DUBLIN – Tom Curry said the British and Ireland Lions players need to take personal responsibility after a 28-24 defeat to Argentina.
Curry began with his English teammates Ben Earle and Wales’ Jack Morgan in the backrow. And several potential test starters made the cuts, and Argentina punished the Lions’ sloppy error and claimed a famous victory. The defeat highlights the scale of the task Andy Farrell is facing, and he is trying to form tourists in a team that can beat Wallabies within four weeks.
Curry was visibly annoyed after the match when he evaluated the defeat. He said the biggest point he took from the game was that the Lions need to be more “ball-clinical” but he said he must welcome “strict conversations” on Friday about why they’re performing poorly in front of the sold-out Aviva Stadium.
“Yeah, that’s an opportunity to go away,” Curry said. “I’ve been in these situations before and we have to draw closer to tighter. That’s the only way. I feel this group has taken a lot of steps off the field. I don’t have any bad words about anyone. Everyone is pulling in the right direction, but we have to have a tough conversation.
“We have to be honest. Personally, we cannot take it. This is the issue of this sport and this tour. It goes very quickly. You have to make the most of it – every meeting and every session. Before we play in Australia, we cannot pass by us.
When asked if the Lions were struggling to adapt to the new system, Curry said: “I’ve done these things before. You can wait until Monday before saying this. But you can get to six weeks and still make the same excuse. Six weeks isn’t a long time.
The Lions flew to Australia on Saturday and landed in Perth on Sunday night. Curry had been considering seeing defeat to Pumas, but instead chose to see the “office.” But you could feel his frustration when he pulled away from his defeat to Argentina. However, he was looking for something positive, so he thought he was working well together with fellow Franker Morgan.
“It was good. There were probably still moments when I needed to be a little more around the ball,” Curry said. “There was a moment when we were able to link with Jac a bit with offense and defense, and it was really exciting. It was really fun. I think one of us could stay a little more around the ball, but that’s what (a) we need to work together and (b) that intuition and feel, but it was a good start.”
The Lions will be followed by the Western Army of Perth on June 28th. Andy Farrell will spin the team again for that match as he tests the new combination. Finn Smith was on the Lions fly half against Pumas on Friday, but said he would address their shortcomings with some urgency to build up for a Test series with the Wallabies.
“I’m sure it’s not the first time the Lions have played particularly well on their first outing,” Finn Smith said. “The main thing is how fast we can respond and how quickly we can stop ourselves from feeling sorry for ourselves. We need to go back to the training pitch and get better as quickly as possible.”
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