Pumas: Can They Challenge the Southern Hemisphere?

This is the year of the Pumas!”, “Argentina can match any team”… these were some of the statements made by rugby fans or pundits after the Rugby World Cup.

Yes, Argentina had an incredible run in the Tournament, yet after four rounds of the Rugby Championship, their exhibitions went from impressive to questionable. Last Word On Rugby asks “What is up with Argentina?”

Disappointing Opening to The Rugby Championship

Argentina began so well, bringing their plenty of flare to the first few matches, yet suddenly they could end this year’s run with just a single win if not careful. If they don’t succeed in overcoming the All Blacks (Saturday night) first, followed by the Wallabies next weekend.

Against the Springboks, in the first game, we saw a very confident side that almost got an upset win in Mbombela. Sadly for them, a strong finish from the Boks’ took that possibility away (FT 30-23). Revenge came one week later, in a close match that ultimately went the Pumas way, thanks to a late kick from Santiago Iglesias (26-24).

Happy Pumas
Argentina’s Los Pumas rugby players celebrate after defeating South Africa by 26-24 at Padre Ernesto Martearena stadium in Salta, August 27, 2016 (Photo credit should read JUAN MABROMATA/AFP/Getty Images)

However, after that, the Pumas started to move away from their unique style of play, who combines the latino flare and “aggressiveness” with the European tactical way of playing the game – knowledge brought by both Daniel Hourcade (who spent some years in Portugal) and players: Agustín Creevy, Joaquín Tuculet, Leonardo Senatore, Tomas Lavanini who have played in the Premiership, TOP 14 or PRO12 rugby.

Consistency Missing For The Pumas

Against the All Blacks and the Wallabies, we saw the best and the worst from the Pumas, with the latter dominating their exhibition. If we split the time of the two games, we would rank Argentina moments like this: a good run for 30 mins (first half in New Zealand), a decent 30 mins (twenty in Australia and ten more in New Zealand) and the “rest” (100 minutes) was distinctly average. We didn’t see much of Santiago Cordero’s running game or the strategic mind and gameplay of Nicolas Sánchez, both of which the Pumas missed.

What Argentina displayed at the World Cup was the quick, direct and lucid play of the Pumas. That combined with the speed and quick step from Cordero, Tuculet or Martín Landajo, and the leadership of Creevy or Senatore–and let’s not speak about Juan Imhoff. Missing, his option to stay in Europe meant no return ticket to join the Pumas squad, and his workrate is much needed.

Overemphasis on the Breakdown

In the first 40 minutes in New Zealand, Argentina had moments of perfect game strategy, as they dominated the ruck section and forced the all mighty All Blacks to give away seven penalties. In the second half, their fitness condition broke, making the World Champions job much easier.  The overuse of the ruck and short kind of play (forwards bashing and bashing) took a serious beating, compromising any hope to win the game in the second half.

The same happened against Australia, highlighted in the attached videos. The Argentinians didn’t go deep enough to break the Wallabies line, and went with the same combinations and moves, which were too easily stopped.

Lack of Squad Depth Hurting The Pumas

Another issue was the replacements who didn’t provide what the team needed and ultimately failed to rekindle the Pumas flame. If you take out Creevy, Argentina loses the leadership. If Facundo Isa comes out there will be one less option to carry the ball and win territory, highlighting the lack of depth in the squad. In the future the Argentina Rugby Union will have more and better options for both the initial XV and the replacement bench, thanks to the inclusion of the Jaguares in the Super Rugby competition, as a strong competition will require the Argentinian team to have a wider selection pool.

Woes Against the Wallabies

The key-game was against Australia; could the Argentinians go for 2nd place in the Tournament? The first 15 minutes didn’t go as planned and the Australians quickly mounted a good advantage of 21 points. A chaotic entrance, a weak team focus and a glimpse of the Australia from the World Cup, opened enough gaps and spaces for Samu Kerevi, Dane Haylett-Petty, and Will Genia to score tries, which “killed” the game.

In those three tries, the same mistake: slow pace and weak defensive reaction. For the 2nd and 4th try (Petty and Michael Hooper) the Pumas defensive line opened two gaps, with one of them being in the middle. Quade Cooper saw it, ran for it and with two options he gave the ball to who was facing that gap. Why did this happened? The forwards didn’t cover quickly enough the defensive line, exposing the backs to a much quicker Australian side. Combined with a slight hesitation from the line, that applied pressure but at the last moment stopped and got caught in the brilliant movement from the Wallabies offensive play.

If Argentina wants to turn the tables and start winning in a more consistent way, they have to address the issues in defense–slow pace, lack of a quick reaction or not supporting the first tackler. Concentrate on attack–quick play, combination between Tuculet and Cordero, exploring the flanks.

A key attribute must be mental strength–focus and concentration, stop arguing with the match officials–and fitness. To keep the rhythm for more than 50 minutes [as in Hamilton] especially as replacements enter the fray. It has to bring an effective change.

It would be good to see the Not So Old Pumas side from the World Cup. Rugby needs speed, imagination, flare and a bit of anarchic game-play… it’s here where the Pumas team selected by Daniel Hourcade can help bring a new, and different way to play and liven up their game.

Vamos Pumas!

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