British & Irish Lions v Argentina live: Result and reaction as Los Pumas clinch close contest win in Dublin
Lions 24-28 Argentina: Andy Farrell’s men suffered defeat in thrilling and challenging tour match
The British and Irish Lions were sent off to Australia on the back of a close defeat to Argentina at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin as the Pumas clinched a 24-28 victory.
From the off Andy Farrell’s men were put on the back foot as the Argentine’s attacked with precision and power to force a penalty which Tomas Albornoz dispatched for the first points of the game.
The match then descending into a thrilling contest as Ignacio Mendy went over for the opening try before Bundee Aki’s try helped the Lions take the lead. The Pumas finished the first half superbly with a flurry of attacking prowess as two penalties and a try from Albornoz opened up an 11-point lead at the break.
The Lions responded brilliantly in the second half. A penalty try cut the deficit before Tadhg Beirne restored the lead for the hosts. The last word went to Santiago Cordero who went over for the Pumas’ third try and secured a famous win.
Relive the action from the Aviva Stadium with our live blog below:
Argentina spoil Lions’ leaving party as tour begins with defeat in Dublin
Perhaps the British and Irish Lions will stop inviting Argentina to their pre-tour party. 20 years on from a narrow escape and dispiriting draw kicked things off with a whimper in Cardiff for the 2005 vintage, the current crop were beaten as the Pumas had their day in Dublin.
The result here, of course, is only a mere piece of a wider puzzle that Andy Farrell and his stuff will put together as they gear up for the three Tests against the Wallabies but an opening-game defeat is unique this century; to term this game portentous for the tour as a whole would be perhaps to overplay it but the Lions have set off on the wrong foot.
Argentina spoil Lions’ leaving party as tour begins with defeat in Dublin
Ellis Genge speaking to Sky Sports:
“Pretty sore, pretty gutted. Bittersweet. Class to make your debut but no one likes to lose. Credit to Argentina.
“The position I play it’s tough to analyse the game - head in the sticks a lot - but I was pleased with the scrum; not so much with the turnovers. Argentina are a clinical team and move the ball well so we were chasing our tails. Credit to them.
“The nature of the beast is that you have to learn very quickly, as to how everyone moves and how the cogs fit into the machine. At this level, the expectation is that you adapt. We want to be a fast-learning team. We’re all world-class players and we should be able to put out a better performance than that.”
Owen Farrell speaking to Sky Sports:
“I think a lot of the game was played in the right parts of the field. Obviously a lot of balls didn't stick and there will be a lot of images that they'll look back and learn from.
“I think Argentina did unbelievably well to counter-punch when they had the opportunity. Whether that be a ball on the floor or a turnover, they seemed to turn things into points pretty quickly.
“I'm sure the Lions boys will be frustrated but the main thing is that they've played a great competitive game and have some images to go off to see what the standard is and what's not. Why some of those balls went down, why some of those decisions were good and why some of the decisions were not so good.
“I think they'll learn a hell of a lot, they'll learn a hell of a lot about each other, they'll learn a hell of a lot as a team and it would put them in good stead for next week."
Andy Farrell speaking to Sky Sports:
"It wasn’t exactly a show from us, it was a show from Argentina. First and foremost, congratulations to them, they thorough deserve their win.
"They capitalised on all the errors we made. But as far as we’re concede, there is a lot to do. You cannot win any Test match with that error rate.
"We lost enough ball their for a full tour, let alone a Test match against a good side like Argentina. We threw passes that were never on.
"It wasn’t just that, it was the aerial battle and the scraps on the floor. They were hungrier than us that is just not acceptable. The lineout and breakdown work was off a bit at times.
"I’m disappointed. We need to be honest with ourselves, take the learning and improve, then at least we will stand for something.
"There was good and bad throughout, I wouldn’t single out individuals or combinations. We were just a bit tentative and off, I take responsibility for that. When we came out with a bit of fight at the start of the second half it was more like, but we just suppressed ourselves with the error counts that carried on late into the second. You don’t win Test matches when things like that happen”
First time Lions have dropped their opening tour match since 1971
This marks the Pumas' sole victory in eight encounters with the British and Irish Lions, and it's the first time the Lions have dropped their opening tour match since 1971.
That year also stands as the last occasion the Lions secured a Test series win in New Zealand.
Lions centre Bundee Aki speaking to Sky Sports:
“We’re not making any excuses; Argentina are a bloody good outfit. They punished us when we weren’t clinical. Every turnover we made, they scored at every opportunity.
“We bounced back in the second half, Andy Farrell reminded us at half-time when it meant to be a Lion – when it gets hard, you’ve got to push it to another level. In certain parts of the game we did it, in others we didn’t. Argentina did.
“This shows where we are as a group, we can only get better from here. We know the challenge ahead of us, none of the nine games are going to be easy, so we’ve got to take the learnings out of this but we’ve got to learn quick.”
Julian Montoya speaks to Sky Sports:
"Really happy and really proud of the team effort. The three guys who played for the first time and they were outstanding.
"I was pleased about the effort and the fight we showed for each other throughout 80 minutes. It was a short week, just two training sessions, and we came here knowing it wasn't going to be perfect.
"We were sure we were wanted to give our best and be in position to take opportunities there and we did it."
Lions captain Maro Itoje speaking to Sky Sports: ‘We’re still building’.
"We just weren't as consistent as we would have liked. We showed glimmers of what we could do.
"We didn't consistently apply pressure, we let them off, and Argentina caught us slipping at times.
"Some areas of the game we were nowhere near as accurate enough but when we were on it, we looked good. We just need to do it more consistently. When we were direct, we were awesome.
"When we were playing front-foot ball at the line. At times we were playing tippy-tappy rugby and that’s not what we want to be. We want to be an aggressive team.
"But we are building. We would have liked to have been firing right from the off, it wasn’t quite that, but we’ll live, learn and get better."
Warburton: Argentina were excellent
Sky Sports' Sam Warburton:
"They [Lions] will be better for it [losing] but we have to firstly congratulate Argentina. They were so good.
"Their defensive set then at the end of the game - under extreme fatigue -was excellent.
"They were missing seven or eight front-line players and they still delivered a brilliant performance."
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