Andy Farrell says Lions ‘won't sugar-coat' defeat to Argentina
The Lions lost their opening tour match for the first time since 1971 after their second-half fightback was overturned when Santiago Cordero finished the match-winning try in the 59th minute.
On Saturday they head Down Under before facing the Western Force a week later and Farrell is seeking an immediate response to the error-strewn display seen at a sold-out Aviva Stadium.
Not the result we wanted, but a historic night in Dublin.
Thank you to the incredible fans who came to see us tonight, and to all of you who tuned in to support us from around the world 🙏🦁#Lions2025 pic.twitter.com/GcPTA1Pwnp
— British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) June 20, 2025
'We made it a tough game. Congratulations to Argentina, they thoroughly deserved to win the match. I'm sure that's a big moment in Argentinean rugby history,' Farrell said.
'We had plenty of opportunities and we should have done better to convert them, but the whole story of the game is that we compounded too many errors.
'I wouldn't give familiarity as an excuse. We need to be better than that. The Lions are good players coming together.
'We won't sugar-coat this. We need to be honest because if we're not honest, how do we gain trust with each other?
'Losing hurts, especially in this jersey. We need to find the solutions pretty quickly and be honest with ourselves because some good has to come from this.
'Of course we asked a lot of the players and maybe we put too much pressure on the side because it looked like we were a little disconnected at times.
'We'll review what we said we were going to do as a team. We need to make sure we get something positive from this because it's all about how we move forward.
'Some players will be happy and some players won't and will be dying to get another chance out there. We've got to learn a lot of lessons from that.
'We want to see a better all round performance. There wasn't just one thing, it was the compounding of quite a few bits.
'The amount of balls that we threw blindly either on to the floor or to the opposition was a standout.
'The scraps on the floor always seemed to go to Argentina, so there was a bit more fight and hunger from them that we can't accept.'
Maro Itoje's first game as captain ended in defeat (Brian Lawless/PA)
Maro Itoje criticised the Lions' accuracy as his first outing as captain ended in the tourists' first defeat to Argentina in eight matches..
'It was a spectacular occasion. The fans gave us a glimpse of what to expect in Australia,' Itoje said.
'We gave ourselves numerous opportunities but we weren't accurate enough at times and weren't consistent enough in piling pressure on to Argentina.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BreakingNews.ie
31 minutes ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Andy Farrell says Lions 'won't sugar-coat' defeat to Argentina
Andy Farrell demanded an improvement from his British and Irish Lions when they arrive in Australia after they slipped to a 28-24 defeat by Argentina in Dublin. The Lions lost their opening tour match for the first time since 1971 after their second-half fightback was overturned when Santiago Cordero finished the match-winning try in the 59th minute. Advertisement On Saturday they head Down Under before facing the Western Force a week later and Farrell is seeking an immediate response to the error-strewn display seen at a sold-out Aviva Stadium. Not the result we wanted, but a historic night in Dublin. Thank you to the incredible fans who came to see us tonight, and to all of you who tuned in to support us from around the world 🙏🦁 #Lions2025 — British & Irish Lions (@lionsofficial) June 20, 2025 'We made it a tough game. Congratulations to Argentina, they thoroughly deserved to win the match. I'm sure that's a big moment in Argentinean rugby history,' Farrell said. 'We had plenty of opportunities and we should have done better to convert them, but the whole story of the game is that we compounded too many errors. 'I wouldn't give familiarity as an excuse. We need to be better than that. The Lions are good players coming together. Advertisement 'We won't sugar-coat this. We need to be honest because if we're not honest, how do we gain trust with each other? 'Losing hurts, especially in this jersey. We need to find the solutions pretty quickly and be honest with ourselves because some good has to come from this. 'Of course we asked a lot of the players and maybe we put too much pressure on the side because it looked like we were a little disconnected at times. 'We'll review what we said we were going to do as a team. We need to make sure we get something positive from this because it's all about how we move forward. Advertisement 'Some players will be happy and some players won't and will be dying to get another chance out there. We've got to learn a lot of lessons from that. 'We want to see a better all round performance. There wasn't just one thing, it was the compounding of quite a few bits. 'The amount of balls that we threw blindly either on to the floor or to the opposition was a standout. 'The scraps on the floor always seemed to go to Argentina, so there was a bit more fight and hunger from them that we can't accept.' Advertisement Maro Itoje's first game as captain ended in defeat (Brian Lawless/PA) Maro Itoje criticised the Lions' accuracy as his first outing as captain ended in the tourists' first defeat to Argentina in eight matches.. 'It was a spectacular occasion. The fans gave us a glimpse of what to expect in Australia,' Itoje said. 'We gave ourselves numerous opportunities but we weren't accurate enough at times and weren't consistent enough in piling pressure on to Argentina.'
