{"id":213114,"date":"2025-06-25T12:25:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T12:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/213114\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T12:25:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T12:25:10","slug":"two-bi-lions-written-off-as-maybe-not-test-starter-contenders-planet-rugby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/213114\/","title":{"rendered":"Two B&I Lions written off as \u2018maybe not Test-starter contenders\u2019 : Planet Rugby"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former British and Irish Lions tourist Gordon D\u2019Arcy has named the three players that caught his eye for \u201cpowerful carries\u201d versus Argentina last Friday, but he also described two other players as \u201cmay not be Test-starter contenders\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The retired Leinster and Ireland centre, who travelled on the 2005 Lions trip that Clive Woodward led to New Zealand, went along to the Aviva Stadium fixture as a first-time fan who revelled in being amongst a crowd very different from what he had been used to.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot just Irish \u2013 there were Scottish and Welsh people, as well as a large English contingent, all clad in red,\u201d he wrote in his latest Irish Times column<\/a>. \u201cPeople laughing, mixing, enjoying pints. Former rivals, now united by the strange alchemy that is the Lions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was my first time experiencing the Lions as a supporter\u2026 The atmosphere was striking \u2013 less about expectation, more about shared support. That\u2019s the thing with the Lions: success is rare, but it doesn\u2019t dull the experience for players or fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moving onto the action that unfolded in the 24-28 defeat for Andy Farrell\u2019s Lions<\/a>, D\u2019Arcy managed to find some things to cheer. \u201cThe Lions looked like a team in its first week together. There were glimpses of cohesion, some excellent individual moments, but not yet a complete performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was promise without an end product\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPasses were mistimed. Lineouts misfired. Offloads came too early or too late. Argentina were sharper at the breakdown and the Lions struggled to build tempo. That said, there were positives.<\/p>\n

\u201cBundee Aki<\/a>, Duhan van der Merwe and Tommy Freeman all made powerful carries. The ball was moved with ambition. There were moments of connection, and the crowd fed off them, almost willing the Lions into something more. But ultimately, it was promise without an end product.\u201d<\/p>\n

D\u2019Arcy went on to argue that the performance which Farrell labelled in the aftermath as \u201cunacceptable\u201d might be exactly what the Lions squad needed before they flew to Australia the following day<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe result sharpens minds. Players such as Fin Smith and Jac Morgan may not be Test-starter contenders, but they got first crack and others will now have their turn. Expect selection to get tighter, intensity to rise and performances to improve.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are only two matches the Lions must win on this tour. This wasn\u2019t one of them. But it did set the tone. The Test jersey is now up for grabs and for many players, the clock is already ticking\u2026 The Lions may have lost to Argentina, but the tour \u2013 the real tour \u2013 starts now.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE<\/strong>: David Campese brutally rips into four \u2018woeful\u2019 B&I Lions accusing Andy Farrell of lacking a true \u2018enforcer\u2019 even though Ellis Genge bled for the side<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former British and Irish Lions tourist Gordon D\u2019Arcy has named the three players that caught his eye for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":213115,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4102],"tags":[10105,186,5313,72669,58856,7613,24267,225,522,678,12,4151,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-213114","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-argentina","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-british-and-irish-lions","11":"tag-bundee-aki","12":"tag-duhan-van-der-merwe","13":"tag-fin-smith","14":"tag-gordon-d","15":"tag-home-page","16":"tag-international","17":"tag-ireland","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-rugby","20":"tag-sports","21":"tag-uk","22":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114743995530974287","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}