LIONS V PUMAS – MATCH REPORT
Perfect weather conditions to kick off the tour. Warm with a slight breeze and a full house at the Aviva Stadium.
If Andy Farrell was expecting a gentle warm up he was soon disabused of that thought. The Pumas came to play and the opening minutes were played at pace before the Pumas were awarded a penalty after pressure on the Lions line, Albornoz, who had an excellent game, converts and its 3-0. It is however the Lions who crossed the line first. After some slick passing from the backs, a penalty put them close to the Pumas try line. From the ensuing driving maul, Cowan-Dickie came close to an opening try only to lose control of the ball. Fin Smith levels the score with a penalty, before a nicely taken try by their speedy left wing Ignacio Mendy sees the Pumas ahead 8-3.
The Lions continue to press with some nice backline moves but a second potential score by Tuipulotu is ruled out for a prior knock-on by Mitchell. The England half-back pairing were also involved along with Marcus Smith in keeping a promising move alive before the physical Aki took the most direct available route to the try-line. Smith converts and its 10-8 to the Lions. The next two scores come from Argentina, two penalties which Albornoz converts. We now running down the clock to half time when totally out of nothing on the Lions 22, the ball squirts out of a Lions ruck and, in the blink of an eye, Isgro, Albornoz and Carreras combine to counter and go the length of the field. The Argentinian transition from defence to attack is impressive. Albornoz converts and it 21-10 at half time.
The interval scoreline demanded a swift response, which duly materialises within five minutes of the restart. The Lions opt to trust their driving maul with the line in sight and a concerted surge gives the Pumas pack little option but to drag it down, costing them a penalty try and 10 minutes in the sin bin for Mayco Vivas. It’s now 21-17 to the Pumas.
On the 50 min mark Farrell makes a few changes with Pollock, Kelleher and Williams coming on and Morgan, Cowan-Dickie, Mitchell departing. This brings some fresh energy and, soon enough, the Lions are back ahead. Genge came charging through the middle in proper rhino fashion and, eventually, Beirne adds the finishing gloss. Smith converts the try and its 24-21 to the Lions.
Making their own changes, the Pumas also find their second wind and another daring counterattack from deep in their own half yields their third try of the night courtesy of the pacy Santiago Cordero. With 20 mins to go the Pumas lead 28-24. With more changes from both sides the final quarter turns into a pretty scrappy affair. The Lions continue to run the ball but final passes are either missed or picked off by a solid Pumas defence. With 5 mins to go the Lions win a penalty and put the ball into the Pumas 22. The driving maul sets up several phases of play but the Lions cannot capitalise and the ball is turned over. The Pumas run down the clock for a well deserved win 28-24.
Not the start Andy Farrell was looking for with areas to improve on. The scrum was solid with Genge having a good game. The line out was a bit of a shambles with both Cowan Dickie and Kelleher missing their targets at important times. The back row went ok but I have a feeling that come the first test we’ll see a big lump at 6 to counter the G&G strength in that area. Mitchell and Fin Smith went well with Smith leading the line with some nice plays. I’m not sure that we’ll see the Aki /Tuipuloto combination again, the latter had a good game coming back from injury. Tommy Freeman was my Lions MOTM, apart from one dropped kick he had a very good all round game. Van de Merwe had a solid first half but dropped off in the second and was replaced by Hansen. Marcus Smith remains a bit of an enigma. Worked as a second playmaker at times but is not a 15 in my book. A bit vulnerable under the high ball.
It will be interesting to see Farrell’s team against the Force next weekend. Expect a few changes with the Lions playing positive rugby.
British and Irish Lions: Smith; Freeman, Tuipulotu, Aki, Van der Merwe; Smith, Mitchell; Genge, Cowan-Dickie, Bealham, Itoje, Beirne, Curry, Morgan, Earl. Replacements: Kelleher, Schoeman, Furlong, Cummings, Pollock, Williams, Daly, Hansen
Argentina: Carreras; Isgro, Cinti, Piccardo, Mendy; Albornoz, Garcia; Vivas, Montoya (c), Sclavi, Molina, Rubiolo, Matera, Gonzalez, Oviedo Replacements: Bernasconi, Wenger, Coria Marchetti, Grondona. S, Moro, Benitez Cruz, Moroni, Cordero
