Preview: Argentina v France
Fri, 25 Jun 2010 10:34
France face Argentina in Buenos Aires on Saturday, with both sides eager to take something away from what have been disappointing mid-year campaigns for both of them.
The champions of the Northern Hemisphere were expected to provide a stiff challenge for the kings of the South, the Springboks, in what was seen as a battle for supremacy on the world stage a few weeks ago.
Instead, Les Bleus were humbled at in Cape Town with a 42-17 defeat. They had no answer for the Boks' power and precision on that day, and although a long and arduous season has clearly taken its toll on Marc Lievremont's men, it was not a performance of a team that has been punted as potential World Cup winners next year.
The Pumas, meanwhile, have had an even tougher time. They may not always be expected to beat the major powers in world rugby, and while losing to Scotland once in their own backyard once could have been an aberration, losing to them twice really
must hurt.
Both teams are wounded animals, and both will be desperate to regain some respect. The teams share a similar rugby philosophy. Physical domination is their primary goal, and when faced with adversity they both tend to stick to the basics and try to knock the stuffing out of their opponents.
Argentina against France is always brutal. Many Argentineans play in the French Top 14 and the players are familiar with each other.
Some say familiarity breeds contempt, and the Pumas seem to save their best performances for the French, as they did in the 2007 World Cup.
In that tournament, they beat Les Bleus twice - once in the pool stages (17-12) and once in the third and fourth place playoff (34-10). Since then, they have only met once and France got revenge with a 12-6 win in Marseille.
This promises as tight and grueling encounter, and the French will be to looking to kick on from a 37-14 win last week over the Argentina A
side end their tour on a high.
"Although the win over Argentina A was complicated, it helped us to regain our confidence after the defeat against South Africa," France's No. 8 Louis Picamoles said.
"We know very well the kind of rugby the Pumas play, it's a good team and for that reason we've had to prepare in the best way possible for Saturday's game."
Argentina and France will meet for the 43rd time, with the French winning on 31 occasions, Argentina on 10 and with one draw.
Players to watch:
For Argentina: The Pumas strength is usually just that - their strength. Veteran front-row forwards like Rodrigo Roncero and Mario Ledesma use the scrum as a platform to dominate their opponents, but the duo are getting a bit long in the tooth and it is questionable whether they can keep up with the rigours of Test match rugby. The pack does have some new blood in the form of flank
Alejandro Campos, who, along with Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe will have his work cut out in containing the strength of the French back-row.
For France: Dimitri Szarzewski is a dynamic hooker who is blessed with skill and speed, but his set-piece play will need to be in good shape against the Pumas. Thierry Dusautoir is the complete loose-forward and the talisman of his team. Can he inspire his troops to put in one last big performance? On the wing, look out for Vincent Clerc, who is a top-class finisher and is full of pace.
Head-to-head: The scrum battle is of obvious importance, and the contest between Fabian Barcella and Martin Scelzo will go a long way to deciding who will come out on top. In the line-outs, Patricio Albacete and Lionel Nallet are the kingpins of their respective
teams. If the forwards cancel each other out, it will be up to the backs to battle for ascendance, and both sides have men capable of producing match-winning performances. Felipe Contepomi and Francois Trinh-Duc are both skilful and inventive, and the contest between the No.10s will be intriguing.
Recent results:
2008: France win 12-6, Marseille
2007: Argentina win 34-10, Paris (World Cup, 3rd place playoff)
2007: Argentina win 17-12, Paris (World Cup)
2006: France win 27-26, Paris
2004: Argentina win 24-14, Marseille
rugby365 prediction: It won't be pretty, but France should win by about 10 points.
Teams:
Argentina:15 Martín Rodríguez, 14 Lucas González Amorosino, 13 Gonzalo Tiesi, 12 Santiago Fernández, 11 Rafael Carballo, 10 Felipe Contepomi, 9
Nicolás Vergallo, 8 Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe, 7 Alejandro Campos, 6 Genaro Fessia, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Martín Scelzo, 2 Mario Ledesma, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements:16 Agustín Creevy, 17 Marcos Ayerza, 18 Juan Figallo, 19 Mariano Galarza, 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 21 Agustín Figuerola, 22 Horacio Agulla.
France: 15 Jerome Porical, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 Florian Fritz, 12 Lionel Mazars, 11 Julien Malzieu, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Morgan Parra, 8 Julien Bonnaire, 7 Louis Picamoles, 6 Thierry Dusautoir (captain), 5 Lionel Nallet, 4 Pascal Pape, 3 Nicolas Mas, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski, 1 Fabian Barcella.
Replacements: 16 Guillem Guirado, 17 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 18 Julien Pierre, 19 Gregory Lamboley, 20 Dimitri Yachvili, 21 Maxime Mermoz, 22 Clement Poitrenaud.
Date: Saturday, June 26
Venue:
José Amalfitani Stadium, Buenos Aires
Kick-off: 15.45 (18.45 GMT)
Expected weather: Scattered clouds, with a chance of rain. High 16°C, low 11°C.
Referee: Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Assistant referees: Dave Pearson (England), Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
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