logo
Argentina send Lions down under with 28-24 warm-up defeat

Argentina send Lions down under with 28-24 warm-up defeat

CNA20-06-2025
DUBLIN :Argentina beat a stuttering British and Irish Lions for the first time ever on Friday with a 28-24 warm-up game victory at the Aviva Stadium that left coach Andy Farrell with plenty to do as his squad get ready to leave for Australia.
Just as they did when they last met in a 25-25 draw before the 2005 tour, the Pumas had the Lions on the ropes early thanks to tries from Ignacio Mendy and Tomas Albornoz either side of a Bundee Aki effort that gave them a deserved 21-10 halftime lead.
The Lions, playing without almost half of their panel due to recent club commitments and injury, were a different animal early in the second half and regained the lead after a penalty try and another home crowd score, this time for Tadhg Beirne.
But Santiago Carreras put Argentina back in front against the run of play with another great team try and the error-strewn Lions could not reply again to leave themselves five more games, all in Australia, to set things right before the first test against the Wallabies on July 19.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Brighton's Irish forward Ferguson seeks Roman revival in loan move
Brighton's Irish forward Ferguson seeks Roman revival in loan move

CNA

time10 hours ago

  • CNA

Brighton's Irish forward Ferguson seeks Roman revival in loan move

Ireland striker Evan Ferguson has joined AS Roma on a season-long loan from Brighton & Hove Albion, the Serie A club said on Wednesday, with the 20-year-old looking to kick-start his career after a couple of uninspiring seasons. "Roma are delighted to announce the signing of Evan Ferguson from Brighton & Hove Albion. Ferguson will join Roma on loan with an option to buy," Roma said in a statement. Ferguson joined Brighton from Irish club Bohemians in January 2021 at the age of 16, making his senior debut in August of that year under Graham Potter. The 2022-23 campaign marked his breakthrough, with Ferguson scoring 10 goals in 25 appearances across all competitions and earning his senior debut for Ireland. But injuries soon disrupted his momentum. A cruciate ligament tear cut short his 2023-24 season, a campaign where Ferguson netted a hat-trick against Newcastle United in September but saw him struggle to hold down a regular starting place under Roberto De Zerbi. Last season, after failing to impress new Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler, Ferguson went on loan to West Ham United in February, making only one start in eight goalless appearances under former Brighton manager Potter. Ferguson will now look to revive his form under Roma's new manager Gian Piero Gasperini, who previously transformed Atalanta from relegation contenders into a top-four Serie A side — while also rejuvenating the careers of numerous players. Gasperini's record of turning inconsistent strikers - including Duvan Zapata, Luis Muriel, Ademola Lookman and Gianluca Scamacca - into prolific scorers offers real hope for Ferguson as he seeks a fresh start in the Italian capital. There has certainly been plenty of optimism in Rome around Ferguson's arrival, with Monday's Il Romanista newspaper featuring the striker on the front page alongside the headline 'The Irishman'. Ferguson looked taken aback on Sunday as he arrived at Ciampino airport, where a large group of Roma fans were already chanting his name and clamouring for autographs, all before he had even completed his medical or signed a contract.

Schmidt, Farrell mull options with Lions series on the line
Schmidt, Farrell mull options with Lions series on the line

CNA

time11 hours ago

  • CNA

Schmidt, Farrell mull options with Lions series on the line

MELBOURNE :Joe Schmidt will unveil his team for the second test against the British & Irish Lions in Melbourne on Thursday, a lineup that could go a long way to defining his time as coach of Australia. Australia must find a response to the physical dominance the tourists exerted in the opening hour of the first test defeat in Brisbane or risk becoming the first Wallabies team to fail to take a Lions series to a decider. Rob Valetini, Australia's best test player of the last two years, has recovered from a calf injury and will take his place in the back row at the expense of rookie Nick Champion de Crespigny. Lock Will Skelton has also recovered from a similar injury and while his inclusion would certainly beef up the pack, his limitations at the lineout might require a tweak of the back row to add another jumper. Schmidt has had no shortage of helpful suggestions from media pundits this week with most concurring that the hard-running Angus Bell should be promoted to start at loosehead prop instead of 36-year-old James Slipper. Dave Porecki should be available after sustaining a concussion against Fiji two weeks ago and his lineout throwing would help shore up an area of the game where the Wallabies struggled in the first test. Behind the scrum, Tom Lynagh showed enough in his first test start to get another shot, although many would like him to do so in tandem with his Queensland Reds teammate Tate McDermott, who had a fine game off the bench in Brisbane. There have also been calls to shift Joseph Suaalii from centre into the back three after he struggled to make an impact in Brisbane until it was too late. That would also allow Len Ikitau to move to his more favoured outside centre spot with Hunter Paisami, another Queenland Red, slotting into the midfield outside Lynagh. Lions coach Andy Farrell's job is a little easier after the early dominance the tourists showed in Brisbane, although he looks likely to be forced to make a change to his second row. Irish lock Joe McCarthy limped off with a foot injury early in the second half at Lang Park and has not trained this week, leaving the door open for Ollie Chessum to move up from the bench. The head knock suffered by Marcus Smith against the First Nations & Pasikifa XV on Tuesday could open up a spot on the bench for Farrell's playmaker son Owen, who was called up as an injury replacement for his fourth Lions tour.

