon being introduced in Australia.
The second-row shake-up is fascinating with Joe McCarthy and James Ryan also returning and Scott Cummings bound to strive for more game-time. Jack Conan rather than Ben Earl at No 8 would provide another outlet and Chessum can always slip to blindside flanker to tighten everything up.
Intent from the off
An alternative perspective on the frustration voiced by Farrell and his players regarding the slew of errant offloads is that the Lions evidently felt free enough to attempt them. While that might seem like an attempt to clutch at straws, Farrell's men will have to throw ambitious passes to seize try-scoring chances Down Under. A head coach like Farrell would probably prefer to refine ambition rather than coax a conservative side out of its shell.
Busy wings
Freeman was particularly proactive as far as hunting touches. Mack Hansen arrived from the bench to replace Duhan van der Merwe and looked for work as well. Farrell believes in a 'messy' attacking system where wings are given licence to circle into midfield and this was a seriously promising start.
Scrum a resounding success
Argentina have not been particularly imposing in the scrum for some time, but Ellis Genge and Finlay Bealham still took them to the cleaners. Both props laid down statement performances, which is a significant bonus with Andrew Porter and Will Stuart yet to be used. One area that Farrell did endorse was the Lions 'aggressive' scrummaging, which can be a destructive point of difference against the Wallabies.
"Argentina caught us slipping" 🗣️
Maro Itoje says the Lions showed signs of promise despite defeat to Argentina 🔴 pic.twitter.com/bzJEnA2nBy
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) June 20, 2025
Two 12s – now for a 13
Bundee Aki candidly conceded that he did not feel able to bring Sione Tuipulotu into the game as much as he would have liked. To reinforce the same point, Tuipulotu seemed to grow more prominent in attack after Elliot Daly replaced Aki on the hour mark. As far as balancing backlines, the pair of specialist outside centres in Garry Ringrose and Huw Jones will be important figures on this tour. The plus point is that, in Aki and Tuipulotu, the Lions have two combative, skilful focal points to deploy in the 12 jersey.
Here come the cavalry
From Finn Russell to Chessum via Conan and the Leinster cohort, Farrell will be close to a full complement from here on out. They are waiting only on Blair Kinghorn, capable of starring either at full-back or on the wing once his Toulouse commitments are done.
THE FIRST TRY OF THE 2025 LIONS TOUR ‼️
Bundee Aki finally gets the Lions opening try on familiar territory 🔥 pic.twitter.com/EsLVek4mjg
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) June 20, 2025
Costly lessons
Reviewing a tight and painful loss – one that was underpinned by a number of straightforward fixes – is a surefire way to move forward. As early as the second minute, after Argentina won back a high ball, the Lions clustered around a ruck catastrophically. The Pumas could play to space all too easily, and eventually eked out three points.
Argentina's first try was another elementary spacing issue. It was inexcusable that the Lions were outflanked on the second phase after a line-out, which came from an inability to fold around the breakdown quickly enough.
"Not acceptable... dissapointed" ‼️
Andy Farrell's scathing assessment of the Lions defeat 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/dfb0S8Tx61
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) June 20, 2025
Contact skills were lacking for the next three points, with Pablo Matera pouncing, and the Albornoz try – a real sucker-punch – was spawned directly from a Van der Merwe fumble inside the Pumas 22. Tadhg Beirne's neck-roll was another costly lapse and Rodrigo Isgró was far too quick for Pollock's supporting colleagues at the death, darting in for a clean pilfer.
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