Tadhg Beirne will captain the Lions on Saturday - ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan
Friday’s sold-out 1888 Cup match against Argentina is ‘extra special’ for the Ireland players involved according to Tadhg Beirne, as they get to play in the first ever British & Irish Lions fixture on Irish soil.
The legendary ‘Sea of Red’ will have its Dublin debut as fans get behind Andy Farrell’s first Lions selection, which has Beirne partnering 2025 tour captain Maro Itoje in the second row.
While there are fourteen Lions first-timers in the matchday squad, and new team-mates, combinations, and systems to get used to, there is a high degree of familiarity around this opening game for the home-based contingent.
“For us Irish players it’s extra special and means a lot to us,” admitted Beirne, who is joined in the starting XV by his international colleagues Bundee Aki and Finlay Bealham.
“(Playing) where we’ve had a lot of special days, and then to add playing a game for the Lions to that long list of good days here, is pretty special.
“The lead-up to the game is going to feel very similar, doing all the same things that we would do in Irish camp, either going to the same coffee places or preparing for the game the same way.
“A lot of it is similar but different at the same time, because you’re not used to being around the players that you would be used to. It makes it a lot more enjoyable.”
Adding to that, it was only last November when Argentina ran Ireland close at the Aviva Stadium. First-half tries from Jack Crowley, Mack Hansen, and Joe McCarthy ultimately proved enough in a hard-fought 22-19 home win.
Beirne lined out at blindside flanker that night, playing the full 80 minutes, and was ever-present either in the second row or back row across this season’s Autumn Nations Series and Guinness Men’s Six Nations.
He was a try scorer againt the Pumas in November 2021, and rates Felipe Contepomi’s current side highly, with nine players – including six forwards – retained in the starting XV from the defeat to Ireland last year.
One of them is captain Julian Montoya, who backs up just six days after Leicester Tigers’ Gallagher Premiership final loss to Bath. Tomas Albornoz, who kicked 14 points against Ireland in the autumn, features again at out-half, while Pampas centre Justo Piccardo will make his first international start.
There are some notable absentees, with the likes of Toulouse’s Juan Cruz Mallia and Bordeaux-Bègles lock Guido Petti involved in Top 14 semi-finals this weekend, while Contepomi has included three potential debutants on the bench – front rowers Bautista Bernasconi and Boris Wenger, and scrum half Simon Benitez Cruz.
Recalling Ireland’s tussle with Argentina from seven months ago, Beirne acknowledged: “When we played them with Ireland back in November they really put it to us, and we probably just got over the line in the end.
“It will be no different come Friday. It’ll be their World Cup final and that’s the way we’re going to treat it.
“Every game you get to play for the Lions is the most important game. This Friday is a huge opportunity for us to set the tone for the tour.”
It is a rare opportunity for Argentina to take on the Lions – full-back Santiago Carreras said it is a ‘once in a life’ chance when summing up the visitors’ motivation – and a look at their results over the last year shows they are more than capable of upsetting the odds.
Contepomi’s charges have claimed wins over France, New Zealand, Australia, and World champions South Africa, moving from seventh to fifth in the World Rugby Rankings as they finished third in the Rugby Championship, just two points behind the All Blacks.
The former Leinster out-half/centre and assistant coach was on the pitch the last time the South Americans locked horns with the Lions in 2005. They narrowly missed out on a famous victory in Cardiff when Jonny Wilkinson’s late penalty saw the sides finish level (25-all).
As far as challenges go for a team that has never played together before, this one is right up there. The smaller Lions group at last week’s camp in Quinta do Lago did at least get to go up against Portugal in a training hit-out.
With the remaining players, apart from Toulouse’s Blair Kinghorn, joining up with the squad in recent days, Farrell said the chosen matchday 23 are champing at the bit to get going and show how competitive the battle for Test spots will be in Australia.
“It’s a different level when the squad come back together, and we’ve got 15-on-15 and that type of talent going at one another,” he commented. “You can see the competitive nature and the talent that’s in the room.
“Everyone’s gung-ho to get going, there’s no doubt about that. Everyone wants to play. I’m sure there will be some lads twitching in the stand dying to get out there, a little bit of jealousy as well, and that’s what we want.
“This is all about putting your best foot forward as a group. They’re representing the group. This is a full-blown Test match for us, for all that are involved internally.
“We’re lucky to have the quality of the Argentinian side to come over and test that. It’s going to be a fantastic occasion.”
This will be Beirne’s second Lions tour and an altogether different experience compared to 2021’s Covid-19-impacted trip to South Africa. The stadium in Cape Town was empty when he made two appearances off the bench during the Test series against the Springboks.
That is why having the backing of a big crowd at the home of Irish Rugby tomorrow, and the thousands of travelling supporters with them Down Under, will mean so much to the Kildare man and his team-mates who were on the last tour.
“You know, me and Jack Conan had spoken about it very briefly during the Six Nations. How much we both wanted it – experiencing the Covid Lions tour is not really what it’s meant to be.
“So, when both our names were called out (at last month’s squad announcement), that’s what I was thinking in my head, that we’re going to get the actual experience of what the Lions is actually meant to be about.
“Full crowds, having the fans come over, experiencing that wave of red coming into each city for each game and just the buzz around the place. It’s going to be a much different experience, and I’m really, really excited about it,” he added.
This website uses cookies.
Read More