Argentina Tame and Conquer the British & Irish Lions in Dublin

Argentina made history in Dublin, Ireland on Friday. Los Pumas tamed and conquered the British & Irish Lions in a famous 28-24 victory. The match was the British & Irish Lions’ only home game before touring Australia. Los Pumas fly home to Argentina to prepare for three home test matches in July.

Preparations for the match were not ideal. The date meant that Argentines involved in the Top 14 play-off’s were not considered. Similarly, the English Premiership and United Rugby Championship (URC) finals affected the Lions’ selections.

The game got underway with Argentina showing a willingness to attack. The South Americans were rewarded with an easy penalty near the posts. Man of the match, Tomás Albornoz opened the scoring on 3 minutes. His opposite, Fin Smith leveled on 10 minutes, doing so after his team had had a try disallowed.

Argentina’s play-makers were involved in the game’s opening try. Albornoz passed left for Santiago Carreras. The cut-out pass put the fullback in a gap. He ran forward and attracted defenders before passing to Ignacio Mendy. The Benetton winger stepped inside to beat Duhan van der Merwe and score in the try zone.

The Lions rebounded swiftly. Quick ball to the right saw 35-year-old Bundee Aki spinning and diving over. Fin Smith converted for an 11-10 lead.

Albornoz landed a penalty to restore the lead on half-time, or so it appeared. Instead, both teams looked to run the ball with time-up in the first-half. The Lions went left with Duhan van der Merwe tackled. Juan Martín González recovered the ball and passed to Rodrigo Isgró who put Santiago Carreras into space. He attracted the last remaining defender before passing to Tomás Albornoz who dived under the posts to score.

The second-half began with Argentina holding a 21-10 lead. The Lions took little time to chip-away at the scoreline. They got their second try and it came with a bonus; Mayco Vivas was yellow carded for collapsing a rolling-maul. The penalty try was followed by a try to Tadhg Beirne seven minutes later. The Lions now led 24-21.

The balance had shifted to the home side; however, Argentina fought back in a key moment. Winger Rodrigo Isgró showed his excellence at chasing the highball. The ball then went left. Henry Pollock put pressure on Tomás Albornoz who withstood it to make a break upfield. He passed to Joaquín Oviedo who broke and off-loaded to Justo Piccardo. The center found Matías Moroni who kicked for Santiago Cordero to chase and score.

Albornoz converted for a 28-24 scoreline. Neither team scored again but a quarter of the contest remained. The Lions had opportunities but lost control of the ball or lost to turn-overs. Henry Pollock conceded a turn-over in the final play of the match while Rodrigo Isgró kicked the ball into the stands.

The Western Force are next up for the British & Irish Lions. The June 28 match will take place in Perth, Western Australia. Los Pumas next play on July 05. The South Americans face England in La Plata before facing the same team in San Juan. Argentina’s July Internationals conclude in Salta vs Uruguay on July 19.

POST MATCH COMMENTS

Lions Coach, Andy Farrell said: “they were hungrier than us and that is just, not acceptable.”
Center Bundee Aki said “we are not making any excuses… Argentina are a bloody good outfit; good team and they punished us when we weren’t clinical.”
Pumas Coach, Felipe Contepomi said: “All of the merit sits with the players. They see that the player in front of them is flesh and bones. There is a lot to improve on, but today the boys have to feel proud of what they achieved on the field.”
In being interviewed by World Rugby Hall of Famer, Juan Martín Hernández, Man of the Match, Tomás Albornoz was humble. The fly half thanked his 22 teammates. “It (the win) is because of the work of the 23 players who took to the field. The truth is that, without them none of this would be possible.”

KEY MATCH STATISTICS

Both teams scored three tries.
Argentina carried for 509 meters. The Lions did so for 345 meters.
Argentina made 150 carries compared to 94 by the Lions.
Los Pumas’ completed 233 passes, more than double the 105 made by the Lions.
Argentina defeated 39 meters; the Lions defeated 23.
Both teams made 6 line breaks.
The Lions made 176 tackles, many more than Argentina’s 109.
Defense was critical to the outcome; the Lions had 59% possession and 67% territory.
The Lions made 33 kicks while Argentina kicked 23 times.
Argentina won 108 rucks. The Lions won 61. Both teams lost 4 each.
The Lions conceded 12 penalties and Argentina conceded 5.
Rodrigo Isgró made the most tackles with 17.

MILESTONES

Argentina defeated the British & Irish Lions for the first time. The Lions won the first 6 matches while the teams competed to a 25-25 draw in 2005.
Maro Itoje captained the British & Irish Lions for the first time.
14 players made their Lions capped debuts: F Bealham, S Cummings, B Earl, M Hansen, T Freeman, E Genge, R Kelleher, A Mitchell, J Morgan, H Pollock, P Schoeman, F Smith, S Tuipulotu and T Williams.
Boris Wenger, Bautista Bernasconi and Simón Benítez Cruz debuted for Argentina.
Matías Moroni earned his 90th cap for Argentina.
Pablo Matera tied Agustín Creevy’s all-time Pumas record of 110 caps.

SCORING

BRITISH & IRISH LIONS (24)
Try – B Aki (15′), Penalty Try (46′), T Beirne (53′)
Con – F Smith (20′, 54′); No Kick (46′)
Pen – F Smith (10′)

ARGENTINA (28)
Try – I Mendy (12′), T Albornoz (40′), S Cordero (59′)
Con – T Albornoz (40′, 61′)
Pen – T Albornoz (5′, 26, 39′)
YC – M Vivas (46′)

LINE-UPS

BRITISH & IRISH LIONS
1 Ellis Genge, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3 Finlay Bealham, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 6 Tom Curry, 7 Jac Morgan, 8 Ben Earl, 9 Alex Mitchell, 10 Fin Smith, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 12 Bundee Aki, 13 Sione Tuipulotu, 14 Tommy Freeman, 15 Marcus Smith

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

ARGENTINA
1 Mayco Vivas, 2 Julián Montoya (capt.), 3 Joel Sclavi, 4 Franco Molina, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 6 Pablo Matera, 7 Juan Martín González, 8 Joaquín Oviedo, 9 Gonzalo García, 10 Tomás Albornoz, 11 Ignacio Mendy, 12 Justo Piccardo, 13 Lucio Cinti, 14 Rodrigo Isgró, 15 Santiago Carreras

Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Boris Wenger, 18 Francisco Coria Marchetti, 19 Santiago Grondona, 20 Joaquín Moro, 21 Simón Benítez Cruz, 22 Matías Moroni, 23 Santiago Cordero

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS

OFFICIALS

Referee: James Doleman (New Zealand)
Assistants: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia); Andrea Piardi (Italy)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)

HEAD-TO-HEAD (8) – BRITISH & IRISH LIONS 6, ARGENTINA 1, DRAW 1

Jun 12, 1910 – Argentina 3-28 Lions (Buenos Aires, AR)
July 31, 1927 – Argentina 0-37 Lions (Buenos Aires, AR)
Aug 07, 1927 – Argentina 0-46 Lions (Buenos Aires, AR)
Aug 14, 1927 – Argentina 3-34 Lions (Buenos Aires, AR)
Aug 21, 1927 – Argentina 0-43 Lions (Buenos Aires, AR)
Aug 16, 1936 – Argentina 0-23 Lions (Buenos Aires, AR)
May 23, 2005 – Lions 25-25 Argentina (Cardiff, GB-CYM)
Jun 20, 2025 – Lions 24-28 Argentina (Dublin, IE)