Argentina begin 2025 with a big match of a different kind. Los Pumas take-on the British & Irish Lions in a fully-capped test match. It will be played at the home of Irish rugby in Dublin; never before, in their 137 years, have the British & Irish Lions played in Ireland.
Selected once every four years, the British & Irish Lions have toured Australia, New Zealand and South Africa on an uninterrupted rotational basis since 1989. It was not always so; indeed, the British & Irish Lions toured Argentina three times before World War II. British & Irish Lions matches against teams other than the All Blacks, Springboks and Wallabies are now very rare. Argentina last faced the British & Irish Lions in 2005.
The match is positioned between the end of the season involving British & Irish professional teams and ahead of the tour to Australia. This has affected the make-up of both teams. Some miss out following the English Premiership and United Rugby Championship (URC) Finals. In addition, the Top 14 season is yet to conclude which resulted in Felipe Contepomi not selecting players from the French play-off’s.
 LIONS +  PUMAS MOST CAPS |
– M Itoje (6), T Furlong (6), E Daly (5)
– P Matera (109), J Montoya (105), M Moroni (89), S Cordero (54), S Carreras (53)
| LIONS + PUMAS LEAST CAPS |
– F Bealham (0), S Cummings (0), B Earl (0), M Hansen (0), T Freeman (0), E Genge (0), R Kelleher (0), A Mitchell (0), J Morgan (0), H Pollock (0), P Schoeman (0), F Smith (0), S Tuipulotu (0), T Williams (0)
– B Wenger (0), B Bernasconi (0), S Benítez Cruz (0), F Coria Marchetti (1), J Moro (1), J Piccardo (1)
| LIONS + PUMAS DEBUTANTS |
– E Genge (LH), Pierre Schoeman (LH), Ronan Kelleher (HK), F Bealham (TH), Scott Cummings (LO), J Morgan (FL), H Pollock (FL), B Earl (N8), A Mitchell (SH), T Williams (SH), F Smith (FH), S Tuipulotu (CE), T Freeman (WI), M Hansen (WI)
– B Wenger (LH), B Bernasconi (HK), S Benítez Cruz (SH)
| + NOTABLE ABSENTEES |
– A Porter (LH), D Sheehan (HK), W Stuart (TH), O Chessum (LO), Joe McCarthy (LO), J Ryan (LO), J van der Flier (FL), J Conan (N8), J Gibson-Park (SH), F Russell (FH), G Ringrose (CE), J Lowe (WI), H Keenan (FB), B Kinghorn (FB)
– I Calles (LH), T Gallo (LH), I Ruiz (HK), E Bello (TH), M Alemanno (LO), G Petti (LO), M Kremer (FL), F Isa (N8), G Bertranou (SH), S Chocobares (CE), E Boffelli (WI), M Carreras (WI), B Delguy (WI), JC Mallía (FB)
| NOTES |
- The British & Irish Lions team is selected from the very best players from the national Men’s test teams of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
- Maro Itoje captains the British & Irish Lions for the first time. Australia 2025 is to be his third Lions tour. It is also a third tour for replacements Elliot Daly and Tadhg Furlong.
- Bundee Aki, Tadhg Beirne, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Tom Curry, Marcus Smith and Duhan van der Merwe all toured South Africa in 2021.
- Hooker Ronan Kelleher is the only Leinster player in the 23 who featured in the URC Final.
- The British & Irish Lions 23 players to face Los Pumas play in the English Premiership and URC.
- Julián Montoya leads a Pumas side with nine retained players from Argentina’s most recent match. J Montoya, J Sclavi, P Rubiolo, P Matera, JM González, J Oviedo, G Garcia, T Albornoz, L Cinti and R Isgró all started against France in November.
- Argentina’s 23 features nine players involved in the recently completed English Premiership season: M Vivas, J Montoya, F Molina, P Rubiolo, JM González, L Cinti, R Isgró, S Carreras and S Grondona.
- Replacement flanker Joaquín Moro has signed for the Leicester Tigers in a career-defining move.
- There are also URC involved: G García, T Albornoz, I Mendy, B Bernasconi, and S Cordero.
- Santiago Carreras has been named Pumas vice-captain for the first time. He is also the fly half cover.
- Flanker Pablo Matera will earn his 110th cap; thus, matching the all-time record held by Agustín Creevy.
- Justo Piccardo will make his first test start in what is to be his second cap. He starts with the 80-time capped Jerónimo de la Fuente available but not on the roster. The Pampas’ inside center is the only Argentine-base player in the starting line-up. His prior test cap was also in Dublin.
- Additional SRA players in the 23 are B Wenger (Dogos) and S Benítez Cruz (Tarucas).
- Wenger has been preferred to Dragons prop Rodrigo Martínez who trained with Los Pumas in October.
