The great adventure that is the Lions tour kicks off this evening in the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff where Argentina provide the opposition to Clive Woodward's side prior to their departure to the Land of the Long White Cloud.

Not indeed that the game tonight could be termed anything other than an useful run-out for the fledgling Lions, given that most of the Argentine front-liners are not available while their coach is reported to have said that only for contractual agreements the Pumas would have withdrawn from this fixture.

Woodward's philosophy will entertain nothing less than victory in Cardiff and although it will be their first time together the Lion cubs should be far too skillful and much more interested than the opposition.

British and Irish Lions: 15 Geordan Murphy; 14 Denis Hickie, 13 Ollie Smith, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Shane Williams; 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 9 Gareth Cooper, 8 Michael Owen (captain), 7 Lewis Moody, 6 Martin Corry; 5 Danny Grewcock, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan; 3 John Hayes, 2 Shane Byrne, 1 Graham Rowntree. Replacements: 16 Steve Thompson, 17 Julian White, 18 Ben Kay, 19 Lawrence Dallaglio, 20 Chris Cusiter, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Shane Horgan.

Argentina: 15 Bernardo Stortoni, 14 Jose Nunez Piossek, 13 Lisandro Arbizu, 12 Felipe Contepomi (captain), 11 Francisco Leonelli; 10 Federico Todeschini, 9 Nicolas Fernandez Miranda; 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 7 Martin Schusterman, 6 Federico Genoud; 5 Mariano Sambucetti, 4 Pablo Bouza; 3 Mauricio Reggiardo, 2 Mario Ledesma, 1 Federico Mendez. Replacements: 16 Eusebio Gui azu, 17 Leopoldo de Chazal, 18 Manuel Carizza, 19 Santiago Sanz, 20 Lucio Lopez Fleming, 21 Francisco Bosch, 22 Federico Serra.

Referee: Stuart Dickinson (Australia) Touch judges: Jo l Jutge (France), Christophe Berdos (France) Television match official: Eric Darri re (France)