News
Pumas on a hiding to nothing?
August 06 2008
What kind of opposition will the Pumas be able to give the Springboks on Saturday? Despite being World Cup bronze medalists, it could be argued that the Argentinean team on its way to one of the most feared venues in world rugby, is on a hiding to nothing.
A little less than a year ago, the South Americans had the rugby fans around the world on their feet and singing the Pumas' praises after a brilliant display at the game's showpiece in France. A display that included two humiliating defeats for the hosts.
Few will argue that Argentina set the French pitches alight with exciting, running fanfare, far from it, but one can't argue with the efficiency of their no-frills gameplan that came terribly close to turning the rugby hierarchy on its head.
Unfortunately, since then all has not gone the Pumas' way, as they have been unable to build on last October's heroics.
Former Pumas flanker Santiago Phelan took over as Head Coach form Marcelo Loffreda in March and, in terms of results, the transition has been a bumpy one so far.
A hard-fought victory at home to Scotland in June was followed by their first defeat to the same team in 18 years. By the end of the month they had gone down 13-12 to a weakened Italy in the least attractive game of international rugby this year.
To be fair, Pumas had been deprived of some of their best players for the matches against Scotland but the dip in performance - especially when many of their stars had returned to face the Azzuri - was nevertheless catastrophic compared to the World Cup.
These contrasting performances are a reflection of a much deeper problem in Argentinean rugby than a simple bad run of form. With the exception of the World Cup every four years, the team ranked fourth in the world does not compete in a major international competition. While the rest of the planet's best teams hone their skills in the Six or Tri-Nations, the Pumas must be content with the occasional friendly.
The Tri-Nations seems the more likely candidate to include the South Americans but it is highly unlikely a solution will be found before the next World Cup in 2011. For the time being, with the their top players scattered across Europe's clubs and with few opportunities to play together or to plan for the long term, it seems inevitable that the Pumas will slide back down the world rankings to the depths from whence they came.
All of the above problems are directly linked to the largest of all. The absence of a professional league in Argentina means that vast majority of the Pumas ply their trade in Europe. After the 2007 World Cup, a long European season and the June Tests, they must now interrupt their short-lived holidays to travel half way across the world for one of the toughest challenges in the game - facing the Springboks at home - rather than have a well deserved break .
Their trip to South Africa in August effectively means that the Argentinians have been playing for 12 months (assuming they have been keeping fit in the few weeks since their last Test) a scenario that will be repeated, even complicated, if they join the Tri-Nations.
It's not like the Argies will be allowed to put their feet up and read the paper next week either, with most players expected back at their clubs as soon as possible in preparation for the European pre-season friendlies about to kick-off in mid-August.
So while all over the world players and coaches alike continue to criticise the length of their domestic seasons, the Pumas are faced the very real possibility that their never-ending-season will, well, never end.
While the blue and white stripes will be out to show that they are worthy of a place in a Southern Hemisphere "Four Nations" in Johannesburg on Saturday, they face the World champs without their master playmaker - fly-half Juan Martin Hernandez.
'El Mago' fractured his hand in the first few minutes of that ill-fated game against Italy. Add to that the retirement from international rugby of iconic scrum-half and captain Augustin Pichot and a handful of other players missing due to injury, club commitments and retirement, Phelan's XV this weekend will be a far cry from the team that had the Boks sweating in Paris.
All things considered, Peter de Villiers' team seem to be the winners in all this. A run against a rusty team, who are low on confidence and have never played under the ELVs - sounds like the perfect way to fill the hole between Tri-Nations features.
An easy victory at home for the Springboks then? Didn't France say something similar last October?