There is a school of thought among a certain strain of purist that rugby in the professional era is nowhere near as exciting as the amateur age.
A focus on defence and tactical kicking has reduced it to pumped-up chess, ultimately decided by which side does the basics the best. How terribly unromantic.
It’s true that professionalism and the subsequent growth of sports science has led to bigger and fitter players, while analytical studies of each game allow the smallest errors and imperfections to be, theoretically, ironed out.
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However, any curmudgeons still yearning for a lost era that, as is the case with most nostalgia is ultimately rose-tinted, may have changed their opinion slightly following Argentina’s performance against Ireland on Sunday.
The Pumas played the sort of free-flowing rugby with a degree of reckless abandon that had the purists reaching for the VCRs of the great Welsh teams of the 1970s.
From the risky offloads of captain Agustin Creevy to the support lines run by their electric back three of Santiago Cordero, Juan Imhoff and Joaquin Tuculet, the first and last 20 minutes of the match at the Millennium Stadium was a throwback to the days of yore.
If Ireland were abiding by a straightforward verse-chorus-verse-chorus song structure, Argentina were playing free jazz.
As is the case with that genre, most don’t know what to make of it. And Ireland, the northern hemisphere’s best defensive and most organised side, had no idea what to do. Yes, they were lacking the experience of Paul O’Connell and trusted lieutenants Peter O’Mahoney, Johnny Sexton and Sean O’Brien but the stoic def-ence and strict game management employed by Joe Schmidt went out of the window.
All this expansive rugby can be considered most un-Argentinian. The Pumas have traditionally been a hit ‘em hard up front and kick the points-type side. Yet something in the last five years has changed dramatically.
By entering the Rugby Championship in 2012, Argentina have realised you cannot beat the elite by playing a well-drilled, strutual gameplan. There has to be the element of surprise to your play.
As Daniel Hourcarde and his coaching staff admit, competing against New Zealand, Australia and South Africa on a regular basis can only have a positive long-term effect. Each one offers something different to add to your own style.
The Pumas now put that to the test against one of the sides that has aided their development, with the Wallabies waiting. In successive games, Wales and Scotland have made Australia look human whereas Argentina look capable of anything at present.
