British and Irish Lions humbled on home soil by Argentina

The British and Irish Lions ’warm up’ for their tour of Australia has not gone to plan, with Andy Farrell’s squad stumbling to a tight defeat at the hands – and feet – of Argentina.

The British & Irish Lions will set off for Australia on the back of a 28-24 defeat by Argentina in their warm-up Test in Dubin.

The Lions’ livery was here, there and everywhere in the Aviva Stadium with the players’ shirts the same hue as those who had spent too long in the sun, testing the robustness of their liver.

Ahead of starting their journey to Australia, Dr Phil administered some painful travel jabs to set them on their way.

Andy Farrell will hope, in the long run, this dose of reality will inoculate them against any defeats on the other side of the world.

Tadhg Beirne and Ellis Genge of British & Irish Lions react after the match. Picture: Getty Images

Dublin is a second home to Felipe Contepomi from his spells with Leinster both as a player and an assistant coach.

And the Argentina supremo sure looked comfortable once more in D4 as his side turned the narrowest of leads into an 11-point advantage in the final minute of the first half and later responded when required.

The Lions’ second-half comeback was led by the Pumas’ indiscipline with Mayco Vivas yellow-carded and a penalty try awarded within six minutes of the restart after a maul had been dragged to the ground.

Argentina's Tomas Albornoz dives over the line to score a try. Picture: Peter Morrison

Rodrigo Isgro of Argentina celebrates the victory with fans. Picture: Getty Images

Further punishment was to follow during the prop’s time in the bin when Tadhg Beirne touched down after Ellis Genge had broken through the opposition defence.

There will be no panic for Farrell yet. After all, this was only the first of six warm-up games for the Lions before the first Test against Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies in four weeks’ time.

Throw in the fact that 10 Leinster players – Tadhg Furlong and Rónan Kelleher were the only ones involved here – will come into the mix and his options will suddenly look a lot stronger.

Bath duo Will Stuart and Finn Russell, as well as Ollie Chessum of Leicester Tigers, were also excused because of club duties as recently as last Saturday, also sat this one out.

Even so, it was an England-dominated team, with some of the cheering for their names when they were announced suggesting it was being done with a sickly taste in the mouth.

Certainly, it did not match the welcome extended to first-time Lion Finlay Bealham and 2021 tourists Beirne and Bundee Aki.

Beirne was the first to make an impact, collecting Argentina’s kick-off and then turning the ball over inside the first 80 seconds.

Henry Pollock of British & Irish Lions attempts to charge down a kick. Picture: Getty Images

But it was the South Americans who took the lead with Tomas Albarnoz kicking the first three of his 16 first-half points with five minutes gone.

The Lions thought they had scored the first try of the game when Luke Cowan-Dickie went over following a maul and an earlier Duhan van der Merwe carry.

Referee James Doleman awarded the try but reversed his decision after he saw a replay of the hooker dropping the ball over the line.

They did level when Sione Tuipolotu forced a penalty – with Fin Smith splitting the posts – after Argentina had turned the ball over following a good move involving Van der Merwe and Tommy Freeman.

But Santiago Carreras helped send Ignacio Mendy away with the winger stepping inside van der Merwe before sliding it, although Albarnoz could not add the extras.

The combined side had another try – with Tuipolotu ploughing his way through tackles – chalked off because of earlier knock-ons, the first by Argentina.

Fin Smith of British & Irish Lions looks on during a scrum. Picture: Getty Images

From the scrum, the Lions looked to have butchered a chance on the left when Tuipolotu did not offload to van der Merwe.

But they fared better on the right with out-half Smith passing to Aki who barrelled his way over the line despite the best efforts of the three opponents.

Smith converted to give Farrell’s side the lead for the first time but Albarnoz nudged his team back in front with another penalty in the 26th minute.

One assumed another penalty in the final 60 seconds would be the final score of the first half but the ball spilt loose inside Argentina’s own half.

Lions' Tadhg Beirne collects the ball in a line out. Picture: Peter Morrison

And they reacted faster with Carreras sending Albarnoz on his way. And he had enough time and space to head for the posts to ensure his conversion was a formality.

Those 10 points presumably changed the nature of Farrell’s halftime instructions as well as the challenge that lay ahead after the resumption.

But there was no panic and, as much as their way back into the match was a penalty try, they can argue that was a result of their pressure.

And they pressed home their numerical advantage with another try which won the hearty approval from the largely Irish crowd because of the identity of the scorer.

What Farrell would have wanted at that point from his charges was to seize control and manage the game. Instead, they continued to struggle to deal with Argentina’s ingenuity and opportunism.

Former Connacht star Santiago Cordero got on the end of Albornoz’s grubber ahead of Marcus Smith.Kelleher, Furlong and Mack Hansen all saw time off the bench but could not turn the tide as Argentina stood up to the Lions’ mauling and lived to tell the tale.

This article originally appeared in The Irish Sun and has been reproduced with permission.

Originally published as British and Irish Lions humbled on home soil by Argentina