Lions beaten by Argentina in pre-tour Dublin thriller

The 1888 Cup

British and Irish Lions (10) 24

Aki, penalty try, Beirne Cons: F Smith 2 Pens: F Smith

Argentina (21) 28

In a thrilling Dublin matchup, the British and Irish Lions lost to a slick and pacey Argentina in a deflating finale.

Argentina scored breakaway tries for the Lions in their first game away from Ireland and in their debut under new head coach Andy Farrell. Santiago Cordero, Tomas Albornoz, and Ignacio Mendy scored the winning try.

The South Americans held the South Americans to an 11-point half-time lead thanks to Mendy and Albornoz’s efforts, either side of Bundee Aki’s try for the Lions.

And while the Lions recovered early in the second half with a penalty try and Tadhg Beirne, Cordero quickly ran the counter and scored the winning try 22 minutes in.

The Lions pressed for a winning try in the closing stages, but Argentina held on in a nail-biting climax to claim their first victory over the Lions.

A 28-10 victory for Warren Gatland’s side in their warm-up match against Japan at Murrayfield in 2021 was overshadowed by a shoulder injury that disjointed Alun Wyn Jones’ preparation for the Tests series.

Even though Farrell was spared such grave concerns, he will have plenty to consider on the long flight to Perth on Saturday after a difficult night against the Pumas.

Farrell experimented with combinations, including an all-Northampton half-back pairing of Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith, as well as a power-packed center partnership of Aki and Sione Tuipulotu, and even without the assistance of the majority of the players competing in domestic championships last weekend.

Smith made his Lions debut, for whom the future is undeniably promising, but Albornoz delighted the sporadic blue and white dotted around the stadium by scoring 18 points.

Albornoz scored a penalty in the fourth minute, and Carreras was sent off before the full-back fed Mendy to the end.

Argentina’s first-half efforts were cheery, but after a dismal opening 40 minutes, the Lions’ brows were rubbed furiously.

Luke Cowan-Dickie crossed after a rolling maul, thinking he had immediately conjured a winning try, only to be denied by the television match official as a knock-on.

Farrell’s side stayed in touch with Aki thanks to the characteristically bulldozed try by Aki that he made just before a Tuipulotu score was rejected.

The Lions struggled to find cohesion when the teams came together for the first time, but they did manage to turn things around in the first few minutes of the second half.

A storming Ellis Genge charge set up Beirne’s try to put the Lions up 24-21 before the pack mauled their way to a penalty try before Argentine prop Mayco Vivas was yellow-carded as a result.

However, Argentina held on as a quick-witted replacement back Cordero wrapped up a fiery transition that started with Duhan van der Merwe losing to Isgro in a high-ball battle.

Ronan Kelleher, Pierre Schoeman, Tadhg Furlong, Scott Cummings, Henry Pollock, Tomos Williams, Elliot Daly, Mack Hansen as replacements.

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 Oviedo,

Replacements: Santiago Grondona, Joaquin Moro, Simon Benitez Cruz, Matias Moroni, and Santiago Cordero.

Sin-bin: Vivas 45

Referee: New Zealand Referee James Doleman

Nika Amashukeli (Georgia) and Andrea Piardi (Italie) serve as assistant referees.