British & Irish Lions v Argentina: How to watch the touring team’s Dublin farewell game

Stephen Hurrell 19 Jun 2025 1:46 PM

British and Irish Lions fly-half Fin Smith and an inset of head coach Andy Farrell. — How to watch the British and Irish Lions' first game of the year against Argentina.

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The British Lions will play their first ever game in Dublin as they take on Argentina at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Friday evening.

The game will be the only one played in the Northern Hemisphere before the Lions fly to Australia for the main tour, and is the only chance for fans in the UK and Ireland to see the team this summer.

The match will kick off at 8 pm on Friday, 20 June and it will be streamed on Sky Sports in the UK with coverage beginning at 7 pm. You can get a Sky subscription to watch this game and the entire Lions tour here.

In Ireland, the game will be shown free-to-air as part of a partnership with S4C.

Argentina will be a tough test for the Lions. The team is ranked fifth in the world and lost by just three points last time out in Dublin when they played Ireland.

The match will give the Lions a chance to gel before the tour and will mean the Lions are captained by an Englishman in Mario Itoje for the first time since Martin Johnson nearly a quarter of a century ago.

Andy Farrell’s first Lions team will be missing Finn Russell and the side’s Leinster players, but there is plenty of intrigue around centre partnership of Bundee Aki and Sione Tuipulotu, while exciting Scotland winger Duhan van der Merwe is an entertaining option.

Team news

British and Irish Lions starting lineup: 15 Marcus Smith, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Sione Tuipulotu, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Jac Morgan, 6 Tom Curry, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ellis Genge

Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Henry Pollock, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Elliot Daly, 23 Mack Hansen

Team B starting lineup: 15 Santiago Carreras, 14 Rodrigo Isgro, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Justo Piccardo, 11 Ignacio Mendy, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Gonzalo Garcia, 8 Joaquin Oviedo, 7 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Franco Molina, 3 Joe Sclavi, 2 Julian Montoya (c), 1 Mayco Vivas

Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Boris Wenger, 18 Francisco Coria Marchetti, 19 Santiago Grondona, 20 Joaquin Moro, 21 Simon BenÃƒtez Cruz, 22 Matias Moroni, 23 Santiago Cordero

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