The ironies abound. Leinster had supposedly generated a degree of Aviva fatigue by earning five knock-out games at their temporary home this season before last Saturday’s successful URC final segue in Croke Park. Now they are almost nowhere to be seen when the British & Irish Lions host Argentina this Friday at the Aviva Stadium (kick-off 8pm, live on TG4 and Sky Sports).
Only two of Leinster’s dozen inclusions in the 38-man squad will feature, and both Rónan Kelleher and Tadhg Furlong are on the bench, with Andy Farrell resting all eight starters in last Saturday’s win over the Bulls, while the head coach gave positive updates on last week’s other absentees Jamison Gibson-Park and Hugo Keenan.
So it is that the Lions’ starting XV to be roared on by the “home” crowd will feature nine English players. These include eight of the England starting XV which were beaten more soundly by Ireland on February 1st in this stadium than the 27-22 scoreline indicates, as well as the replacement outhalf that day, Fin Smith.
There’s still room for the Connacht duo of Finlay Bealham and Bundee Aki, as well as Mack Hansen on the bench, while the Munster captain Tadhg Beirne will partner captain Maro Itoje in the secondrow. There will also be two Scots in Duhan van der Merwe and Sione Tuipulotu and the tireless Welsh openside Jac Morgan, thereby ensuring all four countries are represented.
In another irony, through no fault of his own, Furlong has made the smallest contribution of any of their Lions contingent to the Leinster and Ireland campaigns, thanks to recurring calf and hamstring issues. His sole cap for Ireland was as a replacement in Rome on the final weekend of the Six Nations and, having been an unused replacement against Glasgow in round 18 of the URC, the last of his seven appearances and five starts for Leinster was in the Champions Cup semi-final defeat to Northampton seven weeks ago.
But after apparently training impressively with the Lions, the experienced 32-year-old from Wexford will have an opportunity to prove his wellbeing at some juncture against Los Pumas as a replacement for Bealham. A fit and strong Furlong would be a huge boost to the Lions given his pedigree as a starting tighthead in all six Tests against New Zealand in 2017 and South Africa four years ago, and his motivation to complete the southern hemisphere cycle with a series win.
“He’s fit, he’s fit,” asserted Andy Farrell ahead of his first game as Lions head coach, “and ready to go and train well. And he’s as keen as everyone else to get the show on the road.”
The irony of leading the Lions on the eve of his third tour in Dublin wasn’t loss on Itoje, whose first game as England captain had been that aforementioned loss to Ireland on February 1st.
“It’s been very nice to be so warmly received in Dublin,” he revealed with a broad smile. “That tends not to be the case. It’s going to be a great spectacle. It’s one the players can’t wait for to be honest. We can’t wait to get out there and show ourselves and others what we’re about. We’re looking forward to it.”
Plenty of water, along with six matches, will pass under the bridge between now and the first Test in Brisbane in a month’s time, but Itoje’s partnership with Beirne – a replacement in the first and second Tests four years ago – could be a precursor of things to come.
“I’m really enjoying spending time with Tadhg,” said Itoje. “I spent a bit of time with him on the last tour. We built a good relationship and it’s been amazing we’ve been able to continue that. He’s a fantastic player. He has a level of physicality that’s really impressive. I’ve been impressed with his leadership and how he is around the boys in a very calm and mature way.”
The absence of the rest of the Leinster contingent along with the Bath duo of Finn Russell and Will Stuart, and Leicester’s Ollie Chessum, forced Farrell’s hand, and they will have some catching up to do after the squad lands in Perth next Sunday.
But Farrell provided encouraging updates on Gibson-Park and Keenan, as well as the Glasgow and Scotland outside centre Huw Jones.
“They are all a week or so away from being fit. We didn’t quite know until Jamison got another scan on Monday night which was pretty positive. Jack [van Poortvliet] comes over as cover for this game, Jamison should be up and running for the week after.
“Huw Jones has trained with us this week, and he’s been back into full training, so that’s great. Hugo Keenan ran for the first time a couple of days ago. Everything’s going pretty well as far as that’s concerned. And there’s always one or two bumps and bruises that you’re trying to nurse but the nature of rugby within itself. So, we’re in good shape.”
So, what did he want to see from this team in this non-Test warm-up match? “Cohesion, connection. An ability to attack the game from the off and be the best version of themselves individually and collectively. You can give yourself any excuse in terms of time together. But we’ve had good preparation. If you want to be a good Lions player, you have to hit your straps straight from the off. We want to see these players compete.”
British & Irish Lions: Marcus Smith; Tommy Freeman, Sione Tuipulotu, Bundee Aki, Duhan van der Merwe; Fin Smith, Alex Mitchell; Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Finlay Bealham; Maro Itoje (capt), Tadhg Beirne; Tom Curry, Jac Morgan, Ben Earl
Replacements: Ronan Kelleher, Pierre Schoeman, Tadhg Furlong, Scott Cummings, Henry Pollock, Tomos Williams, Elliot Daly, Mack Hansen
Argentina: Santiago Carreras; Rodrigo Isgró, Lucio Cinti, Justo Piccardo, Ignacio Mendy; Tomás Albornoz, Gonzalo García; Mayco Vivas, Julian Montoya (capt), Joel Sclavi; Franco Molina, Pedro Rubiolo; Pablo Matera, Juan Martin Gonzalez, Joaquin Oviedo. Replacements: Bautista Bernasconi, Boris Wenger, Francisco Coria Marchetti, Santiago Grondona, Joaquin Moro, Simón Benitez Cruz, Matias Moroni, Santiago Cordero.
