Preview: Argentina vs Italy
Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:50
Master class: Juan Martín Hernández
Argentina and Italy meet in Córdoba on Saturday, and both teams have been strengthened. It is odd in these days when weakened is a cliched adjective between so many teams to say that these two are strengthened - strengthened Pumas versus strengthened Azzurri. It's such a relief to say that.
The reason for the change is what is happening in France. Stade Français were knocked out of the Top 14 in the semifinals last weekend and Sergio Parisse and the Bergamasco brothers are back in the Italian side and Juan Martín Hernández and Rodrigo Roncero are back in the Argentinian side.
But the Pumas have greater gains for they have Marcelo Bosch and Manuel Carizza back from Biarritz. They do not have Ignacio Corleto in their side, but then he had a poor game for Stade Français in the semifinal. But above all they do not have Dr Felipe Contepomi from Leinster with his wonderful skills of eye, hand and foot.
Both sides are better-off, the Pumas much better-off than the Italians.
The Pumas' defeat at the hands of Scotland last week was a grievous disappointment to the Argentinians after the euphoria of the World Cup and a third place on International Rugby Board (IRB) rankings. They will be going flat out to put things right. But the Italians proved against the Springboks that they are resilient and can play a limited game plan to perfection.
It may well not be an expansive game as strong, well-organised pack meets strong, well-organised pack - solid scrums, efficient line-outs and competitive tackle/rucks. The Italian pack will not play second fiddle to the Pumas, as they did not play second fiddle to South Africa, and at loose forward the Azzurri look better equipped than the Pumas.
But if it comes to the backs, one wonders how the Italians are going to score a try unless Kane Robertson intercepts and runs many, many metres. This surely is where the Pumas could cash in, but then the Springboks couldn't and the Pumas certainly made little impression on the Scots, perhaps because Contepomi was doing too many things on their own.
It may just be a ding-dong affair, and old-fashioned Test match in which forwards slug it out - many mauls, lots of pick-'n-drive.
Playing inland? In 2005 Italy played Argentina inland twice. They were competitive in Salta and won in Córdoba. Italian players come from all over the world and play all over the world. Córdoba, a city of a million people at the foot of the Sierra Chica with colonial buildings and great steak, is unlikely to frighten the Italians. It has nothing like the frightening rugby reputation of Tucumán. In any case Pablo Canavosio can show them around. After all he was born in Córdoba.
Players to watch:
For Argentina: You will be aware of El Mago - the Magician, Juan Martín Hernández of Argentina, perhaps the most skilled rugby player in the world. Mind you, he has not been having a great time in France of late but perhaps back home with his contract problems sorted out he may be back to his heroic best. He is the one player on both sides who can break a pattern of predictability.
For Italy: Speedster Kane Robertson on the wing is worth watching but the player above all to watch is Sergio Parisse. He had a great Six Nations but after that his form dipped and injuries troubled. Will he be able to recover the form which made him such a star? Then there is Carlo Del Fava, Italy's lock from South Africa, who performed so manfully against South Africa's Victor Matfield.
Head to Head: Front row versus front row - but above all the battle between two tough men - Rodrigo Roncero of Argentina and Carlos Nieto of Italy - two great examples of Argentinian prime beef.
Previous results:
2007: Argentina won 24-6, Mendoza
2006: Argentina won 23-16 at Stadio Flaminio, Rome
2005: Argentina won 39-22, Genoa
2005: Italy won 30-29, Córdoba
2005: Argentina won 35-21, Salta
2002: Argentina won 36-6 at Stadio Flaminio, Rome
2001: Argentina won 38-17 at Ferrocarrill Oeste, Buenos Aires
1998: Italy won 23-19, Piacenza
1997: Argentina won 18-18, Lourdes
1995: Argentina won 26-6, Tucumán
1995: Italy won 31-25, East_London
1989: Argentina won 21-16 at Velez Sarsfield, Buenos Aires
1987: Argentina won 25-16 at Lancaster Park, Christchurch
1978: Italy won 19-6, Rovigo
Prediction: A lot will depend on Juan Martín Hernández. But then against Scotland a lot depended on Felipe Contepomi and he did not come off. If Hernández comes off we take Argentina to win but more than 10 points. We also take Hernández to come off.
Teams:
Argentina: 15 Bernardo Stortoni, 14 Lucas Borges, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Miguel Avramovic, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Juan Martín Hernández, 9 Nicolás Vergallo, 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 7 Álvaro Galindo, 6 Martín Durand, 5 Esteban Lozada, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Juan Gómez, 2 Álvaro Tejeda, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Replacements: 16 Pablo Gambarini, 17 Pedro Ledesma, 18 James Stuart, 19 Alejandro Campos, 20 Alfredo Lalanne, 21 Federico Martín Aramburu, 22 Hernán Senillosa.
Italy: 15 Andrea Marcato, 14 Kaine Robertson, 13 Mirco Bergamasco, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Matteo Pratichetti, 10 Luke McLean, 9 Simon Picone, 8 Sergio Parisse (captain), 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Josh Sole, 5 Carlo Del Fava, 4 Santiago Dellapè, 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Ignacio Rouyet.
Replacements: 16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Alex Moreno, 18 Tommaso Reato, 19 Alessandro Zanni, 20 Pablo Canavosio, 21 Enrico Patrizio, 22 Riccardo Pavan/Jaco Erasmus.
Date: Saturday, June 28
Venue: Estadio Chateau Carreras, Córdoba
Kick-off: 15.10 (19.10 GMT)
Referee: Matt Goddard (Australia)
Touch judges: Craig Joubert (South Africa), Paul Marks (Australia)
TMO: George Ayoub (Australia)
By Paul Dobson
