Have 'Los Pumas' got the bite this World Cup?
They shocked everyone at the 2007 RWC in France, first they beat the host nation in the opening game of the tournament, then they comfortably defeated the Irish and progressed to the semi-final where they were halted by the eventual World Champions South Africa.
Yes "Los Pumas" where the surprise stars of the previous world cup eventually finishing in third place, beating the hosts again. Since then their form has varied greatly with some very poor displays especially two tests defeats against Scotland in 2010. One must question whether they simply peaked at the right moment and it may not happen again, or are they going to arrive in New Zealand this September and do it all over again? If so they cannot be taken lightly.
Few would associate Argentina with rugby; it is definitely a football nation, especially when it produces such talents like Lionel Messi. Nevertheless they are continually in the top 10 of the IRB world rankings and have some world class players. The problem with Argentine rugby is not at international level, it is at club level. They do not have big clubs like the Queensland Reds, and The Leicester Tigers.
Like in football, Argentine rugby players are tempted to play in Europe to play a higher level of rugby, and to become fully professional. Players like current captain Felipi Contepomi, former captain AgustÃn Pichot, and utility back Juan MartÃn Hernández, all played in the French Top 14 at one time in their career.
In order to encourage their star players to remain in Argentina, the UAR (Unión Argentina de Rugby) worked towards getting the national team to compete in either the Northern Hemisphere 6 Nations tournament or the Southern Tri Nations tournament. They are now set to join the Tri Nations tournament making it the Four Nations from 2012.
This means Argentina will be able to play competitive games with teams that challenge them on a regular basis, rather than having to play other teams from the Americas, where the USA national team (the Eagles) are the only team that are nearly at the level of the Pumas. Until now they have been the only top level team with no regular competition to play in.
Having this annual competition should lead to them to improve as a rugby playing country. Viewing rights will also lead to an increase in revenue for the UAR, again helping to improve the game at club level. This will hopefully attract the top Argentinean players to stay in Argentina to play their club rugby.
Looking toward this years WC, The Pumas have both England and Scotland in their Pool, along with Georgia and Romania. They will feel that they should progress to the next round of the competition. They will of course want to improve on their performance at the 2007 RWC. Whether they will or not is a different matter.
Something totally off topic, the nickname Los Pumas the national team has adopted conflicts with the jaguar on their jersey's badge. This occurred when a South African journalist was in a rush to submit an article on the Argentina national team, he was unsure as to what the cat on the badge was and he guessed with Puma, the nickname has stuck ever since. I feel "Los Jaguares" has less of a ring to it.
