Right, that’s all from me.I need, well, possibly a cold beer actually.Here’s Robert Kitson’s report for further reading.Thanks for your company.Itoje highlights directness in attack and sharpness in the transition as areas where the Lions were lacking, but gives due credit to the opposition.

“Argentina showed us where we were lacking,” he adds,“I’m happy we had a hard-fought game and now we know exactly where we are,The message is we live and learn,”Itoje gives his thoughts post-match, exuding an air of calm despite his obvious disappointment,“We just weren’t as consistent as we would have liked,” he said.

“I think we showed glimmers of what we could do but we didn’t consistently apply the pressure,“We let them off and Argentina caught us at times,Some areas of the game were nowhere near accurate enough, but when we were on it, we looked good, we just need to do it more consistently,”What will the Lions take away from this match, then? Their lineout needs serious work, that’s for sure,Their attacking patterns and final passes also need sharpening up but, then again, that’s exactly why it’s important to play warm-up matches against quality opposition.

On a positive note, their scrum was excellent and the pace of their attacking play was dizzying at times,All food for thought for Farrell and his coaches,The Lions win the lineout, which certainly isn’t a given,They play through the phases, Hansen making a bit of ground,Bodies crash against a white and blue barrier in a futile bombardment.

The Pumas win the turnover and boot the ball clear, celebrating wildly.It’s a great win for them, though the Lions will have learned some useful lessons from a performance which had plenty of bright spots.79 min Argentina finally cough up the ball and the Lions come forwards for a desperate attack.The Pumas give away a penalty for offside in their eagerness to see off their opponents, leaving Fin Smith to kick to the corner.The Lions are in the last-chance saloon.

78 min Argentina just need to hang on to the ball here.They duly play through the phases as slowly as possible.76 min The Lions rumble forwards, laying siege to Argentina’s tryline.The Pumas give away a penalty for offside, but it’s overturned as Beirne is pinged for some neck wrangling.75 min A scrappy spell of kicking ends with a scrum for the Lions after a spill from the Pumas.

It goes skywards first time round and has to be reset.Second time round, Julián Montoya gives away a penalty for kicking the ball out of Daly’s hands.71 min It’s another subpar lineout from the Lions, Argentina winning the ball and then sending a kick upfield which Freeman knocks on.70 min Hansen, also on as a replacement, ploughs a furrow down the right flank, throwing a cute little dummy in the process.Carreras gives away a penalty for a tackle off the ball and the Lions kick to the corner.

67 min The Lions lose their own lineout – which has been a bit shaky – and Argentina end up with a penalty, which they kick for territory,The Pumas come forwards but Pollock steals the ball brilliantly,Elliot Daly, on as a replacement, almost finds a way through, but he is brought to ground,64 min The Lions get a series of mini-breakthroughs, Marcus Smith and Tuipulotu threatening to go clear, but Argentina stand firm,62 min The teams trade kicks and the ball ends up with the Lions, Pollock almost nipping through.

The Lions play it through the hands and Freeman attempts a dink over the top, but Albornoz, who has been immense tonight, gets there first.It’s another ruthless counter from Argentina.Pollock misses a tackle in the middle of the field and, from there, the Pumas slice the Lions to ribbons, the replacement Santiago Cordero beating Marcus Smith to the line to put them back in front.Albornoz converts.57 min Knock? What knock? Freeman razors through the Argentinian defence, but they eventually regroup and snuff out the danger.

56 min Vivas is back on the field after his spell on the sidelines, ending the Lions’ man advantage.55 min Freeman needs medical treatment and it looks like Mack Hansen might come on, but Freeman shakes off the knock and looks determined to carry on.The two sides trade position before the Lions win a lineout, initiating an attack which ends with Ellis Genge exploding through the middle of the pitch.He’s brought down close to the line, but the Lions hang on to the ball.They play it through the hands, eventually finding Beirne in space.

He spots the opening and crashes over, Fin Smith converting.48 min The Lions win yet another penalty at the scrum after turning the Argentinian forwards.The forwards are absolutely bossing it.Farrell makes three changes, Tomos Williams, Rónan Kelleher and Henry Pollock coming on.The latter gets a particularly big cheer.

The Lions win the lineout and initiate a driving maul, but it collapses on the line.Doleman adjudges Vivas to have brought it down deliberately, awarding a penalty try and sending the Pumas prop to the sin bin.44 min Tuipulotu goes on a marauding run up the right wing, putting Argentina on the back foot.The Lions play it through the hands all the way to Ben Earl on the far side, but he can’t find an opening.Argentina give away a penalty and Fin Smith kicks to the corner.

