Expert Witness: Lewis Moody on the rise of Los Pumas and predictions for Round Four of the Rugby Championship

James While

As the Rugby Championship enters Round Four this weekend, former England captain Lewis Moody joins Expert Witness to discuss the rise of Los Pumas together with the other talking points of the weekend.

Benchmarking

“This year’s Rugby Championship has demonstrated clearly to all just how close things are at the top of the rugby rankings. After the display of the northern hemisphere on tour in July, the big three, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia were pretty wounded and bruised, with Argentina demonstrating their progress,” Moody said.

“Since then, Argentina has left the others trailing in their wake and right now, they sit on top of the table through absolute merit, with an amazing chance to leap frog the All Blacks in the rankings this weekend if they can repeat their win.

“I am a big admirer of Los Pumas. I believe that the start of this journey for them was around 2006 – I played at Twickenham and lost convincingly 25-18 when we were in the middle of our worst run of results ever. The fallout from that match saw both Andy Robinson and Martin Corry lose their jobs as head coach and skipper, and as we walked off at Twickenham the silence of the crowd was almost spooky.

“When I look back at that match, Argentina had maybe seven players that you could realistically call all-time greats of their game including a half-back pairing of Gus Pichot and Felipe Contepomi, and a pack with players of the quality of Marcos Ayerza and Mario Ledesma in it. From that point onwards, Los Pumas have always punched well about their weight – Rugby World Cup semi-finalists in 2007, and only missing out on the knockout stages once – in 2019 – since then.

“Best of all, they’ve used every home series to really spread the rugby word – playing the length of a very long geographical nation and driving grass roots interest throughout the nation. It’s also a great country to tour – when I first played there in 2001 it was really gladiatorial – barbed wire fences, coins thrown on pitch, chat around Los Malvinas (!) and altogether quite scary – but ironically the welcome off the pitch was contrastingly warm and welcoming; a feast of fine food, great wine, wonderful rugby clubs and generous hosting.

“This current team is a wonderful outfit and I’ve watched with interest how, over the period I have mentioned, their game has changed from the 10-man boot and bust style to a total rugby 15-man game. In Rugby Championship 2022, they’ve been the best handling side in attack and the best defensive side – last Saturday they completed 205 tackles at 96% completion, with the massive Marcos Kremer hammering 26 hits and missing none – that’s exceptional. But in attack, they are intelligent. A lot comes off the carries of Pablo Matera and the half-backs, who really attack in deep runs but crucially they vary the point of attack and they love an out-to-in switchback move, as both Australia and New Zealand have found to great cost.

“Factor in Emiliano Boffelli, who is now hitting 90% kick completion off tee and you’ll agree they’re at the top of the table for one reason alone – they have been the best side in it.

“Beating New Zealand twice on the bounce away from home is a massive ask, but their confidence is high, and although they’ll be without Gus Creevy off the bench, New Zealand are there for the taking and this is a once in a career opportunity. New Zealand seem to be in a strange old place – there’s a desperation about their play – the calmness on the ball has gone and they’re making some awful rugby decisions. Time and time again last weekend they ran soft lines from flat into a powerful defence. That’s a recipe for disaster at Test level. The pressure on Sam Cane as a player and leader is absolutely huge and if the match goes pear shaped for them, I really cannot see how Ian Foster or Cane can continue. It will be the All Blacks’ very own England 2006 and I personally understand exactly the ramifications of a string of results like that.

Wallabies v Boks

“Last weekend’s win for the Wallabies was really a turn up for the books. They are ravaged by injury and unavailability yet somehow Dave Rennie and James Slipper have really created a team spirit to bond them together in adversity. James is old enough to have played against me a few times, and that makes him ancient. Sure, he had a few moments of a personal nature in 2017/18 but you need a man like that to build your culture and your pack around and he’s been absolutely exceptional.

“The Wallabies right now are at a stage where they have high individual skillsets which need gelling together into team units. Noah Lolesio is their best option at 10 in the long term and it’s great to see him getting an extended crack at owning the shirt. And elsewhere, players like Rob Valetini are in great form, with Marika Koroibete reminding us he’s still one of the best wings (and defenders!) in the sport.

“I also like the look of Fraser McReight – he’s pretty abrasive, a great nose for the try-line and we’ve hardly missed the great Michael Hooper, which shows how well McReight has fitted in. He’ll be crucial on Saturday and when Hooper does come back, Australia look to have great back-row options.

“South Africa have made more changes than they would like but perhaps this is a good thing. Their rugby has been based upon scoreboard ownership of slim leads for a long time now, but as they do that, so the other sides have upped their try-scoring and I fear that they no longer can rely upon protecting those leads. They have to create more and the move of Damian Willemse to outside half might just unlock some wider space for the Boks.

“Sure, any side would miss Lukhanyo Am, but Jesse Kriel at 13 offers great pace and is a decent replacement. They will have a mountain to climb on Saturday, but South African rugby doesn’t tolerate failure and, like New Zealand, the Boks and their management team are playing for their places.

“In terms of predications, your guess is as good as mine. I have given up trying to call these after my last prediction! We’ve all written off Australia and Argentina recently, expecting New Zealand and the Boks just to dominate based upon history, but that expectation is now turned on its head. However, given the stakes are so high for the two giants of rugby, I have to say I expect both these games to go with home advantage; however, the Wallabies and Los Pumas have a wonderful knack of making pundits eat their words and I’m excited to see what the table will look like after Round Four.”

READ MORE: Five talking points ahead of All Blacks v Pumas as stronger New Zealand bench could be key

 

Argentina Lewis Moody

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