The Herald Scotland
an hour ago
- The Herald Scotland
Saturday's briefing: Wirtz completes Liverpool move and Jackson dismissed in CWC
No fun for Reds' record signing Wirtz Liverpool made Florian Wirtz their £100million record signing (Bradley Collyer/PA) Liverpool's record signing Florian Wirtz insists he has not moved to Anfield to 'have fun' but believes it is the right place for him to improve and be successful. The Premier League champions have paid Bayer Leverkusen £100million for the 22-year-old Germany international but that fee could potentially become a British record as there are £16m of add-ons included. If achieved that would surpass the existing mark of £115m which Chelsea paid for Moises Caicedo in 2023 and it is understood Liverpool will be happy to pay these 'aspirational bonuses' as it will mean they have enjoyed considerable success at elite level. 'I'm not coming (to) have fun here, I want also to achieve something and give the fans what they deserve,' Wirtz told the club's website. 'I would like to win everything every year. I'm really ambitious.' Jackson loses cool in Philly heat Chelsea's Nicolas Jackson was sent off just four minutes after coming on at the Club World Cup (Chris Szagola/AP) Nicolas Jackson was sent off as Chelsea crashed to a 3-1 loss to Flamengo at the Club World Cup. Pedro Neto fired the Blues ahead early on but Enzo Maresca's side imploded in the second half in Philadelphia. The Blues conceded twice and saw Jackson dismissed for a horror tackle in the space of just six minutes after the break. Their woes were compounded when Wallace Yan wrapped up the scoring late on, adding to earlier goals from fellow substitute Bruno Henrique and veteran Danilo. The result – played out in temperatures of 27C in front of a crowd of 54,019 at Lincoln Financial Field – left Chelsea with a win and a loss from their two outings in Group D having earlier looked set to take a giant stride towards the last 16. Bale bid for Bluebirds Former Wales forward Gareth Bale is interested in buying Cardiff (Mike Egerton/PA) Gareth Bale is part of a United States investment group wanting to buy League One club Cardiff, according to reports. The 35-year-old former Real Madrid and Wales forward was understood to be part of a consortium that had conversations regarding a takeover of Plymouth earlier this week, along with several other clubs, but it appears they have now turned their attention to south Wales. The Athletic reports that the consortium sent current Bluebirds owner Vincent Tan a letter of intent last month, which included financial figures, but it was rejected. Salah favourite for PFA award Mohamed Salah is in the running for PFA Player of the Year (Peter Byrne/PA) Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah leads a six-player shortlist for the Professional Footballers' Association Men's Player of the Year award. The Egyptian was instrumental in the Reds' Premier League title success last season, scoring 29 goals and adding 18 assists. Earlier this year he was voted footballer of the year by the Football Writers' Association, and will now be favourite to win the vote of his peers. He is joined on the shortlist by team-mate Alexis Mac Allister, Arsenal's Declan Rice, Cole Palmer of Chelsea, Newcastle striker Alexander Isak and Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes. What's on today? Jobe Bellingham is set for another outing with new club Borussia Dortmund (Seth Wenig/AP) Jobe Bellingham gets another chance to impress for new club Borussia Dortmund at the Club World Cup with a game against Mamelodi Sundowns. Inter Milan face Urawa Reds while Fluminense take on Ulsan. England's Under-21s have a European Championship semi-final against Spain.
Rhyl Journal
an hour ago
- Rhyl Journal
Saturday's briefing: Wirtz completes Liverpool move and Jackson dismissed in CWC
Chelsea's Nicolas Jackson loses his head in Club World Cup defeat, while Gareth Bale is looking at getting back into football. Liverpool's record signing Florian Wirtz insists he has not moved to Anfield to 'have fun' but believes it is the right place for him to improve and be successful. The Premier League champions have paid Bayer Leverkusen £100million for the 22-year-old Germany international but that fee could potentially become a British record as there are £16m of add-ons included. If achieved that would surpass the existing mark of £115m which Chelsea paid for Moises Caicedo in 2023 and it is understood Liverpool will be happy to pay these 'aspirational bonuses' as it will mean they have enjoyed considerable success at elite level. 'I'm not coming (to) have fun here, I want also to achieve something and give the fans what they deserve,' Wirtz told the club's website. 'I would like to win everything every year. I'm really ambitious.' Nicolas Jackson was sent off as Chelsea crashed to a 3-1 loss to Flamengo at the Club World Cup. Pedro Neto fired the Blues ahead early on but Enzo Maresca's side imploded in the second half in Philadelphia. The Blues conceded twice and saw Jackson dismissed for a horror tackle in the space of just six minutes after the break. Their woes were compounded when Wallace Yan wrapped up the scoring late on, adding to earlier goals from fellow substitute Bruno Henrique and veteran Danilo. The result – played out in temperatures of 27C in front of a crowd of 54,019 at Lincoln Financial Field – left Chelsea with a win and a loss from their two outings in Group D having earlier looked set to take a giant stride towards the last 16. Gareth Bale is part of a United States investment group wanting to buy League One club Cardiff, according to reports. The 35-year-old former Real Madrid and Wales forward was understood to be part of a consortium that had conversations regarding a takeover of Plymouth earlier this week, along with several other clubs, but it appears they have now turned their attention to south Wales. The Athletic reports that the consortium sent current Bluebirds owner Vincent Tan a letter of intent last month, which included financial figures, but it was rejected. Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah leads a six-player shortlist for the Professional Footballers' Association Men's Player of the Year award. The Egyptian was instrumental in the Reds' Premier League title success last season, scoring 29 goals and adding 18 assists. Earlier this year he was voted footballer of the year by the Football Writers' Association, and will now be favourite to win the vote of his peers. He is joined on the shortlist by team-mate Alexis Mac Allister, Arsenal's Declan Rice, Cole Palmer of Chelsea, Newcastle striker Alexander Isak and Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes. Jobe Bellingham gets another chance to impress for new club Borussia Dortmund at the Club World Cup with a game against Mamelodi Sundowns. Inter Milan face Urawa Reds while Fluminense take on Ulsan. England's Under-21s have a European Championship semi-final against Spain.
