Lessons Ireland must learn about Argentina

September 27, 2007
A single hour, 60 ordinary minutes in the company of Agustin Pichot reveals the extent of the task confronting Ireland at the end of this fateful week in the World Cup.
By Sunday night, Ireland, England, Wales and Scotland could all be out of this tournament. Quelle catastrophe !!
For Ireland, they must face not just the technical excellence and organisational skills of Argentina, elements good enough to see off hosts France in the opening match, but the crucial factors that have sent the Pumas soaring in this tournament. Passion and pride: a love for the traditional values of this game.
Dismiss these, if you wish, but you would understand their importance if you had shared that hour with Pichot, the captain, talisman, guide and mentor of the whole Argentina squad.
Agustin Pichot is one of the last great romantics of this sport. Now well into his 30s, he has imbued his charges with marvellous values that would enhance any man, any human being. Of course, his fourth World Cup will be his last. He says charmingly “We say in Argentina, let us die with our boots on our feet”.
But those doing the dying this week will include Ireland if they do not understand and make allowances for the special factors that drive the Pumas. Theirs is a sporting odyssey, an adventure to be enjoyed with fun at each turn.
We saw it this week in bucket loads.
We’re sitting in the back of the car driven by plain-clothes police charged with protection duties with the Argentine squad at this World Cup. The driver directs his vehicle aggressively at any other road users in sight, forcing them into the side to clear our path. His shaven headed colleague turns on and off the roaring klaxon on the roof. Our convoy pours through French villages en route to the training ground, people standing bemused in the street at the noise and fuss as we sweep past.
We reach the ground and the players disgorge from their coach carrying, in the case of full-back Ignacio Corleto, not a bag with training kit but an enormous CD player, blasting out rhythmical music. It is the first sign that a day with this Rugby World Cup squad will be different.
The very fact that we’re here, my photographer and I, tells you of the difference of the Argentinians and their approach to this World Cup. We’re invited to stay all through training, shoot whatever pictures we want and talk to whom we wish. It is un-dreamed of access. Can you imagine the ultra serious, suspicious, unsmiling faces of the Ireland or England rugby squads allowing such a thing ?
What it reveals is one of the reasons why Argentina is being successful at this World Cup. Sure, they have a fine coach in Marcelo Loffreda, so respected he has been recruited by English club Leicester, and any number of outstanding players. But above all, they are playing with a smile on their faces, they are here to enjoy the experience, to have some fun. They are not weighed down with expectation, retreating into a siege mentality. They are open and friendly. And their spirited rugby is the epitome of such a philosophy.
“We will be the last romantic team at a World Cup” says Pichot. “Look at our ages, that proves it: 33, 34, 35, 36. For me, in my way of thinking, Argentina has broken all the rules. It has shown that a romantic team without any proper preparation, with only some part-time coaches playing only five international matches a year, can still be something on this stage.
“We have just wanted to survive in the world of rugby. But we have shown that rugby is still that sport we once knew. However, we will never achieve that again.”
Whatever the outcome of Sunday evening’s showdown with Ireland in Paris, Argentina have already done enough at this tournament to shame world rugby. Ostracised, ignored and offered only empty words or vague promises of future integration, they remain still outsiders, hungry bodies thrown only the occasional crumbs and told to remain silent. Their treatment by the game’s administrators and leading nations is a scandal that stains the name of rugby football.
Pichot shrugs wearily at the topic. “How many years have we been friends” he asks me ? “Ten, maybe more ? Each time we meet we talk of this. But today it is the same as 10 years ago. Nothing has been done. Why ? Because five Chief Executives get in who have probably never played rugby.
“And they look at the situation and say, ‘We will lose money if we allow Argentina in. Why should we cut another piece from the cake ? We would lose a piece. No.”
In part, Argentina’s pride has been fuelled by this continuing rejection. Thus, whilst they play for pleasure, to please their beloved nation, there are other factors at work.
Understanding all that should be Ireland’s first task in what will be a thoroughly difficult, defining week of Eddie O’Sullivan’s tenure as national coach.*
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*Peter Bills is Chief rugby correspondent for Independent News & Media worldwide. He contributes regularly to the group's titles in Ireland, South Africa, New Zealand and England, including 'Rugby News' magazine in London.