Los Pumas
Argentina start their three-match tour on a high after getting a famous victory over Australia. It was at the end of the TRC, but they will want to treat it as a beginning, and press the point that the result wasn’t a fluke.
They have to get a fast start on their short three-match tour, against the regular cellar-dwellers of Six Nations, Scotland and Italy. If they don’t lose their way and get suffocated as they were in La Plata by the Kiwis, they could have these scalps in the bag and have the confidence and momentum to compete on equal terms with France, who were poor in Australia this year.
Although Scotland beat them in June (as did Ireland, twice) the wins were against a Pumas’ team packed with local players from the Pampas XV, who played in the Pacific Rugby Cup in Australia earlier in the year.
The Scots will find the going harder against a full-fledged side, but they will lift because they know how to hold a grudge: Argentina beat them in the Rugby World Cup [RWC] in the last two tournaments. Three years later they are still seething about Contepomi’s offside moment at the death in Wellington, when Dan Parks was forced thereby to drop-kick with his weaker foot to win the game—and missed.
Joy for Argentina in Mendoza
The Form
Argentina’s win in the TRC was only a matter of time after they had been unlucky against South Africa and Australia in a few games in the three years of the competition,
After their inspiring third placing in the 2007 RWC with one of their greatest teams (who had beaten England at Twickenham the year before), Argentina faded. Not even participation in the TRC seemed to help and they dropped out of the top ten in IRB rankings.
But apart from their breakthrough win this year one realised a few changes in Los Pumas were happening:
– they beat the Wallabies without their big-three forwards of recent times: Albacete, Leguizamon and Lobbe
– there were more close results and fewer big spankings
– they were less predictable and were playing a brand of rugby under new coach Daniel Hourcade that confirmed that they weren’t just a set-piece oriented team these days.
They harrassed the Wallabies when they beat them and I’m predicting that they do the same to Scotland and Italy, but only if the Mendoza fire is still alight.
Nicolas Sanchez -most valuable player for Argentina
The players
They have a cracking front row but their second row is not so distinguished. They will miss flankers Matera and Lobbe, though they beat the Aussies without them.
Apart from the scrummage, the performance of their halves 9 Landajo and 10 Sanchez has been a major strength, and opponents will seek to shut them down. Allowed to prosper they will give opportunities to good midfield operators 12 Hernandez and 13 Bosch, who seems to play better in test matches than he does for Saracens.
Reserve scrummie Cubelli, another with the Pampas XV in Australia, has not been too shabby either.
The back three have blossomed under the new attacking regime, and fullback Tuculet has thrived on the counter-attacking opportunities he has had.
Marcos Ayerza – the brains of the front row
Players to watch out for:
Nicolas Sanchez – is an impudent flyhalf who is adept at taking on defenders as he is controlling the game with clever distribution and some well-placed kicks. If Argentina are going to do well on tour, this fellow has to stay healthy.
Marcos Ayerza – is one of the premier loosehead props in the world and the brains behind the Argentina front row. He served his apprenticeship behind the iconic Rodrigo Roncero as did skipper Augustin Creevy in the shadow of hooker Eusebio Guinazu.
At Loftus this year, these two combined for the first time with new tight head prop Ramira Herrera, who was in Australia with the Pampas XV in March. The Puma scrum had the heavier Springboks skating backwards as Ayerza got the better of Jannie du Plessis. That was in their first TRC game of the year and they were never bettered in the rest of the tournament.
As well as performing his core duties at a high level the presence of Ayerza on the field benefits the younger Pumas, who can lack focus.
Manuel Montero – one of the young players who has embraced the new style of coach Hourcade, he is a cracking finisher when there is still a lot to do to score. 14 tries in 17 matches speaks for itself, but they have to get the ball to him more often than they did in the TRC.
Manuel Montero – has to get the ball more often
Los Pumas touring squad
Backs: Joaquin Tuculet, Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino, Santiago Cordero, Manuel Montero, Horacio Agulla, Juan Imhoff, Jeronimo de la Fuente, Matias Moroni, Marcelo Bosch, Nicolas Sanchez, Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, Juan Martin Hernandez, Martin Landajo, Tomas Cubelli,
Forwards: Juan Manuel Leguizamon, Leonardo Senatore, Javier Ortega Desio, Benjamin Macome, Rodrigo Baez, Tomas Lavanini, Matias Alemanno, Juan Cruz Guillemain, Guido Petti, Marcos Ayerza, Ramiro Herrera, Lucas Noguera Paz, Nuhuel Tetaz Chaparro, Matias Cortese, Agustin Creevy (captain), Santiago Iglesias Valdez.
Uncapped players: Guillemain, Petti
Pumas not available include: Juan Fernandez Lobbe, Pablo Matera, Mariano Galarza.
November 2014
Sat 8 – Scotland v. Argentina, Murrayfield – 17:30 GMT, 04:30 AEDT +1day – Fox Sports 5
Sat 15 – Italy v. Argentina, Genova – 15:00 local, 01:00 AEDT +1day – Fox Sports 1
Sat 22 – France v. Argentina, Stade de France – 21:00 local, 07:00 AEDT +1day – Fox Sports 2
Argentina scrum – one of the best in the business
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