British and Irish Lions: Lessons to learn as Argentina condemn Andy Farrell's squad to defeat in tour opener

The British and Irish Lions will head into their tour of Australia on the back of a defeat, but what will they learn from their loss to Argentina and can it help them to a series win Down Under?

Andy Farrell’s side were beaten 28-24 by Argentina in front of a sold-out Aviva Stadium, where they overturned a 11-point deficit early in the second half before falling short against the Pumas.

A penalty try and Tadhg Beirne’s score after the break created a path to victory for the Lions, but Argentina’s ruthless counter-attacking swept Santiago Cordero in for the match-winning try in the 59th minute.

The hosts could not break down their stubborn opponents over the closing stages, securing the Pumas a famous victory – their first in eight attempts over the Lions – and seeing the Lions lose their tour opener for the first time since 1971.

What did the Lions do well? Where can they improve ahead of facing Australia? Sky Sports pundits Owen Farrell, Sam Warburton, John Barclay and Will Greenwood break down some of the key talking points from a thrilling Test match…

‘Hell of a lot to learn for Lions’

Former Lions fly-half Farrell was not overly concerned by the defeat, stressing how valuable it was for his successors to get a competitive game under their belts so soon into the tour.

“A lot of the game was played in the right parts of the field,” Farrell told Sky Sports. “Obviously, a lot of balls didn’t stick and there will be a lot of images that they’ll look back and learn from.

“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 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 it’s not.

“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.”

Warburton, whose two series as Lions captain featured opening games against the Barbarians in 2013 and the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians in 2017, was adamant the stern Argentina assignment would have benefits down the line.

“That game is so much better – no disrespect to games in the past – than playing an invitational team where you win by 50 points,” he said.

“The Lions will learn so much more from this game. Yes, disappointing, as they wanted to get the momentum early on, but what a Test. You can dissect this now, learn from it, and move on.”

Argentina… the toughest Lions warm-up match ever?

Los Pumas more than lived up to their billing as the world’s fifth best team, exhibiting sensational attacking flair as they gave the Lions a thorough assessment.

“In the last 12 months, other than Ireland, they’ve beaten them all and that’s the calibre of this Argentina squad,” three-time Lion Greenwood said. “Their back row were outstanding and them all – to a man – were outstanding.”

Warburton added: “The Lions will be better for it [losing] but we have to firstly congratulate Argentina. They were so good.

“Their defensive set 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.”

Where do the Lions need to improve?

The Lions showed plenty of attacking intent but were on occasions found guilty of overplaying, with possession being lost on multiple occasions from the line-out and another area where improvement will be required.

“Line-outs are fixable,” former Scotland captain Barclay said. “I think it’s arguably one of the hardest parts of the game to put together. Everyone moves slightly differently and a small misfunction results in you not getting the ball. That’s where the frustration comes from in the line-out – not being able to apply pressure through that.

“I think the cohesion through forcing off-loads and, as Andy Farrell mentioned, some of them just weren’t on. I think it became a little bit contagious as the game went on where they were getting in behind and always looking.

“You want to be a team that understands when the ball is on and when it’s off. I think that will come on and the line-out will come and there are lots of good parts, but I think Test rugby is about applying pressure.

“If your line-out is not functioning and you’re getting beaten in the aerial game, then you’re forcing offloads and dropping the ball, it’s very hard to keep applying that pressure.”

How will the Lions respond? ‘We’ve got to learn quick’

The Lions head to Australia ahead of their warm-up match against Western Force next Saturday, live on Sky Sports, with centre Bundee Aki – who scored the opening try against Argentina – admitting they were not clinical enough during their defeat.

“We’re not making any excuses; Argentina are a bloody good outfit,” Aki told Sky Sports. “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.”

What’s next for the Lions?

Sky Sports will exclusively show the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, with all three Tests against the Wallabies and six warm-up matches to be shown exclusively live.

The Lions’ warm-up games start against Western Force in Perth on June 28 ahead of further matches against Queensland Reds in Brisbane (July 2), the Waratahs in Sydney (July 5), the Brumbies in Canberra (July 9), an Invitational Australia & New Zealand side in Adelaide (July 12) and the Rebels in Melbourne (July 22).

That game will take place after the opening Test in Brisbane on July 19, with the second Test at the MCG in Melbourne on July 26 and the final Test in the Accor Stadium in Sydney on August 2. Stream the British and Irish Lions with no contract