The giant task awaiting the Pumas ahead of the Tri-Nations was laid bare by coach Mario Ledesma on Tuesday, with Argentina’s squad still not yet fully assembled just weeks out from their first Test of the year.
While the world champion Springboks pulled out of the The Rugby Championship last week because they felt they were putting their players at risk by playing given a lack of match practice, the Pumas are coming into the tournament with a quarter of what their southern hemisphere competitors would have had under their belts.
Hitherto, the Pumas have been able to train behind closed doors at Leichhardt Oval in Sydney's inner-west since touching down in Australia earlier in the month.
But after a month of quarantine – first in Montevideo in Uruguay – the majority of the Pumas squad is at last able to roam freely.
It makes Saturday’s opposed training session against a Waratahs XV - which won’t be open to the public in Sydney – all the more important.
"Friendly matches are so important for us,” Ledesma, the former Wallabies scrum coach, said.
“From the team, the one who played most games did so in seven games in 2020. So, having the opportunity of playing at least three games before the debut against New Zealand, seems not too much but for us it is essential. South Africa was talking about having 400 minutes per player, we will be around 100.”
South Africa’s decision to withdraw at the last minute went down like a lead balloon across the respective SANZAAR Unions.
But the one saving grace for Argentina is that it will give them an extra week to prepare, with the Pumas to play their first of four consecutive Tests on November 14.
"South Africa's withdrawal is not good news because we were prepared to play six games and now there will be four,” Ledesma said.
“But the truth is that the players that come from Europe will not be allowed to leave their quarantine until Wednesday, November 4, and that will have been three days before the match against South Africa, and that was going to be tough in terms of setting up the squad against the Springboks.”
¡Entrenamiento sin filtro!
— Los Pumas (@lospumas) October 14, 2020
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📱https://t.co/RGC7L2HWUJ pic.twitter.com/qIuqSjv9pJ
The Pumas, the 2015 World Cup semi-finalists who failed to get out of the pool of death in Japan last year, moved from their quarantine base in Sydney’s west to Manly on Tuesday.
Ledesma said it was a liberating experience for his squad.
"In one way, we are all happy to have the possibility of getting out of quarantine,” he said.
“There are some players who left their homes 11 weeks ago, when we had started post-pandemic camp training. These days were difficult in terms of habits of a typical life of a team, spending time together, video analysis and having meals all together. We must not forget that this our second quarantine, including the 15 days of bubble that we spent in Uruguay. And in Argentina, we were also quite locked up. This is to find freedom again and how our families and friends are confined in Argentina, we have to enjoy it a little bit for them and feel ourselves privileged to have this opportunity.”
¡Hola Michael! | Aislado según protocolo, nuestro asesor externo, Michael Cheika, está en el Leichhardt Oval presenciando el entrenamiento del equipo.
— Los Pumas (@lospumas) October 13, 2020
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Self isolated, our external consultant, Michael Cheika, is at Leichhardt Oval, in a new training session. Let’s go team! pic.twitter.com/O2j5VISrqN
In a boost for Argentina, former Wallabies coach Michael Cheika is now at last able to join the squad on a permanent basis, after he wasn’t permitted to be directly involved in sessions because of government quarantine regulations.
Ledesma said that Cheika’s influence would be vital ahead of the six-week tournament.
"The fact that Michael can now be at the training venue and in contact with the players is great,” Cheika said.
“He is very enthusiastic about the team, he transmits lots of confidence and belief. He is very eager to join the group and players will be able to take advantage of him full time. He will prepare individual things with the players, so that will be great for the team.”
The Pumas are expected to face a Waratahs side on Saturday that will include players not involved in Shute Shield finals, as well as discarded Wallabies back-rower Isi Naisarani.
