Sunday Social: Pumas passion, Weir’s hair and humble pie

Colin Newboult
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It is time for Planet Rugby’s Sunday Social, your quirky recap of the serious and not so serious talking points from the past week’s action.

We, of course, start with Argentina’s incredible victory over the All Blacks in Sydney. It was an emotional moment for players and coaches alike, with boss Mario Ledesma showing what it meant to the country.

The team had plenty of Argentine support in the crowd and they all celebrated together at the end of the game.

Captain Pablo Matera was magnificent throughout and typified the belief in the squad. This interaction with referee Angus Gardner stated that they would not be intimidated by New Zealand.

It must also be remembered that they achieved this result off very little game time and had not played a Test match in over a year – since the 2019 World Cup.

Former All Black John Kirwan was certainly made to eat humble pie after his comments during the week.

But to his credit, Kirwan congratulated the Pumas on social media.

Overall, it certainly hasn’t been a good couple of weeks for the All Blacks or prop Ofa Tuungafasi, who was sent off against Australia just over a week ago, but this was an impressive kick from the prop.

On to the Autumn Nations Cup and Amazon, who have bought the rights in the UK, seem to have declared a United Ireland.

Meanwhile, it was a big day for Duncan Weir, who was handed a start against Italy with Finn Russell and Adam Hastings injured.

The fly-half produced a solid display as they claimed a 28-17 victory in Florence but most of the focus was on the hair.

This was our favourite, though, imagining how the rest of the squad would look with a Weir-like barnet.

However, this is the reason why the pivot hasn’t cut it, with the Worcester Warriors playmaker raising money for a great cause.

England also claimed a win on Saturday but much of the talk leading up to the game was on their selection. They don’t lack for top-class back-rows, yet head coach Eddie Jones decided to select Maro Itoje at flanker.

Elsewhere, it has also been a superb weekend for Samoa as they defeated Tonga to secure their place in the 2021 World Cup repechage. It will take place next year with the victor qualifying for the global tournament in New Zealand.

Continuing, and duly finishing, with the Pacific Island theme, this film, presented by former Samoa international Dan Leo, will be well worth a watch.

Argentina