Prop looks forward to front-row battle as Argentina aim to exploit their strength in the scrum

Published on Thursday 26 November 2009 23:00

ARGENTINA'S defeat to Wales in the Millennium Stadium might appear a comprehensive one to those who look only at the 33-16 scoreline.

However, take out a couple of mistakes, notably when the team turned its back on a penalty and Stephen Jones ran it into the corner, and the Pumas might have been heading to Scotland with a much more foreboding look about them.

Against England, they were a more imposing outfit and much of that came down to the scrummage, where they gave their hosts a torrid workout.

It goes without saying that Argentinian sides live for scrummaging in a way that Scots love an underdog win, but one player who returns to the Pumas' starting line-up this week believes rugby is being ruined by teams' inability to scrum properly.

Marcos Ayerza wins his 28th cap at loosehead prop after coming off the bench at Twickenham and the Millennium Stadium, and he is hopeful of being part of a cracking front-row battle.

"Nowadays scrums are played faster and we don't have time to exert our game in the scrum," he said, "but I think we still have a powerful scrum. It a strength because scrummaging is still a very big part of our game, our confidence and our culture.

"Any Argentina team should have a great front row and from that our confidence is built; our game starts from there. But, I think fewer international sides now scrum and they should scrum, and that's a problem for the game. Many referees know nothing about the scrum and they just penalise teams when a scrum collapses depending on the tighthead who has gone to the floor, without looking at the binding, the body positions, or seeing which player is under pressure or tired.

"It is an area the IRB have to look closer at. If you look at who knows what is going on in the scrums it is the front rows and some second rows, but none of the referees do because too few of them have played rugby or played in the front row.

"Last week, we thought we would dominate Wales in the scrum, because they had a prop (Paul James] who doesn't play the tighthead position for his club, but we got penalised many times and that was very frustrating for us. Scotland are different. It is a loss for them not having (Euan] Murray, who is a very big man, but they still have a good front row and a good scrum, and I think it's going to be tough for us, but we are really looking forward to it this week."

Argentina coach Santiago Phelan has made two changes to his front row to face Scotland after losing the scrummage battle to Wales and the referee in Cardiff.

Mario Ledesma, the veteran hooker, has returned to France to be with his wife, who was due to give birth this week, and Rodrigo Roncero drops to the bench, primed for a second half role. That drops the front row's average age by five years and Test experience by 23 caps, but the weight remains the same, and allows Marcos Ayerza, the 26-year-old Leicester loosehead, and Toulouse hooker Albert Vernet Basualdo, 27, more experience alongside the veteran Clermont Auvergne tighthead Martin Scelzo.

Ayerza played in the winning and losing Tests against Scotland in his home country last year, but his last experience at Murrayfield was on the losing Leicester side in the Heineken Cup, a result he would like to expunge on this return. He added: "The scrum is an area we look to dominate in every game and we will again this week, and from there build our confidence.

"We are in a transition period, but we want to end our tour with a good win. Scotland are a good team, but it is our last game and we just want to come out and play rugby this week. If you play against a team that has beaten Australia, or New Zealand or South Africa, and you can beat them then you will feel really good, so that's an extra motivation that makes this game good for us, too."