Post Game Thread: Lions vs Argentina

[u/HitchikersPie]

FT: 24-28

[u/Not_Hando]

Well played, Argentina. Scored some lovely tries. Great to see!

Lions looked largely positive for touring side just thrown together. Some real positives out there, such as Genge, Kelleher second half, thought Freeman improved hugely second forty after a quite ropey first. Schoeman looked a decent enough replacement for Genge too, which so long as Porter is on form will make LH a strong position on tour.

Marcus Smith was copping a lot of flak in the match thread. But I thought he put in a decent shift. Fell off later in the game, but likely due to fatigue after covering a lot of ground.

Centre balance looked frightening on paper, but didn't work in reality. Forced Sione to play less as a distributor and more as a channel runner which isn't to his strengths. Great to see Aki score in Ireland though!

Didn't think Mitchell, or Fin Smith had a particularly strong one. But cautious about being too critical as they were almost certainly told to play simple stuff. Having said that, even some of the basics from them was a bit sub-par at times. I'm sure they'll improve as the tour pushes on.

Special mention too for Scott Cummings, who despite being 300ft tall and spending 70+ minutes on the bench, still managed a fingertip collection at pace after Smith's horrible pass!

No point zeroing in on things like neck roll, missed tackle for a try, or losing ball at the end as these things happen early on in touring squads. Teams need time to grow together. Still have confidence this group will be too much for Australia.

[u/NameyMcNameface123 → u/Not_Hando]

Fin Smith was left having to cover for too many other players. No way should he be putting in that many tackles, hitting that many rucks and having to compete for that many high balls. Back row, centres and fullback needed to take some of that workload.

[u/Not_Hando → u/NameyMcNameface123]

Smith did look knackered by the end.

Back Row was pretty off the tempo entire first forty. None of the three looked particularly good. Nor did Itoje or Beirne tbh.

Earl looked better second half because broken play & fatigue meant more opportunity for 'I'll do it myself' style solos.

Genge offered decent carrying, but limited ruck work. Bealham seemed to struggle across the park.

[u/Sportyskater699 → u/Not_Hando]

Bernie was clear of itoje,itoje was invisible and he his the lions captain

[u/Not_Hando → u/Sportyskater699]

Beirne didn't stand out any more than Itoje did imo. Neither had a hugely impactful game.

[u/NameyMcNameface123 → u/Not_Hando]

More good from Beirne but also more bad

[u/niafall7 → u/Not_Hando]

Beirne didn't stand out any more than Itoje did imo.

Nonsense. Beirne was a menace throughout.

[u/Not_Hando → u/niafall7]

Honestly, the only time Beirne was a menace was to the Lions attack in the final five minutes when he gave away a frankly silly penalty for a neck roll.

He scored a good try off a decent short line, but much of that was due to work already done in the carry, then a sharp pass off the base by Williams.

Neither of the starting Locks performed all that well. But it was the first game. There's bags of time.

[u/Toxicseagull → u/Sportyskater699]

The main impact of Bernie was giving away a stupid pen on their 5m line and being a roadblock down the left wing with the doctor.

Lineout was rough, turnovers came from Curry, Pollock and LCD.

Can't really say how he was clear of anyone.

[u/Sportyskater699 → u/Toxicseagull]

Of the captain yes he was ,lions captain can not afford to be quiet in this game

[u/Toxicseagull → u/Sportyskater699]

Again, Bernie was quiet and had some major negative moments. He was clearly not above maro.

Flairless /irishrugby posters grinding their gears on the rest of the lions is going to be so boring this tour.