Andy Farrell makes no excuses for his British & Irish Lions after slipping to a 28–24 defeat against Argentina in Dublin — the famous invitational team’s first tour-opening loss since 1971.
You can’t win a Test match with an error rate like that,” the Lions head coach said in a post-match interview. “Throwing passes that were never on, losing aerial battles, it’s not acceptable. Disappointed.”
The Lions were outscored three tries to two, despite first-half efforts from Bundee Aki and a second-half surge that included a penalty try and a score from Tadhg Beirne. But the visitors, sparked by 18 points from flyhalf Tomas Albornoz, capitalised on Lions errors and held firm in the final quarter.
“We suppressed ourselves with that error count,” said Farrell, who declined to comment on possible squad changes ahead of the tour to Australia.
Aki, who powered through for the Lions’ first try, said the Pumas made them pay for their mistakes: “They punished us. This shows where we are as a group, we know the challenge ahead of us, and we have to keep building on today.”
Captain Maro Itoje praised Argentina’s intensity but believes the Lions will grow. “When we were direct, we were awesome. Argentina showed us where we were lacking… the lesson is that we live and we learn.”
Trailing 21–10 at the break, the Lions hit back after half-time, taking the lead through a penalty try and Beirne’s finish. But Santiago Cordero’s sprint past Marcus Smith reclaimed the lead for Argentina, who held on for a famous win in Dublin.
