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The Pumas' greatest ever games

Roar Guru
20th August, 2014
9

Argentina haven’t won a Rugby Championship match yet, but last Saturday they got awfully close. For a football mad country, the Pumas have had some truly great days in international rugby.

Here are nine games where the Pumas managed to overcome their opposition in style.

14 September, 1968: Argentina 9-5 Wales
Wales arrived in Buenos Aires in 1968 and for the first time in their history the Pumas were able to triumph in a series, winning the first match 9–5 and drawing the second 9–9. In the first game flanker Raul Loyola scored the winning try and Jorge Seaton kicked two penalties as Argentina achieved their first ever victory over Wales.

The second Test saw Seaton kick two penalties and a penalty try scored from a scrum. Loyola played 19 Tests over eight years for the Pumas. He is now based in Miami. Seaton scored 40 points in four Tests.

October 27, 1979: Argentina 24-13 Australia
Argentina beat Australia for the first time in Buenos Aires and a future Wallabies star played a massive part in the victory. Enrique Rodriguez, who played 26 Tests for Australia between 1984 and 1987, anchored the Pumas’ dominant scrum as they scored an emphatic victory in Michael O’Connor’s Test debut.

Centre Rafael Madero scored two tries and Hugo Porta was in vintage form, kicking three drops goals, a penalty and two conversions. Rodriguez suffers from bipolar disorder and in 2007 the struggles of his life became the subject of a theatre production. In 2012 he published a book entitled The Art of Scrummaging.

June 22, 1985: Argentina 24-16 France
France and Argentina had been regular rivals since 1949, but Argentina hadn’t beaten France in 15 games until this clash in Buenos Aires. Despite both sides scoring two tries each, Argentina’s forwards and the kicking of Hugo Porta was too much for France to handle.

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Porta slotted three penalties, a drop goal and converted tries by Fabián Turnes and Ernesto Ure as Argentina achieved a historic victory. Turnes later coached Argentina. In 1977, Porta scored all 18 points when Argentina achieved a draw against France.

November 2, 1985: Argentina 21-21 New Zealand
Played in front of 30,000 people at the Ferrocarril Stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina achieved arguably their greatest result when they held the mighty All Blacks to a draw. Playing into a crisp wind in the first half, Argentina was down 18-9 at halftime. A penalty reduced the deficit to 18-12, before two brilliant drop goals by Hugo Porta tied the scores at 18-18.

The All Blacks pushed ahead 21-18 with fourteen minutes to go when Kieran Crowley kicked a penalty, but two minutes later Porta equalised with their own penalty. The All Blacks scored four tries and Porta scored all of Argentina’s points by kicking four penalties and three drop goals.

Porta is unquestionably Argentina’s greatest rugby player. A member of the IRB hall of fame, Porta scored 651 points in 66 Tests between 1971 and 1990. He later became a minster of sport in Argentina.

November 7, 1987: Argentina 27-19 Australia
A last-minute drop goal by Hugo Porta secured Argentina a 19-19 draw in the first Test, with Australia scoring three tries to one and holding a 15-6 lead at one stage. In the second Test the Wallabies made another strong start to lead 13-3 at halftime.

However a strong forward effort by Argentina, a try by winger Christian Mendy and more brilliance by Porta ensured that the Pumas secured their first ever series victory against Australia. Porta scored 38 of Argentina’s 46 points in the series, 15 points in the first Test and 23 in the second. Australia outscored Argentina five tries to two in the series.

November 8, 1997: Argentina 18-16 Australia
Greg Growden, writing in the Sydney Morning Herald, labelled Australia’s performance in this Test as “spineless” and “gutless.” Argentina (who lost to the All Blacks 93-8 less than six months earlier) were the opposite as they pulled off a major upset.

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Led by former All Blacks coach Alex Wyllie, Argentina feasted on Australian mistakes to score a memorable win. Two legends of Pumas rugby scored the tries for the hosts. Flanker Rolando Martin, who played 86 Tests and scored 18 tries, crossed in the first half and halfback Agustin Pichot (71 Tests, 12 tries) also scored. Diego Giannantonio kicked two penalties and a conversion. Pichot captained Argentina for eight seasons and achieved a very respectable record of 18 wins in 30 Tests.

20 October, 1999: Argentina 28-24 Ireland
Argentina qualified for the quarter finals of the World Cup for the first time when they defeated Ireland in a playoff. The match was dominated by the whistle ,with David Humphreys and Gonzalo Quesada trading seven penalties each.

The difference was a brilliant try scored by Diego Albanese. Quesada was a brilliant player and was the leading point’s scorer at the 1999 World Cup with 102 points. In 38 Tests he scored 486 points. He played for several years in France. Albanese played 55 Tests for Argentina and spent most of his career in England.

1 May, 2002: Argentina 152-0 Paraguay

At the Mendoza Rugby Club, Argentina achieved the world record for the biggest marginal victory in a Test match when they scored 24 tries in embarrassing Paraguay. Argentina had 10 individual try scorers, including Fundo Soler, Pedro Luis Sporleder and José María Núñez Piossek, who all scored four tries each.

Piossek is Argentina’s all-time leading try scorer with 29 tries in 28 Tests. In 2003 he scored nine tries in a 144-0 win over Paraguay, and currently plays for Glasgow. Jose Crilly, who kicked all 16 conversions, scored 138 points in 15 Tests. He played in the 1995 World Cup.

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19 October, 2007: France 10-34 Argentina
Argentina beat France, Ireland, Georgia, Namibia and Scotland to make the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2007, where they lost to eventual champions South Africa. Against the tournament hosts in the third and fourth place playoff, Argentina scored a record win against France.

Felipe Contepomi was in rare form, scoring 19 points, and opera singing prop Omar Hasan (65 Tests) scored a try as Argentina achieved their best ever finish at the World Cup. Contepomi played 87 Tests and scored 651 points.

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