British & Irish Lions vs Argentina Predictions - Los Pumas to make life tough for Lions

Ralph Staniforth

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Last updated: 19 Jun 2025

Ralph Staniforth 19 Jun 2025

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British & Irish Lions favorites with a 17.5-point handicap.
Argentina promises competitive play, having beaten top teams in 2024.
First match for both teams this year; crucial prep for Lions' Australia tour.

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Argentina can challenge Lions (Getty Images)

British & Irish Lions vs Argentina Preview

The British & Irish Lions are comfortable favourites with the handicap set at 17.5 points. However, Los Pumas are a very competitive side, and I think they can challenge that handicap.

British & Irish Lions vs Argentina Preview
Head to Head
British & Irish Lions Form
British & Irish Lions News & Squad
Argentina Form
Argentina News & Squad

British & Irish Lions have not yet played a competitive match this year.
Argentina beat Australia, South Africa and New Zealand in 2024.
Argentina lost by 3 points to Ireland away in 2024.

Head to Head

When these two met in 2005 the match ended 20-20.

British & Irish Lions Form

This will be the first match of the British & Irish Lions 10-match tour to Australia. It is also the only fixture that is being played outside of the host nation.

The Lions are always a threat given how many world-class players they have at their disposal. They will also be eager to overturn their 2-1 defeat to South Africa four years ago.

This is a tough fixture for the B+I Lions and the perfect preparation for the tour ahead. While no Test caps will be handed out for this game, we can be sure it will be played with a lot of passion.

British & Irish Lions News & Squad

Considering Leinster played the URC final last weekend while Bath and Leicester featured in the Premiership final this team will be far from the strongest available. It is quite England heavy with Fin Smith starting at flyhalf and Marcus Smith at fullback.

15 Marcus Smith, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Sione Tuipulotu, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Jac Morgan, 6 Tom Curry, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ellis Genge

Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Henry Pollock, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Elliot Daly, 23 Mack Hansen

Argentina Form

This is Argentina’s first match of the season, as it is for their opponents. While it could turn out to be a very tight encounter, it is easy to see how this could be an error strewn fixture.

Los Pumas have had an impressive 2024 and will want to claim this big scalp as they look to etch their names into the history books. In 2024, Argentia notched up wins over Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in the Rugby Championship which once again showed they can mix it with the big boys.

On their end of year tour, Los Pumas thrashed Italy, lost by three points in Ireland and lost an entertaining game in France as well.

Argentina News & Squad

Argentina are missing several key players, particularly those who play club rugby in France. Still, they have a strong side, however, their bench is looking rather young.

15 Santiago Carreras, 14 Rodrigo Isgro, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Justo Piccardo, 11 Ignacio Mendy, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Gonzalo Garcia, 8 Joaquin Oviedo, 7 Juan Martin González, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Franco Molina, 3 Joe Sclavi, 2 Julian Montoya (c), 1 Mayco Vivas

Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Boris Wenger, 18 Francisco Coria Marchetti, 19 Santiago Grondona, 20 Joaquin Moro, 21 Simon Benítez Cruz, 22 Matias Moroni, 23 Santiago Cordero