Pumas will be out to take down Lions

Joe Santamaria looks back on Argentina's draw with the Lions in 2005 and the challenges they will face on Friday

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IT HAS been 20 years since the ill-fated 2005 Lions tour of New Zealand began with an inauspicious 25-25 draw with Argentina in Cardiff.

As the sides prepare to face off once again in Dublin, Lions fans will be praying for a win that points to a more favourable tour than they endured two decades ago. If they are to do so, they will have to overcome an Argentina side that is unrecognisable from the one that punched so far above its weight in Cardiff.

Former Pumas head coach Marcelo Loffreda recalls the build up to that match, in which he and his staff had to trawl far and wide for a squad, with 26 players unavailable through injury or club commitments.

"We had very little time to get ready," he tells The Rugby Paper.

"We must have had no more than two weeks to put the team together." The 2005 Lions coach, Clive Woodward, could no doubt claim he went into the game facing similar issues, as could his 2025 counterpart Andy Farrell. Unlike them, Loffreda wasn't able to pick from the cream of the crop. Instead, his team featured players from the French ProD2, the English Championship, and several amateur players plying their trade in Argentina. On paper at least, the gulf in quality was clear.

"That's sometimes what's unique about Argentina," says Loffreda, below. "When everyone unites for a common goal, it doesn't matter where they come from, it doesn't matter their preparation or their background. Everyone pulls in the same direction." Andy Farrell will no doubt be hoping this quality isn't entirely unique to Argentina, as it is precisely the kind of togetherness his side will need to demonstrate if they are to win a Test series for the first time since 2013.