Ireland made a late alteration to their matchday squad before hosting Argentina at Lansdowne Road on Friday evening, with Jamie Osborne taking Bundee Aki's place among the replacements after Aki was ruled out through illness, according to The Irish Times.
The change was confirmed shortly before kick-off in Dublin, where Andy Farrell's side opened their Nations Championship campaign against Los Pumas. The Irish Times reported that Aki was unwell rather than injured, and that Osborne was drafted onto the bench as his replacement.
Referee Luke Pearce started the match, with Tomás Albornoz kicking off for Argentina into Irish territory.
Why it matters
The fixture marks the beginning of Ireland's run-in towards the 2027 World Cup, a framing both The Irish Times and the BBC gave to the game. According to The Irish Times, Ireland entered the contest with questions to answer: in July they recorded the worst lineout success rate and the second-worst scrum return of any side in the Nations Championship.
The late swap also removed a familiar midfield option from Ireland's bench and handed Osborne a role in a match Planet Rugby had billed, in its pre-match prediction, as one Farrell's men could not afford to lose.
A reshaped backline and a fast start
Ireland fielded a reworked back three, with Hugo Keenan at full-back and Rob Baloucoune and Mack Hansen on the wings. The Irish Times highlighted Opta figures showing Keenan as the only player in this year's competition to have crossed the gainline on every carry among those with ten or more, having done so on all 18 of his runs.
The match produced two tries inside the opening quarter. Argentina struck first after eleven minutes through a sweeping move: with Ireland stretched in their own 22, Keenan was forced to make a try-saving tackle on Bautista Delguy out wide, but once the visitors recycled, Albornoz kicked across field to exploit a height mismatch between Santiago Carreras and Craig Casey. Carreras won the contest in the air and touched down in the corner.
Ireland responded three minutes later with a score The Irish Times described as superb. From a lineout, Ireland worked the ball into midfield to release Baloucoune, whose pace carried play into the 22. He offloaded to Hansen, who appeared well covered by Delguy but produced an improvised pass over two advancing defenders to send Keenan over.
Earlier, Argentina had shown attacking intent. In the second minute Albornoz broke clear, but his kick rolled into touch rather than reaching Delguy, with no Irish player covering the backfield. The Irish Times called it an early warning.
Breakdown work keeps Ireland in touch
Ireland's new-look back row made its presence felt at the tackle area. The Irish Times noted that a breakdown penalty won by Sean Jansen relieved pressure after Argentina had driven through multiple phases to within five metres of the Irish line around the 20-minute mark.
Shortly afterwards, another breakdown penalty, this time claimed by Timoney, gave Ireland further relief, with The Irish Times observing that the reshuffled back row was producing notable moments on the floor.
There were nervous moments too. Around the 23rd minute, Sam Prendergast attempted a cross-kick towards Baloucoune while Ireland looked to counter; the ball was sliced badly and went straight to Carreras, though Keenan dealt with the kick that followed.
Discipline was also a theme. Albornoz and Hansen were both warned by Pearce after a scuffle that followed an Argentina penalty at the breakdown, and the Argentine out-half kicked the resulting penalty down the line into the Irish 22.
Pre-match context
The Irish Times reported that Conor Murray's pre-match column examined the Irish starting XV, including Prendergast's form, the second-row reshuffle that saw James Ryan drop to the bench, and the opportunity at number eight for Jansen given injuries to two Leinster back rows ahead of him.
The evening also carried a commemorative note: former internationals Phil O'Callaghan and Fergus Slattery, former IRFU chief executive Philip Browne and athlete Ciara Mageean were remembered before kick-off.
Attention now turns to how Ireland's set piece and bench hold up across the remainder of the Nations Championship, with the World Cup less than a year away.
