British and Irish Lions v Argentina: Five takeaways as Los Pumas’ ‘heroes’ humble Andy Farrell’s ‘lacklustre’ charges in a historic victory
The British and Irish Lions players following their defeat to Argentina with an inset of Los Pumas celebrating
Following Argentina’s 28-24 win over the British and Irish Lions in the opening game of the 2025 tour, here are our five key takeaways from in an all-time Dublin classic.
The top line
Argentina humbled the 2025 British and Irish Lions at the very first hurdle as a brilliant display from their half-backs and back-row bettered Andy Farrell’s men all evening at the Aviva in Dublin.
The three tries from Ignacio Mendy, Tomas Albornoz and Santiago Cordero, and three penalties from Albornoz, were enough to see off the Lions, who scored through Bundee Aki and Tadhg Beirne and a penalty try added towards the end after a collapsed maul by Los Pumas.
Between them, acting skipper Beirne and Argentina leader, Julian Montoya, both did their very best to gift the match to their opponents; Montoya kicking a ball out of Tomos Williams’ hands and then Beirne croc-rolling an Argentina player at ruck time.
Make no mistake, Argentina were the sharper and more accurate side. Justo Piccardo had a wonderful match in defence, closing down the battering rams in the Lions midfield, but it was Juan Martin Gonzalez and Juaquin Oviedo in the back-row and Albornoz and Gonzalo Garcia at half-back that were the real heroes in blue and white as they played their part in a historic victory.
Los Pumas went one better from their 2005 draw as they absolutely deserved their win, dominated the airways and collisions all match. They made a mockery of those who refused to award Test caps for this fixture, and they laid down a marker for their rugby as they move into their international season in the Southern Hemisphere.
Argentina stun British and Irish Lions in Dublin as Tomas Albornoz shines in historic win
Lions lacklustre
The Lions lacked accuracy and sharpness in midfield. They looked as if they had a centre combination that simply was too alike, they looked lethargic early on in the back-row, and other than some sterling work from Ellis Genge and Beirne, with Maro Itoje also contributing, they came off very much second best in terms of attacking sharpness and precision of distribution.
Only Marcus Smith lit things up at the back, and every time he got the ball, he made things happen – having a hand in both the Aki and the Beirne try. The Lions tried to play as flat as they could, but the unfamiliarity of personnel and combinations saw spilt balls, missed support lines and a lack of continuity that really hampered them. Perhaps heavy legs from a long season and, for some, a quick turnaround, played their part, but nothing could excuse the manner the Lions’ line out, aerial game, and collision power were bettered.
One takeaway is the excellence of both starting props, Genge and Finlay Bealham, who provided a real platform for their team, and, conceding only five penalties, Farrell will be delighted with the discipline. But make no mistake about it, as much as the Lions will talk this down, this defeat will be a hammer blow to both their confidence and planning.
Puma back-row and half-backs shine
The Lions’ biggest challenge was always going to be the world-class loose forward trio Argentina possess, and other than an industrious performance from Tom Curry on the blindside, despite a missed tackle that cost a try, Los Pumas’ back-row very much stole the honours in a quite superb collective outing.
At the heart of their performance was the work of the less lauded of the combination – Oviedo – who carried like a train through contact and showed some marvellous touches when linking into attack.
His 12 carries for some 72m rocked the Lions right down the middle of the park, and his industry was responsible for a lot of the scoring positions that came Los Pumas’ way.
Alongside him, that wonderful Saracen Gonzalez was supreme in his aerial work and made the killer intervention at ruck time, fly hacking a ball bobbling out, to see Albornoz set free down the right-hand side to grab a vital score before half time.
Crucially, Los Pumas won the collisions. They had a greater appetite for contact, better intensity and looked fresher than the Lions, especially Jac Morgan and Ben Earl, both of whom looked shadows of the players we saw in this season’s Six Nations.
Albornoz was compelling all evening; wonderful with the boot, his vision and pinpoint kicking created havoc in that aerial battle and, with that half-time try under his belt, yet again he demonstrated what a wonderful talent he is.
But he’s never quite had the support at nine he’s deserved, and in this match we saw the emergence of Garcia, who had a quite magnificent performance at the base. There’s something about Garcia in the speed of his clearing from the base, and his wonderful 30m pass to set up the wide outside for Los Pumas in one attack was out of the highest drawer. He’s one to watch, and his partnership with Albornoz is sure to thrive under Felipe Contepomi in this season’s Rugby Championship.
Aerial woes plague Lions’ progress
Farrell’s Ireland and also the English players under Steve Borthwick, are seasoned exponents of winning the aerial battle, and it’s a key part of both nations’ strategy.
However, rather disappointingly, for long periods of the match, Argentina absolutely ruled the kick catch, with Rodrigo Isgro and Mendy both very much getting the better of Tommy Freeman (who, in fairness, was threatening and industrious with ball in hand) and Duhan van der Merwe, who looked perhaps half a yard off his best.
It caused all sorts of issues in the first-half – with the Lions lacking the understanding and rhythm of a team that knows each others’ games inside out. With Australia absolutely outstanding in the kick and catch, it’s an area that the Lions need to sort out as quickly as possible, before it becomes a real focal issue when the test series arrives.
Talking of catching, the early line-out work of the Lions left much to be desired. Farrell went in with two primary (Maro Itoje and Beirne) and one occasional jumper (Curry), a high-risk strategy, but one perfectly workable provided that the throwing is pinpoint. Sadly, Luke Cowan-Dickie really struggled to hit his man, overthrowing three and shorting on another, allowing Los Pumas four against the head, so to speak.
When Ronan Kelleher came on, he immediately hit an apex throw to the back of Beirne, which allowed the Lions to get the position to handle, with Smith, the Lions’ best back, cutting back to allow Williams to deliver a killer flat pass to send Beirne over.
But the aerial issues again bit the Lions in the second half as Isgro cleaned them out in the airways again, to see Albornoz dash past Curry to send Cordero screaming over off yet another brilliantly placed kick through.
In Test rugby, and especially Lions rugby, set-piece domination is essential, and on this showing, they fell short in both the aerial and the line-out battles.
Bench Impact
The Lions’ bench, pretty much to a man, increased both the pace and ambition of their team. Williams at nine looked finally liberated at Test level, playing a part in the Beirne try and giving real impetus and variety to the back line.
Elliot Daly, a three-time Lion, changed the dynamic of the centres completely, making some really telling incursions in the 13 channel, with some wonderfully elusive footwork and deft passing. Henry Pollock took the energy levels up a new notch completely as he literally exploded off the touchline in a ball of floppy-haired energy when replacing Morgan, adding much-needed energy to the lethargy the Lions had had in their back row up until then.
Kelleher played his part too, shoring up the lineout woes and adding solidity to everything he did without quite having the impact in the loose that other hookers have, although the props, Schoeman and Furlong, that came on failed to continue the excellent work of Genge and Bealham as a starters.