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The real winners and losers in Lions defeat in Dublin - Andy Goode
By Andy Goode
A first defeat in the opening game of a tour for 54 years is nowhere near as catastrophic as it sounds but the stock of the Lions’ missing men rose far more than that of those wearing the red jersey.
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In reality, only Tommy Freeman’s Test credentials were enhanced by what we saw in Dublin and nobody had an absolute stinker but the lineout was the most glaring issue that will be concerning Andy Farrell after the first hit-out.
Much of that is obviously due to new combinations rather than Luke Cowan-Dickie’s darts or the callers and jumpers but it’s definitely an area of concern given the make-up of the squad that has been selected.
Maro Itoje and Tadhg Beirne are both probable Test starters but Ollie Chessum will now be even more likely to join them in the pack as the balance of the back row just didn’t look right in addition to the lack of lineout options in it.
There aren’t too many top international sides that play with two opensides successfully nowadays and you could argue that the Lions had three starting against Argentina.
Of those, Tom Curry would be most people’s pick to get a starting jersey and I think we’ll see Jack Conan in at number eight with Josh van der Flier the other selection if Farrell doesn’t opt for a hybrid back row/second row such as Chessum or Beirne.
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The scrum did go fairly well and the desire to get the ball out of contact was plain for all to see so that was promising and a certain degree of clunkiness is inevitable when you’re bringing together players from different nations who haven’t had a run out for a while.
Ahead of the match, I’d have said just six of the starting XV against Argentina will be starting the first Test against the Wallabies and I didn’t see anything to change my mind.
Alex Mitchell and Fin Smith did nothing wrong at halfback but both look as if they might be playing for bench spots with Jamison Gibson-Park and Finn Russell firm favourites to start and make a big difference once they’re fit and familiar with one another.
There was a lot of talk about the centre combination of Bundee Aki and Sione Tuipulotu and we saw a few glimpses early on but I think it’s almost certain that we’ll see just one of them alongside a Garry Ringrose or Huw Jones when it comes to the crunch.
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Dan Sheehan should make a big difference in the loose as well as the lineout and there’s definitely a case for picking Beirne in the back row, even though he doesn’t play there too much for Ireland, with Chessum in the second row.
Itoje’s starting berth is all but guaranteed after his selection as skipper but he didn’t have his best game by a long stretch and was taken off early, which almost never happens when he’s wearing the white of England.
The Pumas were impressive with Gonzalo Garcia and Tomas Albornoz to the fore, in particular, and it’s stating the obvious to say it’s a phenomenally tough assignment to face the fifth-ranked team in the world right off the bat.
Juan Martin Gonzalez was every bit as influential as he has been for Saracens and Julian Montoya led his team brilliantly just six days after the disappointment of losing the Premiership final.
One of the tries came from a turnover in Argentina’s own 22 and another stemmed from a failed charge down from Curry and the Lions won’t be happy with elements of their defence but the Pumas have real x-factor in attack.
The Lions’ next five opponents will not be as strong and they will improve week on week so it’s far from all doom and gloom but the lineout and balance of the back row is undoubtedly the biggest cause for concern.
It’s fun for everyone to pick their Test starting XV and see how much it fluctuates from one week to the next but I don’t think Farrell will have been changing too many names on his team sheet on the evidence of what he saw.
Everyone will get at least a couple of starts in the six games before the serious business starts and then it’ll be time to judge but defeat in the very first outing does provide at least something of a reality check.
I’m sure it’ll be a case of onwards and upwards once they arrive down under but for anyone daft enough to think a series whitewash is almost a given, the performance will give pause for thought and show there is a hell of a lot of work to be done.