Argentina coach Mario Ledesma hopes his players’ lack of match practice will be nullified by their desire to lift the spirits of their coronavirus-torn country.
Argentina’s build-up for the Rugby Championship has been the stuff of nightmares, with unsuccessful COVID bubbles and ongoing lockdowns severely disrupting their preparations.
Los Pumas were scheduled to face the NSW Waratahs in a friendly on Saturday, but they had to cancel it because too many of their players had picked up minor niggles.
Argentina’s Rubgy Championship campaign begins against the All Blacks in Sydney on November 14.
Ledesma has no idea what to expect from his side from a physical point of view. But he knows mentally they will be fired up to give people in Argentina something to be proud about.
Earlier this week Argentina became the fifth country to record one million coronavirus cases.
“We’ve been in lockdown for six, seven months,” Ledesma said.
“The situation in Argentina is not looking good in terms of COVID and economically.
“A little bit of what we’re doing is for them back home.
“I’m really proud of the boys how they stayed positive and training with a lot of attitude and staying humble.”
(Photo by Steve Haag/Gallo Images/Getty Images)
Ledesma said he has been forced to constantly change his plans this year with multiple obstacles thwarting his efforts at every corner.
“We did a bubble we got 15 positive cases, the bubble was gone,” Ledesma said.
“Then we started training again – and again positive cases. Then we went to Uruguay and then here (to Australia).
“Our boys haven’t done one real scrum in seven or eight months against a proper opposition. They’ve just been scrimmaging and playing against themselves.
“I don’t know rugby wise (how the players will go), but mentally I think it really got us in a really good spot.”
Argentina said it had postponed the match-up against the Waratahs “to preserve the physical condition of some players who have slight muscle injuries”.
Jeronimo de la Fuente, Lucas Paulos, Jose Luis Gonzalez, Santiago Grondona and Tomas Lezana were among the players who needed the rest.
Flanker Juan Martín Gonzalez is set to undergo scans after injuring his left adductor at training on Thursday.
The friendly could take place next week but details are yet to be confirmed.
Argentina have been training behind closed doors at Leichhardt Oval since arriving in Sydney earlier this month.
But 13 other players who arrived from Europe are still serving their mandatory isolation period, meaning the whole squad is yet to train together.
Former Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has joined Argentina’s coaching panel for the Rugby Championship in what has become an interesting side plot.
Paddy
Guest
Is the Clown still part of the Argies set up ?
Ex force fan
Guest
Argentina will get a lot of character building opportunities. Now that the Boks that is surely the most physical side is not playing the game schedule will be less taxing on the bodies, however I hope that there will not be too many character building for players to wait for their hamstring muscle, ankles, heads , shoulders, knees and thumbs injuries to recover. Then there is the mental aspects as well to consider. I do not think Argentina should be playing this year, they are not ready.
Ex force fan
Guest
No they spoke to the clubs....
Well, if you are only looking at one aspect, and then in the extreme, then so be it. You have had your domestic tournament, we haven't You have had your revenue from your Super Rugby version, we haven’t Your Super Rugby version had its prominance, we want our prominance as well. You have set your minds on your future structures, we haven’t You are ready and prepared and match fit for international fixtures, we aren’t So considering all the factors, if the one thing you take from this is we are afraid to lose, then so be it. Why should we sacrafice our domestic tournament, send players not ready for international duties, dilute our Super Rugby so we lose revenue there, put or reputation on the line, so we can make up in the RC what we lose in domestic, as I can tell you now, Super Sport will not accept current broadcasting revenue if our comp is diluted and put on the back burner.
Anthony
Guest
Looking at the circumstances Argentina should not be in Australia at all as they are not ready. Australia and New Zealand play two bledisloe cup matches in Australia and the rugby championship post poned until next year until a new team can be found to replace south Africa. Any lost revenue obtained by Australia compensated by world rugby. It won't happen but it probably should.
Double Agent
Guest
As I said on another thread Corne you're usually right but here I think you've got it wrong. All the unions are going broke. We need the cash. It doesn't matter if SA loses. Making SA defeats more important than people's livelihoods is really selfish and short sighted. I suspect if SA got knocked out in the quarters at RWC2019 you might agree with me. As I said somewhere around here if SA can't come because of covid and logistics etc then fine. Not coming because they're scared of losing is pathetic.
DA, I wrote a whole article about why SA should stay home, perhaps you should focus on the big picture. As far as your “respect” goes, remember human behaviour is a two way street, respect goes both ways. :thumbup:
Double Agent
Guest
Corne the moment you admitted (and SARU apparently) that you were happy for the other 3 unions to lose millions of dollars - not to mention a shedload of small businesses associated with hosting and producing a product for broadcasters and hospitality because you were worried the Boks might get beaten is the moment you guys lost all respect.
Tooly
Roar Rookie
A very poorly organised tournament. Designed for money not Rugby. At least the SAs and the Pumas are showing some common sense. Can Rugby get D’Landys ? Sack the drones .
I really hope so, Pumas and Griquas can with a little more revenue challenge the big teams
JD Kiwi
Roar Rookie
That's great news Corne, I hope that it's a massive success, and there's a massive campaign to keep it.
The Neutral View From Sweden
Roar Guru
Thanks for sharing. Nobrain. Sensational (and sad) news.
Emery Ambrose
Roar Rookie
I was wondering when this was going to come out. So the Argies aren’t really ready ether. Poor guys, I hope they all come through this safely.
Yeah, we’ve been called turncoats, arrogant, dishonest, what’s a chicken amongst friends, eh? :silly:
I am sure they get a portion of the Supersport revenue.
Darryn Oosthuizen
Guest
I keep hearing that South Africa agreed to the competition this year, when did they ever agree? Right from the beginning they made it very unlikely they would compete this year unless they had a certain amount of game time in and up till now they haven't got anywhere near the minutes in they wanted. So where was the agreement? I mean something as huge and worldwide as the Olympic games was cancelled for the year but we have to HAVE the rugby championship this year? Australia and Nz should have just stuck to a 4 test Bledisloe this year.
Terry Tavita
Roar Pro
so they chickened out?
Carlos the Argie
Roar Guru
Wow!
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
SA didn’t even speak to many European based players about participating. They clearly did not do everything
Carlos the Argie
Roar Guru
Again, each country makes the decisions that are best for them. Organizations have to make sure that self interest coincides as much as possible with the groups. Not always possible.