Rugby/ Lions 25 Argentina 25: Some bloke called Jonny duly landed his seventh kick out of seven, but it wasn't in the script that the last kick of the match would earn a draw and save them from complete embarrassment.
And so the Pumas weren't lambs for the Lions to slaughter after all. In that, Argentina reminded us that no matter how patchwork they may be, they remain one of the more obdurate and tougher sides in the game and in the process the 45-point underdogs saved this fixture from being the lopsided romp which was expected.
Nevertheless, even then the Lions' stuttering opening night served to further question the validity of this fixture. Looking muddled after a week in camp together under their large retinue of coaches - who themselves are still at the teething stage as a group - the Lions gave a muddling performance. An example was when Wilkinson had a sizeable overlap in the end game as they tried to save their embarrassment but Graham Rowntree blocked the pathway and took the pass into contact for a needless recycle.
Arch-spoilers, and cynically conceding penalties whenever the Lions threatened to generate momentum, the Pumas were helped by Stuart Dickinson's fastidious performance, in cleverly slowing the game down as much as possible to their preferred, stop-start, set-piece to set-piece tempo with the help of injury enforced time-outs, or further frustrating the Lions by retaining the ball through their close-in recycling game.
With Felipe Contepomi looking as classy as anything else on the pitch with an inspired response to the captaincy, defensively, the Lions looked particularly unsure of their bearings, and were often outnumbered, especially when the Pumas went down the blindside.
One thing the Pumas will aways be able to do is scrummage, and with Mauricio Reggiardo, man of the match Mario Ledesma and Federico Mendez rolling back the years, the Lions scrum creaked, both before and after Julian White replaced John Hayes, until coming up with their biggest scrum of the night in injury-time. Shane Byrne's darts were on the money, although the Pumas don't make a virtue of contesting the opposition throw.
Donncha O'Callaghan was one of the hardest working Lions' forwards but for the most part this was something of a no-win night for him and his team mates. Gareth Cooper was surely one of the biggest losers, looking very unsure at the base while Wilkinson and Gordon D'Arcy looked rusty. But they, like everyone else, would have been particularly conscious of just coming through, and it showed in the general performance.
Denis Hickie looked menacing, and had the odd pacey intervention, but with little end product, and likewise Geordan Murphy showed plenty of classy touches, but Shane Williams, despite injecting the game with life, seemed to be playing as much for himself as the team. And most of all, it was not a good night for Ian McGeechan's B coaching ticket.
They were clearly intent on ensuring the game retained its structure, almost too much so, by generally declining to take quick taps or throws, and taking their three-pointers, despite the crowd's gluttonous mood. Indicative of the mood surrounding this fixture, the kick-off was delayed by 17 minutes due to crowd congestion.
They were quickly stunned into silence as Argentina irreverently took the game to a palpably edgy Lions. Federico Todeschini, the young Beziers outhalf, landed the first of seven kicks on an unblemished night with a penalty when Lewis Moody was penalised at the base of a ruck and then converted a smartly-taken try when the Pumas again stealthily capitalised on a turnover.
Cooper it was who was nabbed at the base, not for the first time, and though the ball wasn't moved that swiftly back to the Pumas' right flank, Contepomi glided outside and then straightened to put Jose Nunez Piossek over in the corner, Todeschini converting.
Wilkinson matched Todeschini in the kicking duel after sparking the Lions into life when taking lineout ball up into contact with Federico Genoud and his opposite number to free his hands and pop the ball to Ollie Smith, who crashed over. No moment in the match would have given Clive Woodward more satisfaction than that one.
However, the Lions could never get their noses in front, briefly drawing level after 50 minutes before the Pumas responded by cranking up the pressure in the set-pieces for Todeschini to land penalties against the Lions for not scrummaging straight and for pulling down a maul.
Wilkinson edged them back into contention but when the Lions went for the kill Williams went for glory and was corralled after long quick passes by the impressive Chris Cussiter and Wilkinson had created numbers and space out wide.
In the fourth minute of injury- time, it finally seemed as if the Lions had worked a try-scoring overlap through the elusive running of Murphy, but D'Arcy knocked on the pass with an apparent clear run to the corner. But by now, Dickinson was awarding a torrent of penalties to the "home" side, and at the death he penalised Reggiardo for handling in a ruck.
Wilkinson landed the penalty for his seventh kick out of seven, but at the end even then it was the Pumas were celebrating in a huddle and even the crowd gave them the louder applause.
Scoring sequence: 4 mins: Todeschini pen 0-3; 7: Nunez Piossek try, Todeschini con 0-10; 15: Todeschini pen 0-13; 17: Smith try, Wilkinson con 7-13; 22: Todeschini pen 7-16; 32: Wilkinson pen 10-16; 34: Todeschini pen 10-19; 38: Wilkinson pen 13-19; 40 (+4): Wilkinson pen 16-19; (half-time 16-19); 50: Wilkinson pen 19-19; 55: Todeschini pen 19-22; 59: Todeschini pen 19-25; 67: Wilkinson pen 22-25; 88: Wilkinson pen 25-25.
BRITISH and IRISH LIONS: G Murphy (Leicester Tigers, Ireland); D Hickie (Leinster, Ireland), O Smith (Leicester Tigers, England), G D'Arcy (Leinster, Ireland), S Williams (Ospreys, Wales); J Wilkinson (Newcastle Falcons, England), G Cooper (Dragons, Wales); G Rowntree (Leicester Tigers, England), S Byrne (Leinster, Ireland), J Hayes (Munster, Ireland), D O' Callaghan (Munster, Ireland), D Grewcock (Bath, England), M Corry (Leicester Tigers, England), L Moody (Leicester Tigers, England), M Owen (Dragons, Wales capt). Replacements: J White (Leicester Tigers, England) for Hayes (51 mins), C Cussiter (Borders, Scotland) for Cooper (59 mins), S Horgan (Leinster, Ireland) for Smith (62 mins), S Thompson (Northampton Saints, England) for Byrne (70 mins), B Kay (Leicester Tigers, England) for O' Callaghan (70 mins), O'Callaghan for Kay (71 mins). Not used: L Dallaglio (London Wasps, England), R O'Gara (Munster, Ireland).
ARGENTINA: B Stortoni; J Nunez Piossek, L Arbizu, F Contepomi (capt), F Leonelli; F Todeschini, N Fernandez Miranda; F Mendez, M Ledesma, M Reggiardo, P Bouza, M Sambucetti, M Schusterman, F Genoud, J Manuel Leguizamon. Replacements: S Sanz for Genoud (70 mins), M Carizza for Sambucetti (73 mins), L Lopez Fleming for Todeschini (74 mins). Not used: E Guinazu, L de Chazal, F Bosch, F Serra.
Referee: Stuart Dickinson (Australia).