- The team features reduced French Top 14 and Pro D2 involvement. Five play in France: J Sclavi, J Oviedo, F Coria Marchetti and M Moroni, However, M Vivas, and J Montoya join Oyonnax and Pau next season.
- Bristol Bears flanker, Santiago Grondona is covering second-rower.
- Andy Farrell has selected 5 players who are not homegrown: B Aki, F Bealham, P Schoeman, S Tuipulotu, and D van der Merwe.
- Three of the four Scotland players in the 23 are not homegrown.
- Argentina’s 23 players are all homegrown.
- The fixture will be the British & Irish Lions’ first ever match in Ireland.
- The British & Irish Lions played host to Argentina in Cardiff in 2005 and Japan in Edinburgh in 2021.
- World Rankings points will not be influenced by this match.
- New Zealander James Doleman will referee the match. He does not speak Spanish.
| PREDICTION |
The fixture will open the year for both teams. Limited training together can always be a talking point for this reason; however, these are all professional players who have been selected because they are the best of the best available to the coaches. Those representing the home side are fighting for places in the line-up to face the Wallabies in Australia. The Argentine players are focused on the here and now; this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for all of the Pumas’ players to face the British & Irish Lions. The British & Irish Lions are favorites to win in Dublin.
| LINEUPS |
BRITISH & IRISH LIONS
| # | PLAYER | HOMEGROWN | CAPPED BY |
| 1 | Ellis Genge | England | England |
| 2 | Luke Cowan-Dickie | England | England |
| 3 | Finlay Bealham | Australia | Ireland |
| 4 | Maro Itoje | England | England |
| 5 | Tadhg Beirne | Ireland | Ireland |
| 6 | Tom Curry | England | England |
| 7 | Jack Morgan | Wales | Wales |
| 8 | Ben Earl | England | England |
| 9 | Alex Mitchell | England | England |
| 10 | Fin Smith | England | England |
| 11 | Duhan van der Merwe | South Africa | Scotland |
| 12 | Bundee Aki | New Zealand | Ireland |
| 13 | Sione Tuipulotu | Australia | Scotland |
| 14 | Tommy Freeman | England | England |
| 15 | Marcus Smith | England | England |
| 16 | Ronan Kelleher | Ireland | Ireland |
| 17 | Pierre Schoeman | South Africa | Scotland |
| 18 | Tadhg Furlong | Ireland | Ireland |
| 19 | Scott Cummings | Scotland | Scotland |
| 20 | Henry Pollock | England | England |
| 21 | Tomos Williams | Wales | Wales |
| 22 | Elliot Daly | England | England |
| 23 | Mack Hansen | Australia | Ireland |
ARGENTINA
| # | PLAYER | FROM | CAPS |
| 1 | Mayco Vivas | Rafaela | 27 |
| 2 | Julián Montoya (capt.) | Buenos Aires | 105 |
| 3 | Joel Sclavi | Mar del Plata | 27 |
| 4 | Franco Molina | Córdoba | 12 |
| 5 | Pedro Rubiolo | Rafaela | 20 |
| 6 | Pablo Matera | Buenos Aires | 109 |
| 7 | Juan Martín González | Mendoza | 40 |
| 8 | Joaquín Oviedo | Córdoba | 13 |
| 9 | Gonzalo García | Tucumán | 11 |
| 10 | Tomás Albornoz | Tucumán | 17 |
| 11 | Ignacio Mendy | La Plata | 2 |
| 12 | Justo Piccardo | Buenos Aires | 1 |
| 13 | Lucio Cinti | La Plata | 32 |
| 14 | Rodrigo Isgró | Mendoza | 7 |
| 15 | Santiago Carreras | Córdoba | 53 |
| 16 | Bautista Bernasconi | Buenos Aires | – |
| 17 | Boris Wenger | Villa María | – |
| 18 | Francisco Coria Marchetti | Tucumán | 1 |
| 19 | Santiago Grondona | Buenos Aires | 19 |
| 20 | Joaquín Moro | Bahía Blanca | 1 |
| 21 | Simón Benítez Cruz | Buenos Aires | – |
| 22 | Matías Moroni | Buenos Aires | 89 |
| 23 | Santiago Cordero | Buenos Aires | 54 |
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Friday, June 20
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin (IE)
Kickoff: 8:00pm (IE); 4:00pm (AR)
Weather Forecast: Mostly Cloudy, 21°C; Wind 13 km/h
Broadcasts: ESPN and Disney + (Argentina); Sky Sports (UK and Ireland)
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: James Doleman (New Zealand)
Assistants: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia); Andrea Piardi (Italy)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)
| HEAD-TO-HEAD (7) (4) – B&I Lions 6, Argentina 0, 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)
– 6 WINS
– 0 WINS
The post June 2025 – British & Irish Lions vs Argentina – ARN Guide appeared first on Americas Rugby News.
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