Tom Curry: Lions players need to take 'personal responsibility' for performances

Irish Examiner

6 hours ago

Like a frustrated parent feeling let down by their errant offspring, Andy Farrell came over all disappointed dad following a clunky British & Irish Lions defeat to a far more fluid Argentina at Aviva Stadium.
But what about the kids? The head coach did not pull any punches in his withering analysis of the 2025 squad's opening performance on Friday night, highlighting the Pumas' edge in terms of fight at the contact area, decrying a lack of respect for the ball in attack and bemoaning a misfiring line-out.
Those criticisms were reflected in the anger and deflation expressed immediately after the 28-24 defeat by Tom Curry and Fin Smith but were followed by an understanding that such emotions needed to be left behind in Dublin before the touring party flew to Australia the following morning.
Farrell presides over a large Lions family, 91-strong including the 38-player playing squad, which boarded three separate flights to reach Western Australia, the first group arriving just after midday Irish time on Sunday. And while every scientific precaution was taken en route to Perth to avoid the perils of jet lag, it was down to the 37 travelling players – Blair Kinghorn will join the group following Toulouse's ongoing French Top 14 title bid – to get over their pre-tour setback and hit the ground running to produce the necessary response against the Western Force at Optus Stadium this Saturday morning.
Starting blindside flanker Curry, a veteran of the 2021 'Covid' tour to South Africa, admitted he was 'pissed off' over the missed opportunity against the Pumas on what was otherwise a wonderful spectacle in front of a sell-out 51,700 crowd which turned the Aviva red.
Yet the England back-rower added: 'The beauty of this is we've got a week. There is no point dwelling on it or crying about it. We've just got to take it on the chin and move on.
'I won't watch the game back tonight. I want to make the most of the last few hours we've got here with my parents and my girlfriend. I want to spend time with them and not talk too much code. I'll probably download it for the flight to be honest.
'It's either that or The Office. I'll probably watch The Office!'
Like Farrell, Curry refused to accept the mitigation of unfamiliarity with squad-mates drawn from four nations.
'We were (good) in spots, that is the best bit. But you have got to respect the ball a lot more. The best is we were there, we were supporting each other. The cohesion is definitely there, slash building. There are things to work on but the foundations are definitely there.
'We need to own the big moments and take personal responsibility out of this game, we can talk about coming together as a team or partnerships but we have got to nip that in the bud straight away.
'I have been on these things before and you can wait until Monday before you say this stuff. But you can get to the sixth week and still make the same excuse. Six weeks is not a long time so we can't make that excuse the whole way through. We nipped that in the bud straight away.
'That is not a reason and we need to take personal responsibility for our own performances and how excited we get on the ball. That is the really annoying thing because on the flip side it's really exciting because we do have our hands on the ball and are in great spots. But come on, we need to take personal responsibility when we have it.'
Fly-half Smith, who will battle with Finn Russell and Marcus Smith for the Test number 10 jersey across the five tour matches which still lie between the Lions and the series opener against the Wallabies in Brisbane on July 19, admitted he was 'gutted, pretty deflated' but felt he could use those feelings as motivation.
'I'm sure it's not the first time the Lions have not played particularly well in their first outing,' the Northampton Saints and England playmaker said.
'The main thing is how quickly we can respond and how quickly we can stop feeling sorry for ourselves. We need to get back on the training pitch and get better as quickly as possible.
'Faz has already said that – no moping about, no sulking. We need to get back on the horse straight away and have conversations that are going to make us better. That's definitely the aim.'