The British & Irish Lions arrived in Perth on Sunday with a warning from two of their England stars that they must improve and quickly ringing in their ears.
Tom Curry and Fin Smith cut despondent figures after Andy Farrell’s side warmed up for their tour of Australia with a shock 28-24 defeat by Argentina.
The post-match mood at the Aviva Stadium was dark. Flanker Curry pulled no punches, describing the Pumas loss as an ‘opportunity gone.’
He added: ‘We need to take personal responsibility for our own performances. F***, we can’t score points if we are dropping the ball and giving it away that easily.
‘We have got to respect the ball a lot more. When something goes against us, we have got to keep our chests up and crack on. We have to have tough conversations.
‘I am not going to say it is going to be a party. We don’t need that. We’ve only got six weeks together. This is the thing with this tour. It comes and goes so quickly.
Tom Curry (left) has urged the Lions to ‘take personal responsibility’ after losing to Argentina
The Lions looked rusty as they were beaten 24-28 in Dublin in a warm-up game on Friday
The Lions, who will be captained by England skipper Maro Itoje, arrived in Australia on Sunday
‘You’ve got to make the most of it. Before you know it, we’ll be playing in Australia so we can’t let moments pass us by. We’ve got to fully take it on the chin.
‘We speak a lot about respect with our own team-mates. Respect is so hard to earn but so easy to lose.’
There was an understandable rustiness to the Lions’ first outing. But head coach Farrell, captain Maro Itoje and the squad are determined not to use their limited preparation time together as an excuse.
On Sunday, the Lions confirmed they had added no additional players to their squad.
Against Argentina, they produced moments of promise in attack – one which was guided in Dublin by No 10 Smith. But there were too many spilled balls. Farrell described the attack as ‘clunky’. His team also had defensive and line-out issues.
Smith, one of 14 Lions debutants against Argentina, said he was ‘gutted’ and ‘pretty deflated’ at how his bow has gone.
‘We created a lot, but we just didn’t look after the ball. The number of times we threw poor offloads meant we just couldn’t keep pressure on them,’ Smith added.
‘There is a lot to get better at. I’m sure it’s not the first time the Lions have not played particularly well in their first outing.
The Lions will spent the next few days acclimatising before playing Western Force on Saturday
Fin Smith admitted he was ‘gutted’ and ‘pretty deflated’ at how his Lions debut had gone
‘The main thing is how quickly we can respond and how quickly we can stop feeling sorry for ourselves. Andy has already said that – no moping.’
After landing Down Under, the Lions will spend the next few days acclimatising ahead of their first game on Australian soil against the Western Force on Saturday.
Yes, they lost against Argentina. And yes, the performance wasn’t perfect. As competitive professionals, Curry and Smith were understandably disappointed. But the crucial passes that didn’t stick in their first game surely will do with more training time in the bank.
The post-match analysis of Argentina was unusual in that most media pundits, this writer included, saw more positives than Farrell’s players did.
‘We’re not about throwing the ball out the back. Andy’s been hot on you’ve got to see your pass and know someone is there,’ Curry said.
‘There were key moments against Argentina when that didn’t happen. We can’t just keep saying it and not doing it.’