‘We Should Have Done Better To Convert Opportunities’ – Farrell

Parts of their opening performance undoubtedly pleased Farrell, particularly the scrum where they forced three penalties, but Argentina’s counter-attacking class proved too much for a team trying to gel together new team-mates and combinations.

Following such a competitive hit-out first up, against the world’s fifth-ranked side, the Lions will take some valuable lessons with them as they make the journey down to Perth for the start of the tour proper next week.

Giving his reaction afterwards, Farrell said: “Yeah, we made it a tough game (for ourselves), didn’t we? Obviously the first and appropriate thing to say is congratulations to Argentina. They thoroughly deserved to win the Test match.

“I thought they capitalised very well on the back of quite a few errors from us obviously, so congratulations to them. I’m sure that’s a big moment in Argentina history.

“You can try and throw it around and say, you know, we had plenty of opportunities and we should have done better to convert those.

“But the whole story of the game is that we compounded too many errors, and in the end we weren’t able to put the pace on the game that we wanted to because of that. We need to be better than that.

“The Lions players, good players coming together. Of course we ask a lot of them, and maybe we put too much pressure on the side because it certainly looked like we were a little bit disconnected at times.

“But look, we’ll review what we said we were going to own, and then we need to make sure we get something positive from that because it’s all about how we move forward.”

Despite a strong start from Argentina, the Lions could and perhaps should have been in front at half-time. Bundee Aki barrelled over for an 18th-minute try, in response to Ignacio Mendy’s opener, but the hosts had two other tries ruled out.

TMO reviews showed that Luke Cowan-Dickie, springing forward from a lineout maul, unfortunately lost control of the ball in the act of scoring, while Sione Tuipulotu’s effort under the posts was chalked off due to a knock-on from Alex Mitchell.

Argentina were finding joy on the edges, though, and countered brilliantly late on to lead 21-10 at the break. Juan Martin Gonzalez was alert to a loose ball after Duhan van der Merwe had been tackled, and Rodrigo Isgro and Santiago Carreras combined to give Tomas Albornoz a rapid 50-metre run-in.

The Pumas were just that bit sharper at key stages, with Farrell admitting: “Losing hurts, especially in this jersey. We need to find the solutions pretty quickly, be honest with ourselves, because there has to be some good come from this.

“We need to be honest because if we’re not honest, then how do we gain trust with each other? There are certain things that we said that we were going to do. We need to own that, and review that properly.

“One of the reasons why I’m gutted is there’s 14 lads that are getting the cap for playing for the British & Irish Lions for the first time. You know there’s disappointment there, but the experience will stand to them.”

Among the Lions newcomers were starting tighthead Finlay Bealham, who was part of a strong scrummaging unit, and his Ireland team-mates, Rónan Kelleher and Mack Hansen, who both came on during the second half.

Bealham was the Lions’ top tackler with 11, and fellow front rower Kelleher finished with the same lineout record as England hooker Cowan-Dickie with seven won and two lost.

With Tadhg Furlong also having a 20-minute run-out on his return from a calf injury, it give the Lions forwards, and specialist coaches John Dalziel and John Fogarty, a solid base to work off leading into next Saturday’s first outing in Australia against the Western Force.

Asked about the set-piece display on the night, Farrell agreed: “The scrum (went well), it was aggressive. The lads who started the game especially, they were aggressive and good, and had Argentina under the pump a few times. Yeah, very pleased with that.

“I think some players will have done themselves proud, and they’ll be hurting for the team because they are all team players.

“Some people will be happy and obviously others won’t be, dying to get another chance out there, but look, we know where we are at. We are underway so we’ve got to learn a lot of lessons from that.”

Although the Wigan man described their attack as ‘clunky’, the Lions can take encouragement from producing nine line breaks compared to Argentina’s six, 15 attacking 22-metre entries as against six from the Pumas, and a total of 39 defenders beaten and 406.4 post-contact metres from 150 carries.

However, the frustration lies with a return of just 1.4 points per 22-metre entry. The men in red’s search for a potential match-winning try during the closing stages faltered with the lineout misfiring, and a close-in penalty being reversed for a neck roll.

In contrast, Felipe Contepomi’s side, despite not playing together for seven months, were much more clinical with an average of 4.2 points scored once they got into the hosts’ 22.

The desired cohesion and execution will no doubt come in the weeks ahead as the Test series against Australia looms large on the horizon. Regarding the response he wants to see when they hit Australian shores, Farrell will seek a ‘better all round performance’ first and foremost.

“I mean you can single out one thing, but it’s not just one thing. It is a compounding of quite a few bits,” he said of the errors made during the opening game of their summer schedule.

“The amount of balls that we threw blindly, either to the opposition or on the floor, is probably a standout. But then if you combine that with the kicking game, the aerial battle, and what is disappointing is scraps on the floor from that type of battle, it always seemed to go to Argentina.

“So, there’s a bit of fight and hunger from them that we can’t accept. Then you combine some stuff at the breakdown, whether it be the lineout or whatever, and it’s too much. It’s too much when it all comes together. It’s just compounding, isn’t it?

“You know there’s a reason why people do get cramp, or look a bit tired and not able to capitalise on opportunities that you have created, because probably subconsciously you’re supressing yourself a little bit with the compounded errors. It obviously needs to be addressed.”