The 2025 British & Irish Lions tour is up and running but here was an abrupt reminder that not everything can be perfectly choreographed. This proved to be anything but a routine sendoff for the Lions coaches and players, who already have a good deal to reflect on as they head for Perth this weekend to embark on their eagerly awaited Australian tour.
Should they win the Test series 3-0, of course, this pre-departure wake-up call will rate as only a minor footnote in the great scheme of things. The Wallabies, nevertheless, will have taken due note of both the historic result and the positive manner with which Argentina approached the contest. The Pumas, despite the absence of some first-choice players, led by 11 points at half-time and were good value for their history-making win.
Maybe, one day, the Lions will find it in their hearts – and wallets – to agree to a full tour of South America which, on this evidence, would be a guaranteed crowd pleaser.
As for the Lions, playing in Ireland for the first time, it is too early to draw hard and fast individual conclusions, but Tadhg Beirne and Sione Tuipulotu will both be influential figures in Australia and the two starting props, Ellis Genge and Finlay Bealham, showed up well in the set scrums.
Pre-departure games, though, can give and take away and this result was another example. “We made it a tough game, didn’t we?” the Lions head coach Andy Farrell said. “Congratulations to Argentina, who thoroughly deserved to win. [But] the story of the game is that we made too many errors. We need to be better than that. Losing hurts, especially in this jersey. We need to find a solution pretty quickly and be honest with ourselves.”
At least the post-game injury bulletins were OK. Four years ago, Alun Wyn Jones was ruled out of the early stages of the tour after damaging a shoulder against Japan at Murrayfield and the possibility of being sidelined before the plane south has left the runway inevitably hung in the humid evening air.
The calibre of the opposition, though, created little margin for error. The Pumas may not have been absolutely at full strength but whenever Pablo Matera, Juan-Martín González and Julián Montoya take the field they are never less than fully committed. The pace of the game certainly bore little resemblance to a gentle friendly.
Luke Cowan-Dickie came close to an opening try only to lose control of the ball in the act of scoring and, after Tomás Albornoz and Fin Smith had swapped a penalty apiece, it was the Pumas who seized the initiative thanks to a nicely taken 11th minute try by their speedy left wing Ignacio Mendy.
The Lions also had a second potential score by Tuipulotu correctly ruled out for a prior knock-on but their cohesion was steadily improving, helped by the established England half-back pairing of Alex Mitchell and Smith. Both were involved, along with full-back Marcus Smith, in keeping a promising move alive before the physical Bundee Aki took the most direct available route to the try-line.
These are clearly early days but Tuipulotu looks to be the kind of player any centre would love to play alongside and the calmly assured Smith also looked at ease in the same red jersey worn by his grandfather, Tom Elliot, on the 1955 tour to South Africa.
The scrum was also a positive area, in contrast to an initially misfiring lineout but, ultimately, too many balls hit the deck for comfort. There was another example on the stroke of half-time when Duhan van der Merwe, desperate to impress, lost the ball and the Pumas took gleeful advantage, Carreras releasing Albornoz for a swallow-dive score 75 metres upfield.
The 21-10 interval scoreline demanded a swift response, which duly materialised within five minutes of the restart. The Lions opted to trust their driving maul with the line in sight and a concerted surge gave the opposing pack little option but to drag it down, costing them a penalty try and 10 minutes in the sin bin for Mayco Vivas.
The raft of Lions subs also brought fresh energy and, soon enough, they were back ahead. Genge came charging through the middle in proper rhino fashion and, eventually, Beirne added the finishing gloss. The Pumas, though, also found a second wind and another daring break-out raid from deep yielded their third try of the night courtesy of the pacy Santiago Cordero. If the Australian leg of the tour is equally full of thrills and spills, the next few weeks will be excellent viewing.
It was also a more than decent occasion which further underlined the power of one of rugby’s most evocative brands. Even Munster fans would have been impressed by the sea of red jerseys all around the Aviva and, despite some punchy ticket prices, the attendance was a 51,700 sellout. The final result, though, will inevitably be the abiding memory.
