British and Irish Lions: ‘Tough conversations’ needed after Argentina loss – Tom Curry
DUBLIN — Tom Curry said the British & Irish Lions players need to take personal responsibility after their 28-24 defeat to Argentina, adding the team must have some “tough conversations” to get to the root of why they failed to impress on Friday in Dublin.
Curry started in the back-row alongside his England teammate Ben Earl and Wales’ Jac Morgan. And with several potential Test starters making the cut, Argentina punished the Lions’ sloppy errors to claim a famous victory. The defeat underlined the scale of the task facing Andy Farrell as he looks to mould the tourists into a team capable of beating the Wallabies in four week’s time.
Curry was visibly frustrated after the match as he assessed the defeat. He said the biggest point he took from the match is the Lions need to be more “clinical with the ball” but he said they have to welcome some “tough conversations” over why they underperformed in front of a sold out Aviva Stadium on Friday.
“Yeah, it is an opportunity gone,” Curry said. “I have been in these situations before and we have got to pull tighter, it is the only way. I feel like this group has taken so many steps off the field. I have not got a bad word to say about anyone. Everyone has been pulling in the right direction, but we have to have the tough conversations.
“We have to be honest. We can’t take it too personally. This is the thing with this sport and this tour. It comes and goes so quickly. You’ve got to make the most of it — every meeting and every session. Before you know it we’ll be playing in Australia so we can’t let moments pass us by. We’ve got to fully take it on the chin, have tough conversations, but also do as we say. We can’t just keep saying it and not doing it.”
When asked whether it was the Lions struggling to adjust to a new system, Curry said: “I have been on these things before and you can wait until Monday before you say this stuff. But you can get to the sixth week and still make the same excuse. Six weeks is not a long time so we can’t make that excuse the whole way through. We nipped that in the bud straight away. That is not a reason and we need to take personal responsibility for our own performances.”
The Lions flew to Australia on Saturday, landing Sunday night in Perth. Curry was considering watching the defeat to the Pumas back, but instead opted to watch “The Office.” But as he picked apart the defeat to Argentina, you could sense his frustration. As he looked for positives, though, he did think he worked well in tandem with fellow flanker Morgan.
“It was good, there were still moments when we probably need to be around the ball a bit more,” Curry said. “There were moments when I managed to link with Jac a bit in attack and defence which was really exciting and I really enjoyed that. I still think one of us can stay around the ball a bit more but that will come with (A) working together and (B) you get that intuition and feel but we need to build that way quicker. It was a good start.”
Up next for the Lions are the Western Force in Perth on June 28. Andy Farrell will likely rotate the squad again for that match as he tests out new combinations. Fin Smith was at fly-half for the Lions against the Pumas on Friday and he said they will address their shortcomings with some urgency as they look to build towards the Test series with the Wallabies.
“I’m sure it’s not the first time the Lions have not played particularly well in their first outing,” Fin Smith said. “The main thing is how quickly we can respond and how quickly we can stop feeling sorry for ourselves. We need to get back on the training pitch and get better as quickly as possible.”
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Source: espn.com