Pumas winless but Focus must go Elsewhere

When looking at Argentina’s November Internationals the results were a winless campaign from Los Pumas. But there is much more to evaluate and focus must go elsewhere.

Compare Fairly 
It is easy to look at the rivals and conclude that Argentina are not well placed. This, however, is problematic in itself. One should not fall into the trap of comparing Argentina with rivals, instead compare Argentina with Pumas teams from past years.

In November 2018 Argentina came off two wins in the Rugby Championship. This had never happened before. A third win was in the bag against Australia at half-time yet a meltdown saw Argentina denied. Prior to that Los Pumas put on their worst performances in 15 or more years in June against Wales and Scotland.

A year earlier Argentina was beaten 2-0 at home by England before winning against Georgia. It was followed by a winless Rugby Championship, a campaign in which Argentina’s best result was a 16 point home defeat. From there Los Pumas fell by 13 and 11 points to England and Ireland while claiming a 16 point win over Italy in November.

In June 2016 home wins came against Italy and France but so did a 27-0 defeat against the latter. There was one win in the Rugby Championship and a 34 point win over Japan in Tokyo. In Europe Los Pumas were beaten by Wales, Scotland, and England.

With 2016 and 2017 in mind how does the 2018 November Internationals rate? While Argentina went winless the team was in winning positions against Scotland, France and Ireland. Did Argentina look better worse or similar? Overall the answer lies somewhere between better and similar while from November 2016 to November 2017 there was a deterioration.

Addressing Scrum Frailties
Under Mario Ledesma’s orders the UAR is to employ a scrum coach. This individual will be responsible for altering the scrum in the country with it resulting in an improvement for Los Pumas. Of note in this is that within Argentina scrums have been altered for player protection which has brought with it limited pushing.

This reduction has been catastrophic for Los Pumas. The scrum has gone from a strength to a weakness. PladAR has been developing ball-carrying and strong defending props but players without key attributes. Now there will be again another factory to see future Rodrigo Roncero’s coming through.

Limited Roster
Ireland has four provinces, France the Top 14 and Pro D2 and Scotland has two city-sides in the Pro 14 and is open to selecting from abroad. Argentina has Los Jaguares. This is a vastly smaller player pool and there is no denying it has complicated rather than aided Argentina winning matches.

Having a limited roster not only restricts player numbers to choose from but it also has an overuse of the supply. Were the players at their peak in November or were they tired? How many matches did they play in 2018? 16 rounds of Super Rugby plus play-offs and 12 test matches. It is a lot for a roster with Agustín Creevy, Pablo Matera, Guido Petti, and Nicolás Sánchez as permanent starters.

The Europeans
The tour to Ireland, France, and Scotland featured only Mariano Galarza from abroad. He joined the team to earn his first cap in three years. Yet his stay was just for one match as he missed out on facing Scotland due to the birth of his second child.

In the Rugby Championship Ledesma used four players – Juan Figallo, Facundo Bosch, Gastón Córtes, and Ramiro Herrera. For 2019 more will be added with the 2018 names potentially being joined by others with no 8, fly half, and wing being the likely positions. Their input will add greatly to the options, helping Argentina be better off.

The RWC and Pumas Depth
Ledesma was without Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro and Marcos Kremer in November. He also lost Juan Martín Hernández to retirement and dumped Juan Manuel Leguizamón, Leonardo Senatore, and Santiago González Iglesias.

In place of these players were opportunities. How did they go? The answer is the tour was a great success for RWC depth. Bautista Delguy was rookie of the year and one of the greatest newcomers anywhere in the world in 2018. Rodrigo Bruni slotted in well against Scotland while Juan Pablo Zeiss, and Lucio Sordoni passed the test as rookie props.

Jaguares to Experiment
The aforementioned newcomers will be essential for Los Jaguares in Super Rugby. Balancing the needs of the team and individual players will take priority. The positive to come through for new coach Gonzalo Quesada is there are more options than those which Ledesma had. More on this in January…