Defence key in Buenos Aires
Wed, 11 Jun 2008 11:50
Argentina prevented Scotland from scoring any tries in their 21-15 win over the Celtic outfit in Rosario last week and defence will again be the key to victory in the return Test at Vélez Sársfield in Buenos Aires on Saturday.
Argentina maintained their eight-year, seven-match unbeaten run against Scotland when the Pumas outscored their opponents by two tries to nil at Estadio Gigante de Arroyito, Rosario, last Saturday.
Now the Pumas hope to raise the defensive bar even higher, with defence drills being the order of the day at training this week.
Dax wing Horacio Agulla, who joined the squad this week after being released by his French club, said they expect a much-improved effort from Scotland.
"Scotland will be a tough hurdle to overcome - as they showed against us in the World Cup [last year] and last Saturday [in Rosario]," Agulla said, adding: "That is why it is vital that we eliminate the errors that crept into our game last Saturday."
He confirmed that their focus so far has been on defence at training.
"It was a short, sharp session, but we worked hard on our defensive lines," he added.
Jose Maria Núñez Piossek, who played on the wing in last week's Rosario encounter, also said that the Pumas need to be focussed on defence.
"We worked hard this week on eliminating the errors from the first Test," Núñez Piossek said.
"Last week's result was a good return, considering the short space of time we had together as a team before the Test [in Rosario], but it is vital that we keep on improving every week on that which we did the week before."
Leicester Tigers prop Marcos Ayerza, who also played in the first Test, also spoke of the need to keep improving.
"There are many aspects of our game we can improve, we simply still made far too many errors," Ayerza said.
"The positive aspects from last week was our ball control and the patience we showed with ball in hand.
"We can also look back on our defence, having not conceded a try, but we know that they will improve and that is why we have worked hard on improving our defence.
"We also gave away too many penalties, which allowed Chris Paterson to keep them in the game. In that regard we have plenty of room for improvement," Ayerza said.
Flyhalf Federico Todeschini, who of the key players in last week's win, also spoke of using defence as a key weapon.
"We put them under pressure with our defence, forcing them into mistakes and creating opportunities for ourselves," he said.
