DUBLIN, Ireland — A couple of weeks ago, Andy Farrell sat down and drafted his starting line-up for the British & Irish Lions’ first Test against Australia on July 19. He’s revised it five times since. Those pieces of paper were scrunched up and thrown in the bin. There’s too many uncertainties — six matches stand between Friday evening’s match against Argentina and that opening Test.
“You actually can’t even go there because there’s such good competition,” Farrell said. “That’s how it should be.”
Over the next five or so weeks, educated guesswork over what the combinations might be and how the team will gel, will be replaced by hard evidence.
Friday’s match between the Lions and Argentina is the official starting point of this summer’s tour. The Lions haven’t yet left home shores, but it’s in Dublin where players can start to push their claims for a starting spot, or see their chances start to slip away, and all that in the summer sun. Farrell called it the “Costa del Dublin” this week, and the 38 Lions players in the squad will start to feel the heat on the back of their net.
For those 15 in the starting line-up, they will be aware of expectant fellow tourists on the bench and those watching in the stands, eager for the chance, looking to pounce and take their opportunity.
The heat is on, as the battle to start that first Test begins in earnest when the Lions walk out in front of a packed Aviva Stadium on Friday night. It’s been a while coming.
Breaking the four-nations divide
After the squad was named at the start of May, the group met in south-west London, travelled to the Algarve in Portugal for a conditioning camp, and then headed to Dublin for this match with the Pumas.
The team have started bonding, the four nation-divide temporarily erased for the next couple of months. But fundamentally, the Tests against the Wallabies will define this tour. Win and the class of 2025 will be bracketed with the other victorious tourists like the class of 2013, 1997 and 1989. Lose, and they’ll join the others who promised much, delivered generational matches, but ultimately, came up short.
It all starts on Friday evening.
These early stages are a juggling act for Farrell. Those from Bath and Leicester involved in the Gallagher Premiership final and Leinster’s URC contingent joined the group on Monday. He still has injury concerns: Zander Fagerson may yet rejoin the group, while Jamison Gibson-Park (glute strain), Hugo Keenan (calf) and Huw Jones (Achilles) are out at the moment. Blair Kinghorn is still in France with his club, Toulouse. Tadhg Furlong has been out since early May but is on the bench for Friday.
It’s with all that background, that Farrell has named his team for the Pumas.
There is a familiarity about the team you’ll see run out on Friday evening. There are nine England players in the starting line-up, including the all-Northampton half-back partnership of Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith.
The centre pairing is blockbuster: the hefty fleet-footed combination of Bundee Aki and Sione Tuipulotu.
Two from the back three of Duhan van der Merwe, Tommy Freeman and Marcus Smith could well start against the Wallabies.
The back-row is built for speed and movement: Tom Curry, Ben Earl and Jac Morgan, one of the two Welsh players on tour. It would be a surprise if the front-row starting on Friday is given another shot against the Wallabies in a month’s time, but Finlay Bealham will still be riding the wave of emotion as he was left out of the original squad, but then whistled up as Zander Fagerson’s replacement.
The second-row could be the Test duo of captain Maro Itoje and Tadhg Beirne.
“I’m really enjoying spending time with Tadhg,” Itoje said. “I spent a bit of time with him on the last tour. We built a good relationship and it’s been amazing we’ve been able to continue that.”
The team should have plenty of power in the backline. But you can imagine the Smith-Smith combination will bring those little sleights of hand.
Then there is the fascinating selection of Marcus Smith. The player thinks of himself as a fly-half first, but at the squad announcement Farrell bracketed Finn Russell and Fin Smith together as the fly-halves for the tour. Marcus Smith is in that delightfully uncertain position of being the versatile option who can cover both 10 and 15. His second Lions tour begins at fullback.
How important is Friday’s starting XV?
The question is: How many of this group will end up starting against the Wallabies? History doesn’t paint a clear picture.
On average looking at Lions openers since 2001, five players from this group on Friday will get the nod against the Wallabies. The Lions have had mixed fortunes in these so-called warm-up matches. They can be troublesome.
In 2017 the Lions faced the NZ Barbarians in Whangarei. They were so jetlagged, they fell asleep on the plane on the way to the ground, and won a desperate game 13-7. That was forgotten by the time they drew the series with New Zealand.
Just three of the group who started against Argentina in their 25-25 draw in 2005 made the first Test team. They needed a last-gasp Jonny Wilkinson penalty to save their blushes that day. It was an ominous start to a tour that saw them whitewashed 3-0 by the All Blacks.
Relive the famous 1997 British and Irish Lions tour against Rugby World Cup champion, South Africa.
While just three made the Test team in 2005, seven of the group that started against Western Australia in 2001 and seven again in 2021 from the Japan match were named in the first Test side for Australia and South Africa respectively. But they can be costly: Alun Wyn Jones and Justin Tipuric both sustained shoulder injuries against Japan in 2021.
It’s a tightrope, but players know they can’t hold back, and Farrell is expecting Test-match intensity from the off, despite the match being uncapped.
“This is a full-blown Test match for us,” Farrell said. “There’s no doubt about that. Everyone’s gung-ho to get going.
“Everyone wants to play. I’m sure there will be some lads twitching in the stand dying to get out there and a little bit of jealousy as well. That’s what we want.
“I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what my Test side could be but you can’t even go there because the competition is that good.”
What is the aim vs. Argentina?
Farrell wants to see “cohesion” and “connection” on Friday. He wants to see Lions presenting the “best version of themselves … collectively.” All the while, Argentina will be looking to land their shots, too.
They are without some of their Top 14 contingent meaning the wondrous talents like Juan Cruz Mallia and Guido Pettiare are absent.
“It is a challenge with a lot of new faces and just a few training sessions together,” head coach Felipe Contepomi said. “But the guys have made a lot of effort to take on the new information.”
They still have Julian Montoya, Santi Carreras, Juan Martin Gonzalez, Pedro Rubiolo, Rodrigo Isgro and Pablo Matera all featuring. “You might play this game once in your life — it is so special,” Carreras said.
Argentina are fifth in the world, so despite their absent players, they will give the Lions a brutal Test.
Whatever happens, Friday night’s match will have some impact on the eventual outcome of this tour. The true value of this match will only be judged with hindsight. If the Lions win the series, then the process to mould that victory will have started here. If they lose, then whatever happens on Friday night will be the start of the end.
“This is our first opportunity to set the standard that we want to be, set the kind of team that we want to be, and give, our first account of ourselves,” Itoje said.
There are the great unknowns: injuries and suspensions could derail best-laid plans.
“I’m not even thinking about avoiding injuries, because that’s the furthest thing from my mind because it’s just sport,” Farrell said.
The delightful drop of jeopardy which is so engrossing when it comes to Lions tours begins Friday. The players have been warned: now is the time to impress. “We’ve had good prep, and if you want to be a good Lions player you’ve got to hit your straps straight from the off,” Farrell said. “So we want to see these players compete.
“They should want this team to put everyone who’s in the stands under pressure as that’s what the shirt should do. It should bring the best out of everyone, and everyone has to rise to that challenge.”
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Source: espn.com