Lions beaten by Argentina in pre-tour Dublin thriller

It is the Lions' first loss to Argentina in eight meetings The 1888 Cup British and Irish Lions (10) 24 Tries:Aki, penalty try, BeirneCons:F Smith 2Pens:F Smith Argentina (21) 28 Tries:Mendy, Albornoz, CorderoCons:Albornoz 2Pens:Albornoz 3 The British and Irish Lions warmed up for their Australian tour in deflating fashion as they fell to a slick and pacey Argentina in a thrilling Dublin contest. In the Lions' first game on Irish soil and debut outing under new head coach Andy Farrell, Argentina scored breakaway tries through Ignacio Mendy, the outstanding Tomas Albornoz and Santiago Cordero to spoil the pre-tour party. Mendy and Albornoz's efforts, either side of Bundee Aki's try for the Lions, gave the South Americans an 11-point half-time advantage. And while the Lions hit back early in the second half through a penalty try and Tadhg Beirne, Cordero displayed rapid pace on the counter to deliver the decisive score 22 minutes from time. Desperate to travel to Australia on a winning note, the Lions pushed for a winning try in the closing stages, but Argentina held on in a nail-biting climax to claim their first win over the Lions. Having lost a tour opener for the first time since 1971, the Lions travel to Australia on Saturday before facing Western Force in Perth on 28 June (11:00 BST). When the Lions faced Japan in their warm-up at Murrayfield in 2021, a 28-10 win for Warren Gatland's side was overshadowed by a shoulder injury that disrupted captain Alun Wyn Jones' build-up to the Tests series. New head coach Farrell was spared such grave concerns here, but a tough night against the Pumas will give him plenty to ponder on the long flight to Perth on Saturday. Even without the services of most of the players involved in domestic finals last weekend, Farrell experimented with combinations including a power-packed centre partnership of Aki and Sione Tuipulotu and an all-Northampton half-back pairing in Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith. It was a Lions debut for Smith, for whom the future is undeniably bright, but the night belonged to his opposite number as Albornoz delighted the sporadic pockets of blue and white dotted around the stadium by scoring 18 points. After scoring a fourth-minute penalty, Albornoz played his part in the opening try, his pass sending Carreras away before the full-back fed Mendy to finish. Albornoz scored another two penalties before his superb breakaway try capped an impressive opening half for Felipe Contepomi's side. In a move that encapsulated a slick Argentine attack, Rodrigo Isgro and Carreras combined to charge past Beirne and Marcus Smith and send the Benetton out-half in under the posts. Despite not playing for seven months, Argentina were good value for their win While Argentina were elated at their first-half efforts, there were many furrowed Lions brows after a frustrating opening 40 minutes. Luke Cowan-Dickie thought he had conjured an immediate response to Mendy's try when he crossed after a rolling maul, only for the television match official to rule it out for a knock-on. Aki's try - in which he characteristically bulldozed his way to the line just moments after a Tuipulotu score was ruled out - helped keep Farrell's side in touch. With players lining up together for the first time, the Lions struggled to find cohesion, but still managed to turn the game around in the early stages of the second half. First, the pack mauled their way to a penalty try - with Argentine prop Mayco Vivas yellow-carded as a result - before a storming Ellis Genge charge set up Beirne's try to put the Lions 24-21 up. Argentina were undeterred, however, and snatched the lead back as fleet-footed replacement back Cordero finished a scorching move that started with Duhan van der Merwe losing out in a high-ball battle to Isgro. Determined to have the last word of a topsy-turvy encounter at a sold-out Aviva Stadium, the Lions pressed for a late winner but the Argentine defence held firm as the world's fifth-ranked side earned some revenge for their narrow loss to Ireland on this ground last autumn. British and Irish Lions:Marcus Smith; Tommy Freeman, Sione Tuipulotu, Bundee Aki, Duhan van der Merwe; Fin Smith, Alex Mitchell; Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Finlay Bealham, Maro Itoje (capt), Tadhg Beirne, Tom Curry, Jac Morgan, Ben Earl. Replacements:Ronan Kelleher, Pierre Schoeman, Tadhg Furlong, Scott Cummings, Henry Pollock, Tomos Williams, Elliot Daly, Mack Hansen. Argentina:Santiago Carreras; Rodrigo Isgro, Lucio Cinti, Justo Piccardo, Ignacio Mendy; Tomas Albornoz, Gonzalo Garcia; Mayco Vivas, Julian Montoya (capt), Joel Sclavi, Franco Molina, Pedro Rubiolo, Pablo Matera, Juan Martin Gonzalez, Joaquin Oviedo Replacements:Bautista Bernasconi, Boris Wenger, Francisco Coria Marchetti, Santiago Grondona, Joaquin Moro, Simon Benitez Cruz, Matias Moroni, Santiago Cordero Sin-bin:Vivas 45 Referee:James Doleman (New Zealand) Assistant referees:Nika Amashukeli (Georgia) and Andrea Piardi (Italy) TMO:Eric Gauzins (France)