Can the Lions get a try here?42 min The opening exchanges of the second half are a bit scrappy,Fin Smith gets away a kick under pressure, but it goes long,We’re back under way at the Aviva,The Lions send up the kick and charge forwards with renewed vigour,Right, well, we’ve all just about caught our breath from that first half, but it’s almost time for the second.

John Fogarty, the Lions assistant coach, speaks to Sky on the sidelines, admitting “the guys are a little bit frustrated inside” and there were “too many errors in the first half”,He calls for more energy and focus after the break,Will the Lions answer the call?Albornoz converts his own try to cap an excellent end to the first half for Argentina,It was played at a rattling pace and both sides showcased some excellent attacking rugby, but the Pumas were more clinical in taking their chances,The Lions are getting a stern test of their credentials, as expected.

Still, it’s all to play for,Oof, that’s a gut punch,The Lions bomb forward in search of a score before half-time, but Argentina win the ball in their own 22 and counter-attack ruthlessly,Carreras roars down the line, isolates Marcus Smith and throws a lovely pass to Albornoz, who scorches downfield to score before celebrating with the Pumas substitutes,There’s no way Albornoz is going to miss from right under the posts.

He strokes the ball over nonchalantly.38 min Argentina win the scrum, just about, and go through the phases, meeting a wall of red shirts.The Lions give away advantage for offside.Mayco Vivas knocks on after a bone-crunching tackle from Tuipulotu.Doleman brings it back for the penalty.

35 min Argentina get the ball back and put Marcus Smith under pressure at full-back with a clever little kick through the lines.He manages to ground the ball for a five-metre scrum.32 min The relentless pace eases off a bit as the two sides trade kicks.The Lions lose their own lineout, Argentina burst forward and Oviedo almost goes through.Morgan gets over the ball and forces a penalty, Oviedo failing to release.

There’s a TMO review, checking a ruck where Joel Sclavi failed to engage properly, but Doleman sticks with a penalty.30 min The Lions win the lineout and explode out of the blocks.It’s a bit rushed, however, Freeman throwing an offload which is knocked on as Aki and Tuipulotu both go for it.28 min The Lions win another penalty at the scrum, where they have dominated so far.The kick goes to the corner.

Tom Curry gives away a penalty at the ruck for failing to release and Albornoz fancies his chances from a fair old distance,He nails the kick, cool as you like,22 min There’s a review after Joaquín Oviedo accidentally clashes heads with Fin Smith at close quarters,Doleman makes a good, common-sense decision and opts to give a penalty without reaching for the yellow card,The Lions get a scrum under the posts for an initial knock-on from Argentina.

They play it through the hands, putting their opponents under severe pressure.Marcus Smith and Tuipulotu tee up Aki, who charges to the line and blasts past three defenders.Fin Smith converts.The Lions are off the mark.18 min No try! The Lions win the lineout and work a lovely move, Tuipulotu crossing under the posts.

Doleman gives it initially, but there’s a clear knock-on from Mitchell amid a bout of pinball between the two sides.The TMO, again, intervenes to a smattering of pantomime boos.16 min The Lions win a scrum in a promising position.The Argentinians collapse and hand over advantage.The men in red go through the phases, Freeman almost bursting through.

Doleman brings it back for the penalty, which Fin Smith kicks to the corner.Oh that is superb.A flowing passing move from the Argentinians ends with Santiago Carreras finding Mendy out wide.He jinks inside, cutting a swathe through the Lions’ defence, and crosses to score in style.Albornoz misses the conversion.

11 min Alex Mitchell is put under pressure on the Lions’ tryline, but throws a lovely trick pass to get out of trouble.The Pumas cough up a penalty and Fin Smith steps up for a long kick to posts.It’s beautifully weighted and the Lions have their first points on the board.9 min An inch-perfect kick from Fin Smith almost finds Morgan in the corner, but Mendy intercepts.That was so, so close.

7 min The Lions roar back immediately, Van der Merwe almost bulldozing through only to be brought down at the last,They end up with a lineout, which they win,A driving maul ends with Cowan-Dickie going over and, seemingly, scoring the first try of the 2025 tour,Replays show that he lost control of the ball as he rolled away to score, however, and the TMO overturns the on-pitch decision,The kick sails serenely through the posts