The Argentinian contingent among the great and the good at Kingsholm were pretty long in the face and not without reason. By the time the half-time sandwiches were ready last Friday, not only were Georgia within five points of the Pumas, but they were also giving their scrum something of a going over.
After 40 minutes, the Argentina scrum, traditionally the weapon of choice, had not won a ball. In fact, they were penalised at each of the first three set pieces. For a side which reckons the scrum to be something of an art form, being undone at the push and shove was almost unspeakable.
Marcos Ayerza of Leicester, considered by many to be the best loosehead around, was whistled once by JP Doyle while Tetaz Chaparro twice finished nose down in the Gloucester turf. Add the complete shutdown of Argentina’s only attempted lineout drive and things were looking bleak for a team with a history of using their forwards to spring World Cup surprises.
Then everything changed. Argentina seemed to throw a switch and suddenly they were six second-half tries to the good. Backs, not forwards, were running things and the sea change in Argentinian rugby signalled when they gave the All Blacks the hurry-up for an hour was confirmed. Three hours after the final whistle their fans were still celebrating – Kingsholm is unused to seeing men dancing the tango together – and if Sunday’s game against Tonga at Leicester follows the same script, no one will want to draw the Pumas in the quarter-finals.
Why the change? Probably a mixture of coach and competition.
The captain, Agustín Creevy, has few doubts, laying plenty of credit at the door of their coach for the last two years, Daniel Hourcade, a man who had only a brief playing career but cut his international coaching teeth on sevens. It shows.
“I think we showed what Daniel Hourcade told us during the week [before the game] and I think we have done a good job,” said Creevy, who until recently played his rugby at Worcester. “We played well and had fun and that is the reason we got so many points.”
Hourcade saw the Georgia win as a reward for hard work on the training pitch. “You enjoy it when you want something and you get it. This team always tries to do what it has done in training and we did that against Georgia. We’ve improved getting quick ball to let us get opportunities and it’s now bearing fruit.”
But it is also pretty obvious that Argentina, and particularly players such as fly-half Nicolás Sánchez, are also benefiting from being increasingly exposed to competition against three of the sides regularly at the top of the international pecking order, with more to come as Argentina is currently forming its own Super Rugby franchise.
This season they beat South Africa in Durban to lift themselves out of the base of the Rugby Championship – the southern hemisphere’s Six Nations – and many of those like Creevy, who have made their livings in Europe, are going home to play in Super Rugby – Australia, South Africa and New Zealand’s Champions Cup.
Latest to join is Juan Martín Hernández, currently playing his third World Cup – he missed 2011 with injury and will miss the Tonga game as well with a damaged hamstring – who, after 12 years in Europe, says the move is a no-brainer.
“I didn’t even have to think about it” said the man nicknamed El Mago (The Magician) after virtuoso displays at the 2007 World Cup. “I was convinced that I wanted to be part of what is coming. Since the offer arrived, I haven’t even thought about it, I had no doubts.”
And after last week in Gloucester there is little doubt that the Pumas will take their new all-court game – physical up front, of course, but ambition in the backs as well – with them. ”Our team will play the way it knows” said Hernández. “This tournament, which is new for us, will help the team to mature and build confidence. We’ll come up against a higher intensity, with games home and away, much more than in the Rugby Championship, and it will be great to see how far it can take Argentine players.”
Heavens knows what to expect at 2019 in Japan.
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