Argentina ready for Irish says Leguizamón

Friday 23 November 2012

Argentina are reaping the benefits of playing in the Rugby Championship according to Juan Manuel Leguizamón as his side prepare for Ireland this Saturday.

"It is always good to play against the three best teams in the world," said the former Toulouse and current Lyon back-row. "That helped, definitely. We spent more time together. We were three months together between July and the end of the Rugby Championship.

"Then we went to our clubs for four weeks and we are back together now for three more weeks. It is something natural that the more you play and know each other, the more the movements are done well, definitely that helps."

After putting the Grand Slam Champions to the sword, Argentina fell to earth with a bang against France, losing 39-22 last week. But Leguizamón feels the Autumn tests are going well.

"We had a good first match against Wales. We did well I think. We played some good rugby in the first match and then against France it was a very tough match. We didn't handle the match very well. We started well, the first 15/20 minutes we were ok, but then (the intensity) came down and we started to give away a lot of penalties and they took the chances. They played very well and they deserved to win the match."

Another difficult challenge face Argentina this week as Ireland face the grim prospect of being third seeds in the World Cup draw next month. While Argentina have been known for their forward play, Leguizamón believes the work they have done with Graham Henry will see a strengthened attack.

"We have been working a lot in attack. Obviously in defense we are still working as always. We know that our defense is a good defense but obviously we are sometimes, up and down but the attack is getting better.

"We have been working a lot with Graham Henry as well and we are stronger in attack. He has been working with us before and during the Rugby Championship and we learned a lot from him."

While Argentina's more fluid attack may cause Ireland considerably more problems than Fiji, Leguizamón knows they are in for a tough contest on Saturday.

"Ireland has a great pack, but their backs are awesome as well. They always play strong in the forwards, with great backs that are fast and dynamic. It is obviously going to be tough with the forwards but once they get the ball outside, it will be hard (to defend against)."

And while Ireland may need to secure victory to remain in the top eight of the IRB Rankings, Leguizamón also feels the weight of expectation going into Saturday's game.

"(As) Argentina, we always have pressure to have a good match, to play good rugby and we don't care what the people think. Every match we have a lot of pressure and every match we play is an exam. This one against Ireland, is the same. It is an exam and we have to pass it."