DUBLIN :Argentina beat a stuttering British and Irish Lions for the first time ever on Friday with a 28-24 warm-up game victory at the Aviva Stadium that left coach Andy Farrell with plenty to do as his squad get ready to leave for Australia.
While Farrell barely had enough bodies to make up a matchday squad after deciding to give the majority who played in English Premiership and URC finals last Saturday the evening off, he had hoped the others would grasp the opportunity.
Few did and just as Argentina did when the sides’ last met in a 25-25 draw before the 2005 tour, the Pumas had the Lions on the ropes early thanks to tries from Ignacio Mendy and Tomas Albornoz either side of a Bundee Aki effort that gave them a deserved 21-10 halftime lead.
While the Lions were a different animal early in the second half and regained the lead after a penalty try and another home crowd score, this time for Tadhg Beirne, Santiago Cordero put Argentina back in front with another great team try and the error-strewn Lions could not reply again.
“We talked in the week about this amazing opportunity, We wanted to come here and do a good job. It’s amazing,” player of the match Albornoz said in a pitchside interview.
Argentina, who were also missing some key players still involved in the French Top 14 playoffs, showed they were here to play with a couple of early warning shots before a brilliant set piece try after the sides had traded early penalties.
Quick ball and quick hands carved the Lions’ defence open for fullback Santiago Carreras to throw a deft dummy and find Mendy, whose step inside left Duhan van der Merwe on his backside.
The Lions also showed some early attacking intent and after two tries were chalked off for knock ons either side of Mendy’s effort, one of the few available Irishmen Aki brought a huge cheer from the sea of red by bulldozing over on 20 minutes.
But it was very scrappy for Farrell’s men after that, with the rust of their early days together showing up in yet more knock ons, a misfiring lineout and missing almost twice as many tackles as their opponents by halftime.
After two more Albornoz penalties edged Argentina in front, the flyhalf benefited from some more untidy Lions play, this time deep in Puma territory, to dive under the posts and into a sea of nearby Argentine replacements right on halftime.
“TEETHING ISSUES”
The second half started off a lot looser and the Lions were much more awake to it. The game looked like it might swing just a few minutes in when their forward pressure forced the penalty try and a yellow card for Argentina prop Mayco Vivas.
Another try looked inevitable before Vivas returned as the Lions began to empty what on paper was a far more loaded bench. Beirne obliged shortly after a huge carry from Ellis Genge.
But the mistakes began to creep in again and multiply as Argentina showed all they needed was a sniff, breaking from their own half before replacement Matias Moroni kicked in behind for fellow sub Cordero to beat Marcus Smith to a footrace.
Some Argentine players were in tears when the final whistle sounded as they secured their first win in eight attempts, six of which were in tours of South America almost a century ago.
For the Lions they have five more games in Australia and plenty more time together to set things right before the first test against the Wallabies on July 19.
“There’s a few teething issues,” said Lions captain Maro Itoje.
“We’re building a team. I think we showed glimmers of what we can do. We’ll learn and we’ll definitely get better.”
