Lions suffer deflating Argentina defeat as Maro Itoje offers honest reaction

Maro Itoje's Lions took failed to show their teeth as they went down to the Pumas but the captain insists there is more to come in Australia. The skipper was replaced with 11 minutes left and watched from the bench as his side threw the kitchen sink at the visitors but could get a clinching score. Eleven points down at the break, the Lions fought back with a penalty try and a score from Tadhg Beirne made by Tomos Williams' pass and a rampaging carry from Ellis Genge.

But the impressive Pumas grabbed the lead back thanks to Santiago Cordero's score and they held on when the flak was flying late on. The Lions head to Perth today (SAT) banking some positives notably in their attacking shape in what was effectively a pre-season game against a very good Puma side.And captain Itoje insists the tune-up will stand them in good stead down under and in the three-Test series against Australia.

Itoje said: "We showed glimmers of what we can do. But we did not consistently pile the pressure. Argentina caught us napping sometimes. We weren't accurate enough in some areas but when we looked good, we looked good.

"When we were direct, we looked awesome. At times, it was tippy-tappy football and that's not what we want to be. We want to be aggressive. This is day one, our first game. We have quality players and we just need to work on that cohesion."

Andy Farrell reacted: "They capitalised on all our errors. There's a lot to do first and foremost for us. You can't win a Test with that error-rate. We lost enough ball for a full tour never mind a Test against Argentina!

"Throwing passes which were never on, the aerial battle, scraps on the floor - they were hungrier than us and that's not acceptable. Line-out and breakdown were off a little bit at times.

"Disappointed. We were just a little tentative and off. I take responsibility for that. They thoroughly deserved it. I am sure it is a big moment in Argentine history. The whole story of the game is we made too many errors and weren't able to put the pace on the game we wanted to. We need to be better than that, the Lions is good players coming together but it looked like we were a bit disconnected at times.

"Some players will have done themselves proud but others won't be happy. We know where we are at and we have got to learn a lot of lessons from that. We are not sugar-coating this, we need to be honest and say it as it is. Losing hurts, especially in this jersey and we need to find the solutions pretty quick. The games are going to come thick and fast."

In a similar fixture in 2021, when the Lions beat Japan 28-10 in Edinburgh, seven of the starters made into the run-on team in the first Test against South Africa in Cape Town so this was a day to make a make mark.

England's Tommy Freeman did that with some powerful runs, after taking a nasty bang contesting a high ball in the second half. But there were defensive lapses from Scotland's Duhan van der Merwe on the other wing as the Lions tried to shake off some rust.

The Argentinians are no easy beats and knocked over all of the southern hemisphere's big three in the Rugby Championship last year and are ranked fifth in the world, compared to the Wallabies, who are eighth. They are also ahead of England, Scotland and Wales in the official standings.

Down 21-10 at the interval the Lions had had tries for Luke Cowan-Dickie and Scotland centre Sione Tuipulotu chalked off by the TMO but Argentina were already on the board thanks to a score from wing Ignacio Mendy who got inside Van der Merwe.

Ireland's Bundee Aki finally took the bull by the horns and ran straight through the defence to score but the Pumas had plenty left.

Fly-half Tomas Albornoz added a try from his own half to his three first half penalties just before half-time with a superb move started by Harlequins winger Rodrigo Isgro and a backhanded pass from Bath-bound Santi Carreras.

Then came the Lions revival before Albornoz continued his night by creating the score for replacement Cordero and the lead stayed with the Pumas.

Scorers

Lions: Tries: Aki, Penalty try, Beirne; Cons: F.Smith (2); Pen: F.Smith

Argentina: Tries: Mendy, Albornoz, Cordero; Cons: Albornoz (2); Pens: Albornoz (3)