The Lions Suffer Defeat Against Argentina in Dublin
Coach Andy Farrell expressed his concern after the British & Irish Lions’ defeat to Argentina with a score of 28-24 in Dublin on Friday. This match marked the beginning of the Lions’ tour, who are preparing to travel to Australia this Saturday for the 2025 series. Despite expectations, the Lions did not achieve the desired performance, making numerous mistakes that cost them the match. Farrell highlighted Argentina’s greater determination and was alarmed by the number of errors made by his team. The Lions scored three tries, by Bundee Aki, a penalty try and Tadhg Beirne, but it wasn’t enough against the outstanding performance of Tomás Albornoz. Farrell acknowledged the need to improve to aspire to win their first series since 2013.“We played a difficult match, didn’t we? Congratulations to Argentina and I’m sure it’s a great moment in their history,” Farrell commented in the post-match press conference.
Andy Farrell
Although this was the first match for the recently assembled team, Farrell insisted that there are no excuses for the performance. “We need to be better,” he stated. “We will review what happened and look for something positive to move forward”.
The coach was also disappointed by the number of loose balls that Argentina recovered. “There is a fight and hunger that we cannot accept,” he said. “We need to be honest. There are certain things we said we were going to do and we must fulfill them properly.” Maro Itoje, for his part, assured that the team will learn from this defeat and will solve the problems in the lineout. “We were not precise or consistent enough to put pressure on Argentina,” he commented. “We are finding our rhythm. We will learn the lessons and improve together.”
