The British & Irish Lions kick off their 2025 campaign with a bang tomorrow night, as they take on Argentina at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Andy Farrell has nailed down his team for the opening Test, and the head coach is expectant that his side will not hold back in this warm-up match against Los Pumas, in a fixture he calls ‘full blown’.
“This is all about putting your best foot forward as a group. They’re representing the group. This is a full-blown Test match for us, for all that are involved internally. We’re lucky to have the quality of the Argentinian side to come over and test that. It’s going to be a fantastic occasion.”
The Lions are scheduled to fly out to Australia in the coming days, with the first match of their overseas adventure set for Saturday, June 28th. Super Rugby club Western Force will be the Lions’ first opponents in the land down under, with the fixture booked in for just eight days after Andy Farrell’s men in red battle the bruisers of Argentina. The Lions stars will have to overcome any aches and pains, along with the jet lag from their flight into Perth, to maintain their match fitness ahead of an unforgettable eight weeks.
An injury set-back at this stage would be simply devastating for any player, as the Lions squad would have likely been issued with their boarding passes for their flight out to Oz. Previously selected Scotland prop Zander Fagerson has since dropped out of the tour, with Irish scrum half Jamison Gibson-Park set for a scan for a glute injury that has kept him out of training. Blair Kinghorn, Huw Jones, Hugo Keenan and Tadhg Furlong are all on the mend, with the Leinster prop now set for a return to match action having been named on the bench for tomorrow’s Test at the Aviva.
Whilst the possibility for injuries loom against a physical force like Los Pumas, Farrell understands how the ‘best laid plans’ come with the territory of such a contact sport. The head coach ensured that an assortment of covering options are in place, should any tough breaks occur in Dublin.
“From day to day, if someone got a niggle do you manage him? Does he need to play? That’s why I keep saying ‘best laid plans’. But there’s no excuses in any of that. That’s the nature of touring. We don’t know what we’re going to have. Touchwood we have a fully fit side on Saturday morning flying to Perth, but we’ve got to be ready for whatever is thrown at us.”
An interesting selection from Farrell sees Marcus Smith start at fullback, as Kinghorn are Keenan are still recovering from their respective injuries. The England talisman last played at fullback in the final round of the 2025 Six Nations, having since pulled the strings at 10 for his Harlequins club. His namesake Fin Smith will take the reins at halfback, with Farrell excited to see how the two England stars transfer their talents from the white to red jerseys.
“We all want to see him [Marcus Smith] being his creative self. And also helping to guide us around and be cohesive as an attacking and defensive unit.”
“They were the two 10s in the squad last week so they’ve been dovetailing 10 and 15, so it’s great for them to have time in the saddle to be able to do that. That’s why it was good to, on many accounts, to train with a 23/24-man squad because it gave different people different combinations to have time and reps. New system, new calls, getting their heads around all that has allowed them to get to a point now where they’re pretty excited to play together.”
The Lions squad was recently bolstered by the arrival of 15 players, as the Premiership and United Rugby Championship seasons were wrapped up this past weekend. A solid cohort of 12 Leinster stars joined the fray upon their home-turf of Dublin, along with the Bath duo of Finn Russell and Will Stuart, and Leicester Tigers lock Ollie Chessum.
Whilst Farrell was delighted to open the doors to all the incoming talent, he appreciated the task at hand of how the new arrivals need to get to grips with the new Lions training systems in just a few short days. The URC and Premiership finalists will sit out from the match with Argentina, with plenty of points to prove in the upcoming training weeks to gain a foothold in the Test match side.
“It’s tough for them coming in, because these lads are fully up to speed and bonded and these lads have subtly worked their way in and so the more they can come out of themselves or be themselves as soon as possible, the quicker they are going to learn. There’s quite a bit of experience in terms of being able to do that, so they’ve certainly added another dimension.”
“Everyone’s gung-ho to get going. There’s no doubt about that. Everyone wants to play. I’m sure there will be some lads twitching in the stand dying to get out there, a little bit of jealousy as well, and that’s what we want.”
Turning his attention to tomorrow’s opponents, and Andy Farrell is excited to see how his Lions side will rise up against Argentina. Farrell’s men have previously enjoyed a training match with Portugal, and internal 15-a-side full contact hit-outs, yet this incoming clash is a significant step up from their camp in Quinta do Lago.
“We had a great session against Portugal in Quinta on Friday. It’s a different level when the squad come back together, and we’ve got 15 on 15 and that type of talent going at one another. You can see the competitive nature and the talent that’s in the room.”
“I think that they’ll be as desperate as we will be trying to put in a performance, and they’ll want to win. They’ll believe that they can win and rightly so with how they have been playing. I’m sure at the back of their minds they’ve been preparing for this for a long time. I know they’ve had a good few get togethers which says a lot. So we expect them to be at the best. And that their best, they’ve proven that they can beat anyone in the world.”
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