Pumas keen to continue revival

By DAVID LEGGAT

Argentine captain Lisandro Arbizu hopes the Pumas' learning process gains momentum on their tour of what he calls "the land of rugby."

The Pumas kick off Argentina's fifth New Zealand tour against Counties Manukau at Pukekohe on Sunday and there are hopes that armed with the strongest possible squad, they will make a far better fist of the one test against the All Blacks than they did on their last visit, four years ago. Arbizu was captain then as well, as the Pumas were dumped 8-93 and 10-62 at Wellington and Hamilton respectively. Bad memories, but since then there has been a revival in Argentine rugby.

They were impressive at the 1999 World Cup, under the guidance of former All Black coach Alex Wyllie, beating Samoa and Japan, losing narrowly to Wales in a fiery tournament opener, memorably eliminating Ireland in the repechage round before losing to France in the quarter-finals.

The trick for Argentina, now coached by former international Marcelo Loffreda, is to be consistently good, said Arbizu, who is stepping out for his 11th year as a Puma.

"We are going up step by step, but it is important for Argentina to get continuity. We don't have the same competitions as New Zealand, or a Super 12, or a Six Nations," he added.

Arbizu, aged 29, has played four tests against the All Blacks, including two in Buenos Aires in 1991, and leads a team strong on experience. Argentina have traditionally had a powerful scrum, and this should be no exception. The pack contains seasoned, rugged performers in loose forward Rolando Martin and frontrowers Roberto Grau, Mauricio Reggiardo, Federico Mendez and Mario Ledesma, and there are high hopes for locks Alejandro Allub and Carlos Fernandez Lobbe. The backline has a fine goalkicker at first five-eighths in Gonzalo Quesada, a brilliant halfback, Agustin Pichot, and a handful of other well-performed runners further out.

The Argentine contingent suffered an early hiccup after arriving on Tuesday morning. They did not stay long at their Pukekohe accommodation when they discovered the squad had been split between two hotels. They headed up to Auckland and yesterday had two training sessions.

Arbizu admitted that their specific knowledge of Counties is slim. He settled for the simple answer: "We know all the teams will be very tough. This tour is in the land of rugby and it's very important for us."

Argentina play Thames Valley in Paeroa on Tuesday, the test in Christchurch next Saturday and NZ Maori in Rotorua on June 26. Argentina's team will be named today.

Counties: Loki Crichton, Patrick Petelo, Mark Lawson, Peter Epati, David Wood, Blair Feeney, Danny Lee (capt), George Stowers, Wayne McEntee, Fraser Duncan, Jason Frost, Ramon Lindsay, Joseph Lao, Grant Henson, Dave Stewart. Res: Niva Tauuso, Casey Laulala, Gus Leger, John Akurangi, Junior Lemalu, Luke Mealamu, Robert Afoa Peterson.