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Tucumán played host to a match between Argentina and Wales in June 2004. The match saw the first of a two match series and saw a staggering 94 points scored. Los Pumas won with six tries to five.
In the grand scheme of things this match was one to nip the disappointment of RWC 2003 in the bud and to commence the road to RWC 2007. Although the South Americans would suffer losses in 2004, the year was highly memorable for the team and supporters. Argentina’s away win over France in November would famously see captain Agustín Pichot calling for “the world to take notice.”
Head Coach Marcelo Loffreda had a tram featuring eleven starting players and one replacement who would play at RWC 2007. These included players who took over from RWC 2003 names. Instances include props Rodrigo Roncero and Omar Hasan going from RWC 2003 reserves to starting against Wales in place of Roberto Grau and Mauricio Reggiardo
There were also players missing to club duty. The match took place on June 12 2004, yet the French Top 16 (now Top 14) final did not take place until June 26. Pumas Agustín Pichot, Ignacio Corleto, Juan Martín Hernández, Diego Giannantonio and Rimas Alvarez Karilles all competed in the final.
Captaining Argentina on the day was N8 Gonzalo Longo. He was a senior player and the undisputed starting player in his position. He had support from another RWC 1999 veteran Ignacio Fernández Lobbe. Both men stepped up on the day as too did a young Patricio Albacete who demonstrated why he would go on to be Argentina’s greatest second-rower of all-time.
Attendance: 32,000
SCORING
ARGENTINA (50)
Try: Borges (2), F Contepomi, M Contepomi, Gaitan, Longo
Conversion: F Contepomi (4)
Penalty: F Contepomi (4)
WALES (44)
Try: Charvis, Forster, Luscombe, Parker, Peel
Conversion: Henson (5)
Penalty: Henson (3)
Yellow Card: Charvis
TEAMS
ARGENTINA
1 Rodrigo Roncero, 2 Federico Mendez, 3 Omar Hasan, 4 Ignacio Fernández Lobbe, 5 Patricio Albacete, 6 Lucas Ostiglia, 7 Martín Durand, 8 Gonzalo Longo (capt.), 9 Matias Albina, 10 Felipe Contepomi, 11 José Maria Nuñez Piossek, 12 Manuel Contepomi, 13 Martín Gaitan, 14 Lucas Borges, 15 Hernán Senillosa
Replacements: 16 Eusebio Guiñazú, 17 Pablo Cardinali, 18 Pablo Bouza, 19 Martín Schusterman, 20 Lucio López Fleming, 21 Germán Bustos, 22 José Orengo
WALES
1 Duncan Jones, 2 Mefin Davies, 3 Adam Jones, 4 Brent Cockbain, 5 Gareth Llewellyn, 6 Colin Charvis (capt.), 7 Jason Forster, 8 Michael Owen, 9 Dwayne Peel, 10 Ceri Sweeney, 11 Shane Williams, 12 Gavin Henson, 13 Sonny Parker, 14 Hal Luscombe, 15 Rhys Williams
Replacements: 16 Huw Bennett, 17 Gethin Jenkins, 18 Darren Morris, 19 Jonathan Thomas, 20 Mike Phillips, 21 Nicky Robinson, 22 Tom Shanklin
