Argentina RWC Preview

[Pierce Brosnan Rugby]

Are u from argentina dude??.... well let me tell u something, after England, GEORGIA is
the main treat not Scotland... Georgia is tough it will be a mess for England and Argentina that game...Georgia will beat scotland like 17-12 remember my words..

 

[psychic duck]

after watching the Argentina vs Wales match a few things must be changed

• two small centres who are naturally 10/12's in partnership does not work, both are playmakers neither of them are going to give a reliable few metres per carry, Bosch is simply not a good player, and not a 13 and should be got rid of, unfortunately there are no ball carrying Argentine centres at the moment, the Pumas either need to convert a ball carrier there or just hope there is a young gem back in Argentina for the future
• Felipe Contepomi must improve his goal kicking, this is biggest area of concern, it was poor in the autumn as well, but if Argentina were 14-9 down rather than 14-3 at half time it would have made a big difference to the mentality of the players, either Rodríguez should start kicking like he did in the Autumn internationals 2009, or Sánchez should be brought in, but if Contepomi kicks like that the Pumas will not beat Scotland
• Ayerza should start, in my view not that much more superior to Roncero at scrum time, but Roncero simply gives away too many penalties, also Figallo should be bench not starting
• The wingers must get involved more, neither Agulla or Camacho came into play on Saturday, I hardly noticed either of them were playing, but they need to offer angles around the centres rather than just hanging out on the wing waiting for the ball to be passed tamely along the line and go nowhere, if Agulla and Camacho can't do this then Juan Imhoff who impressed me off the bench should be given a chance
• A natural openside is needed, this has been known for quite some time, and none of the current squad offer this, I just hope de la Vega will be ready for the 2012 Tri Nations, the TRF Americas rugby expert Melhor has high hopes of him

but there were a few positives

• Vergallo had a good match
• Juan Imhoff looks quite a prospect, astonished no teams are eyeing him up
• Rodríguez started brightly, showed some good skills initially but faded as the match went on, so frustrating to see he still wastes possession going for stupid drop goals

 

[ZeFrenchy]

I agree, Duck. I thought the same about the centres. They could do with a player like Canale or Garcia - both born and raised in Argentina.

It's just silly to play Contepomi at 10, he's like the perfect 12: can gain metres when needed, has tactical kicking and has a good passig game.

 

[erwanseb]

Definitely Contepomi will bring more at inside center than at fly half, in modern rugby the inside center has more influence on the team performance than the fly half.

 

[stus768]

Definitely Contepomi will bring more at inside center than at fly half, in modern rugby the inside center has more influence on the team performance than the fly half.

Have to disagree with u on this point. If u think Dan Carter has less influence than Ma'nonu then fair play to u.

 

[stus768]

Definitely Contepomi will bring more at inside center than at fly half, in modern rugby the inside center has more influence on the team performance than the fly half.

Have to disagree with u on this point. If u think Dan Carter has less influence than Ma'nonu then fair play to u.

 

[stus768]

Also what other options do they have at 10? I felt the forwards and 9 for argentina played well but the back lacked and cohesiveness or cutting edge. May be due to lack of game time together?