British and Irish Lions: Andy Farrell challenges players to ‘take this team forward’ following Argentina defeat as Dan Sheehan throws down gauntlet
British and Irish Lions head coach Andy Farrell speaking to the media.
British and Irish Lions head coach Andy Farrell has challenged his players to move forward from their defeat to Argentina with an emphatic response against Western Force.
Tomorrow’s game in Perth is the first Lions game of the tour to take place on Australian soil, and Farrell has made 13 changes to the side which fell to a 28-24 defeat against Los Pumas in Dublin last time out.
That defeat at the Aviva was the first time since 1971 that the Lions have lost their opening match of a tour, but there is still plenty of time to improve heading into the three-Test series against the Wallabies, which begins in two weeks time.
Andy Farrell challenges players to ‘take this team forward’
The Lions seemed in control of the contest after the opening quarter of the second-half, following a penalty try and a Tadhg Beirne score; however, a breathtaking score from Santi Cordero plus a Tomas Albornoz conversion were enough to steer Los Pumas to their first-ever victory over the historic touring side.
“I’m disappointed to lose any game, said Farrell ahead of his side’s clash with the Force on Saturday. “I hate losing, so does everyone else; that is why they’re in this position in the first place.
“There were plenty of positives to go with that, so it’s about taking the learnings, keep pushing forward right up until that first Test.”
He later called for his side to make a response in the best way possible: “We’ll see on Saturday how we respond. The guys that are taking the field this week are a little bit fortunate in the sense that they understand how we want to get better.
“They’ve got to take responsibility for that, and grab hold of their chance of taking this team forward.”
If they are to turn that narrow defeat into a resounding victory this weekend, newly appointed captain Dan Sheehan, who will also don the famous red jersey for the first time alongside eight other debutants, believes they need to match the emotion of a revved-up Force side.
“I’m sure the Force will be 150% of what they usually are,” said Sheehan. “They will be flying into it, and that bit of extra hunger can produce some powerful things.
“They would have been eyeing this game up since they first stepped into that Western Force changing room. It’ll mean an awful lot to them.
He added: “I don’t want them to think that they’re going to be hungrier than us. We have to demonstrate our own mindset back to them.”
