Pumas lose their bite

Published on Saturday 21 November 2009 19:39

A QUICK GLANCE over the Border at our southern neighbours will confirm that World Cup success does not necessarily lead to years of bounty, global hegemony and the sort of winning ratios that are only matched by the Harlem Globetrotters.

England won the big one in 2003 and have won precisely nothing since. They came mighty close to retaining the trophy two years ago in Paris but that was more by accident than by any shrewd planning on the part of Twickenham's brains trust.

Argentina finished a fighting third at the same tournament, which is also where they found themselves in the world rankings, directly behind world rugby's big two of South Africa and New Zealand. The rankings are skewed by the World Cup campaign during which the points on offer are doubled, but still the Pumas finally had the recognition that they craved. Since then they have rather underwhelmed the watching world, falling back almost whence they came. Ahead of yesterday's match against Wales the Pumas were ranked seventh and in danger of slipping further.

Their fall from grace has not been so far or as fast as England's. The extraordinary World Cup showing was only possible because an extraordinary group of players came together at the same time and some of them have inevitably hung up their boots.

Chief amongst them is Agustin Pichot, the scrum-half, skipper and heartbeat of the team, who now contributes to Argentine rugby only off the field. He is the main driving force behind the country's entry into the 2012 Tri-Nations tournament and he is also fighting for a place in an extended Super 16 competition. Full-back Ignacio Corleto has retired, as has the elder of the two Fernandez-Lobbe brothers, Carlos Ignacio. It may have felt like the end of an era, and players such as Pichot and Corleto are difficult men to replace, but the truth is a little different.

The World Cup forwards are almost all present and correct, it is only the Argentine backline that has been decimated. The Pumas pack that faced Wales yesterday in Cardiff boasted five members of the eight who started the World Cup, and had breakaway Juan Manuel Leguizamon not been injured it would have been six. The front row survives in its entirety as does the world-class duo of Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe and Patricio Albacete in the back five, which is why the Argentine big men will be thoroughly competitive at Murrayfield next week.

But Scotland can still win if they are willing to attack with the ball in hand as they did in Buenos Aires last time round because just two of the Pumas' World Cup backs survive – Horacio Agulla and Lucas Borges – and injuries have stripped Argentina of their two key players.

Felipe Contepomi moved from Dublin to play alongside Rory Lamont at Toulon in the summer but he has yet to debut for his new club. Juan Manuel Hernandez moved to the South African Sharks last summer but he too is currently sidelined. Argentina might have managed the absence of one or other of their classy pivots but losing both has crippled them.

Hernandez was considered by many the best player on the planet not so long ago and his fly-half jersey is filled by Santiago Fernandez, an amateur with the Hindu club in Buenos Aires. Meanwhile his half-back partner, attempting to deputise for Agustin Pichot, is another amateur player, Agustin Figuerola. Both number nines old and new are the product of the CASI club in Buenos Aeries but no one is suggesting that the swap is like-for-like.

At least Argentina is slowly changing its hidebound approach to paying rugby players and the "amateurs" in the Pumas squad are now semi-professional. The AUR (Argentine Rugby Union) introduced a system known as "Pladar" (Plan de Alta Rendimiento or High Performance Plan) which entitles club players in the national squad to a payment from the union in return for several centralised training sessions every week on top of the work they do with their own individual clubs. It means that when the Pumas get together the gaping chasm between the amateur and pro players is reduced.

The question remains as to whether these semi-pros will be good enough to compete in Super 16, presuming of course that Pichot makes it happen. Will the best Pumas put country before cash and turn their back on European salaries to play for Argentina? Will the clubs release those who remain in Europe to play in the new Four Nations come 2012 or will a host of Pumas suddenly and suspiciously lose interest in international rugby? There are myriad problems to overcome, not least the fact that Buenos Aires is 11 time zones from Western Australia.

No one doubts that Argentina need more games and more time together but there is also the suspicion that they succeeded so spectacularly at France '07 because, not despite, the fact that their best players were scattered throughout Europe's top-class clubs. In attempting to grow a professional game at home and repatriate players at the same time, Argentina rugby may have to take a step backwards before making any meaningful progress towards joining the Southern Hemisphere superpowers.

All that is for the future and for now Scotland need to address a dismal 2-7 win/loss Test record against Argentina. It promises to be a full blooded affair because Saturday's game has particular resonance for the two coaches. Santiago Phelan played in the 1999 victory against Scotland at Murrayfield that gave the Pumas a first ever Test triumph in the British Isles. Meanwhile it has probably not escaped Andy Robinson's notice that Argentina were directly responsible for his demise as England coach three years ago when they recorded their first ever win at Twickenham.

PRIME BEEF EXPORTS

ARGENTINA has always been famous for its exports of beef and especially the kind found in the front row of the scrum. Ever since a precocious teenager by the name of "Freddie" Mendez lamped Paul Ackford at Twickenham, players have given Argentine front-rowers their due respect.

Patricio Noriega was one of the first to make his mark abroad. After winning 25 caps for his home country he went on to win another 24 for the Wallabies. Noriega is now the Australian scrum doctor and is credited with the turnaround in their fortunes. Alex Moreno won three caps for Argentina and another five for Italy, which has imported more Argentines than most. Carlos Nieto, Matias Aguero, Ignacio Fernandez-Rouyet and the mighty Martin Castrogiovanni were all born in Argentina but have propped for the Azzurri in recent years. Indeed one Argentine substituted another when "Castro" was replaced by Fernandez-Rouget against the All Blacks last weekend.

When Welsh coach Warren Gatland bad-mouthed the Argentine front row last week, there was the feeling that the Kiwi was simply poking a sleeping bear with a stick.