They shredded the little guys but can they do it when Ireland get in their face and up their nostrils?
Going into Test matches against Argentina, we usually hear the words ‘battle’, ‘slog’, ‘up front’ and ‘war’.
Argentina rarely make a bone about their tactics – go after the opposition scrum, battle like wild dogs at the breakdown and take every penalty they get. Basically, they are like Italy but with a better scrum… and an out-half who can actually kick penalties at over 60%.
In fact, the days of comparing Italy and Argentina may soon be over.
The Azzurri made their Six Nations debut in 2000 and have went just about nowhere since. Argentina featured in The Rugby Championship for the first time in 2012 and – after one draw in their opening 12 fixtures- are now in the swing of things.
Last October, they stunned a star-studded Australian team 21-17 in Mendoza. This year, in a condensed championship, they bounced back from a losing start to fillet South Africa in Durban. Their 37-25 win sent shockwaves around the rugby world.
At Kings Park, we bore witness to a sensational hat-trick from the first player of Argentina’s back three Ireland must watch.
Juan Imhoff
Johnny Sexton’s old teammate at Racing Métro and an absolute demon for tries.
He has blistering pace and backs himself, more often than not, to beat his man on the outside. He has 19 tries in 33 Tests, including five in the tough, tough Rugby Championship.
His hat-trick against South Africa
perfectly illustrates the poacher’s instinct, and support line nous, that make him such a dangerous winger.
Santiago Cordero
This man has pace to burn.
The 21-year-old, who plays his club rugby for Regatas, made his debut, against England, as a 19-year-old. He has six Test tries and three in the current World Cup.
His defence was tested severely by the All Blacks – four tackles made, four missed – but he showed his attacking danger with a double against Georgia and another try against Tonga.
Joaquin Tuculet
Introduced himself to Ireland in 2014 by dominating the skies and leaving several green jerseys in the scuffed, scorched Argentine dust.
Made 89 metres on 13 carries against New Zealand and continued on after that. In his three games so far, Tucult has made 14 carries over the gainline, made five clean breaks, two offloads, beat five defenders, claimed 12 aerial balls and retained two of his own up-and-unders.
Possesses a mean step, too, as he demonstrated against Ireland last summer.
The Irish flankers – Chris Henry and Jordi Murphy – and the back three will need to be at their most fierce to quell this threat.
To do this, they need to prevent los Pumas from getting on the front-foot as much as possible, hound scrum-half Martin Landajo and play as close as is humanly possible to offside without ticking off referee Jerome Garces.
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