Brisbane 2032 on track but with little wiggle room seven years out
Brisbane 2032 on track but with little wiggle room seven years out

CNA

time14 hours ago

  • CNA

Brisbane 2032 on track but with little wiggle room seven years out

BRISBANE :Andrew Liveris is happy with the progress organisers of the 2032 Brisbane Olympics have made so far but concedes they will have little wiggle room if they experience delays while implementing the plans they have been working on for the last three years. The opening ceremony of Australia's third Summer Games will take place exactly seven years from Wednesday, the same period of time that most host cities in the modern era have had from winning the bid to staging the Olympics. Under the International Olympic Committee's New Norm policy, however, Brisbane won hosting rights in 2021 only for political wrangling over the venues to delay the decision on the final plans until March this year. "The venues got a lot of noise," Liveris, president of the Brisbane Organising Committee for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, told Reuters this week. "The political body was disagreeing on a couple of very big ones and that didn't help, but they got that out of the way and frankly, seven years to go, we have our plans, and I'm happy with where we are ... "Seven years is enough time, but we don't have a lot of wiggle room." Liveris is cautious about what impact global economic changes and trends over the next few years might have on the budgets and timelines for the main venue construction projects. "With 84 per cent of our venues being existing or temporary, we're mostly in good shape," he added. "But the 16 per cent includes the stadium, includes the aquatic centre, it includes a few very important venues. That would be the biggest challenge we have." There was little evidence around the city this week that the world's biggest sporting event was coming to southeast Queensland in seven years' time. At the Centenary Pool, which will be redeveloped to host aquatic events in 2032, mainly elderly club amateurs swam laps, read newspapers and sipped coffee in the winter sunshine. Across a footbridge where the main 63,000-seater stadium for the Games will be built, the larger part of Victoria Park remained a green preserve of dog walkers, picnickers and school sports lessons. The decision to construct the two biggest new venues in a heritage-listed city centre park with special significance for the local indigenous Turrbal and Yugara peoples has triggered fierce local opposition. The Save Victoria Park campaign, which has been raising money for a legal challenge, maintains that the stadium plan goes directly against bid commitments on sustainability and First Nations rights. "It's not that we're anti-Olympics or anti-stadium, it's just that we don't believe this is a suitable site," spokesperson Andrea Lunt told Reuters. "It's going to concrete over this gorgeous, pristine parkland for an Olympics that is supposed to be sustainable." The Queensland state government last month enacted legislation to exempt the Olympic building projects from normal planning rules but Liveris said the concerns of the campaigners would still be addressed. "I'm not saying that they won't be heard," he said. "Everyone's going to get some accommodation, and the government's going to have to be seen to be saying, 'okay, we understand the concerns, here's how we're going to mitigate them'." GROWING PAINS Liveris went to school and university in Brisbane before building a highly successful career around the world with multinational corporation Dow Chemicals, which he served as chairman and chief executive for 14 years. While the 71-year-old has overseen multi-billion dollar projects before, his current role also involves work that can be less easily managed with spreadsheets and a firm hand. Near the top of his in-tray is how to engender the enthusiasm of the people in Australia's fastest growing region for the Olympics. Liveris said Brisbane had learned a lot from how Paris went about engaging its people for the 2024 Olympics and thought the excitement would grow as the benefits of the Games became more evident. "What Queensland is going through, southeast Queensland in particular, is growing pains," he said. "I think a lot of people want to see better infrastructure, want to see their lives getting better. And I think this is where the Olympics can enable that by accelerating that infrastructure." Liveris was recently re-appointed for another four-year term as president of the organising committee and said, health permitting, he was keen to keep going all the way to July 23, 2032. "People around me know I'm pretty high energy, I'm pretty high enthusiasm and caffeine is a really good fuel," he laughed.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store