British & Irish Lions captain Maro Itoje promised there is much more to come from his team after they lost their 2025 opener to Argentina in The 1888 Cup.

The Lions scored three tries and overturned an 11-point half-time deficit to take a 24-21 lead before a sensational Santiago Cordero try secured an Argentina win.

It was a pulsating match that more than lived up to the occasion as the Lions played in Dublin for the first time in their history and in front of a sell-out home crowd for the first time in 20 years.

Now, their attention turns to the Tour. The Lions fly out to Perth this weekend to begin their six-week stint in Australia, with their first match against Western Force next weekend.

Before that they will analyse their performance here, which included an impressive scrum, some dangerous running rugby and the occasional error.

Itoje described Argentina as the perfect test and is adamant they will sharpen up quickly.

“We were not as consistent as we would have liked,” he said.

“We showed glimmers of what we can do. But we did not consistently pile the pressure. Argentina caught us napping sometimes. We weren’t accurate enough in some areas but when we looked good, we looked good.

“When we were direct, we looked awesome. At times, it was tippy-tappy football and that’s not what we want to be. We want to be aggressive. Off transition we were not sharp enough either but we are building. We’ll live, learn and get better.

“I think so [a perfect test?]. Argentina showed us where we were lacking. It was hard fought and now we know exactly where we are.

“This is day one, our first game. We have quality players and we just need to work on that cohesion. The fans gave us a glimpse of what to expect in Australia. We adore you guys.”

Argentina burst out of the blocks and led 21-10 at half-time thanks to a try from Ignacio Mendy and Tomas Albornoz’s breakaway score on the brink of half-time.

The Lions rebounded through a penalty try and a Tadhg Beirne walk-in score, adding to Bundee Aki’s first-half effort, but Cordero’s sprint finish, where he beat Marcus Smith to a Matias Moroni kick, snatched a 28-24 Argentina win.

“Thanks to all the Argentinian people who came. I’m really proud of the team effort,” said captain Julian Montoya.

“Three guys playing for the first time and they were outstanding. The effort and fight I was proud of.

“It was a short week. We came here knowing it would not be perfect but we wanted to take our opportunities and we did.

“We want to enjoy this win.”