The legendary Puma,architect of Argentina’s admission to the southern hemisphere Rugby Championship, is hoping his country can tame Ireland in Sunday’s World Cup quarter-finalEight years ago, and in the basement at Stade de France,a 33-year-old scrum-half, still splattered with mud, or let wing at the conservative world of rugby,telling anyone prepared to listen that Argentina could be ignored no longer. Gus Pichot’s side had just completed seven weeks of tweaking the nose of world rugby, first beating France on the opening night of their own World Cup in Paris before completing the embarrassment with a second win that night in the play-off for third place.
A day later South Africa beat England to take the Webb Ellis Cup but the heroes of France 2007 were clearly the South Americans and on Sunday Pichot, and still very much a man who speaks his intellect,will take his seat among the mighty and generous at the Millennium Stadium hoping his country defeat Ireland, another of the sides embarrassed by the 2007 Pumas, and makes another World Cup semi-final.
Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com