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SCOTT HEPPELL / AP
Pumas coach Mario Ledesma has blamed his team's poor scrum for a change of rules in Argentine national rugby.
Pumas coach Mario Ledesma said the deterioration of his team's scrum was due to a change of rules in national rugby, potentially weakening their hopes for the World Cup.
Part of the much-feared Argentine game, the scrum has become a serious weak point for international selection. The All Blacks, in particular, had a busy day in their two outings against the Pumas rugby championship. year.
Argentina ends its year against the Barbarians at Twickenham on Sunday (local time) and Ledesma – who took office as coach just before the rugby championship – said the culture of the defeat of the The team had been severely impacted by a law passed two years earlier as a result of a serious injury crisis.
JOHN DAVIDSON / PHOTOSPORT
The All Blacks had a busy day in their two meetings with the Pumas this year.
When the San Isidro club player, Jeronimo Bello, was severely handicapped by a match that collapsed during a first division match in Buenos Aires in September 2016. It was about 39, a fourth serious injury in one year. The Argentine Rugby Union (UAR) had acted.
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The governing body has ruled that teams participating in national competitions would be penalized for pushing more than one and a half meters, with the exception of the five-meter scrums.
CHRIS HYDE / GETTY IMAGES
Formerly dreaded in the Argentine game, the scrum is now a weak point.
The top-flight national competitions in Argentina are all amateur competitions, although the Pumas and the Jaguares Super Rugby franchise are recruiting players.
Ledesma estimated that it would take two years of hard work to recover all the power of the Argentine scrum, but with only 10 months of the World Cup, time is running out.
"More than that to me in particular, [the rule] is detrimental to all Argentine rugby players, "said Ledesma, who is ready to give his younger strikers an opportunity against the Barbarians.
DANIEL JAYO / GETTY IMAGES
Mario Ledesma understands the rule change, but does not believe that there were more injuries in Argentina than in other places.
If he understood why the action had been taken, Mr. Ledesma did not feel that Argentina had been much more seriously injured than other countries.
"I would say that in Australia, there are many more than in Argentina," he said after working for two years as a coach's assistant. Wallabies, Michael Cheika.
"Not only does this weaken the Argentine scrummaging culture, which is part of our DNA, but it is also part of the soul of an attacker.
"Today, the scrum in Argentina lasts five or six seconds, which is why the children who come from their club are surprised by the hardness of the scrum, and if it lasts more than 10 seconds, it is disconcerting. .
"You must be able to enjoy this type of fight and its impact on other areas of the sport.
"The cohesion you achieve in a team with a solid scrum and the resulting psychological reinforcement is immeasurable."
The former 45-year-old hooker has so far registered a 2-7 record for the Pumas, who lost their three tests in November, against Ireland, France and Scotland.
At the World Cup next year in Japan, they are part of Pool C alongside England, France, the United States and Tonga.
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