The good news for Ireland is that they brought a run of five consecutive defeats to an end last weekend - the bad news is that it was against Fiji in a non-cap fixture.
In contrast, there is plenty at stake in this weekend's clash with Argentina. Despite the irrelevance of last Saturday's result, Ireland moved up a place in the world rankings to seventh, thanks to Wales losing to Samoa. Argentina also rose a place to sixth, despite losing to France.
The upshot is whoever wins in Dublin will secure themselves a place in the second tier of seeds ahead of next month's Rugby World Cup draw while the loser could end up in the third tier.
The future of Ireland head coach Declan Kidney could also rest on events at the Aviva Stadium. His contract expires next year, and defeat on Saturday - which would be a sixth consecutive Test loss - would put his position in jeopardy.
Kidney could do worse than remind his players of the last-but-one meeting between the sides in 2008 - his third game in charge - when Ireland had to win to book their spot in the second tier of seeds for the 2011 World Cup. They duly beat the Pumas 17-3, and the following year they won the Grand Slam.
Ireland can also draw upon their most recent battle against Argentina two years ago, a match which they came into on a run of six defeats out of seven. On that occasion, they triumphed 29-9 to earn their first win at the revamped Aviva Stadium.
In fact, Argentina have never won on Irish soil, but come to Europe this year as a different proposition. Their participation in the inaugural Rugby Championship has exposed them to the world's elite, helped them add brains to their brawn, and given them additional time to get battle-hardened and gel as a team.
Wales saw the results of this a fortnight ago when Argentina plundered a 26-12 victory at the Millennium Stadium. Despite a subsequent defeat by France, Santiago Phelan's men should be full of confidence.
Both sides have played down the fierce rivalry that has come to be associated with this fixture thanks to a few acrimonious encounters in recent years. But with so much at stake, neither will give any quarter.
Ireland have won seven of the 12 previous meetings and are looking for a third consecutive victory over the Pumas. Argentina have never won in Ireland.
In contrast Ireland have lost their last five Tests, scoring only two tries in the process. It is their worst run since 1998, when they lost seven in a row.
Ireland : 15-Simon Zebo, 14-Tommy Bowe, 13-Keith Earls, 12-Gordon D'Arcy, 11-Craig Gilroy, 10-Jonathan Sexton, 9-Conor Murray; 8-Jamie Heaslip (captain), 7-Chris Henry, 6-Peter O'Mahony, 5-Mike McCarthy, 4-Donnacha Ryan, 3-Mike Ross, 2-Richardt Strauss, 1-Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16-Sean Cronin, 17-David Kilcoyne, 18-Michael Bent, 19-Donncha O'Callaghan, 20-Iain Henderson, 21-Eoin Reddan, 22-Ronan O'Gara, 23-Fergus McFadden.
Argentina : 15-Juan Martin Hernandez, 14-Gonzalo Camacho, 13-Marcelo Bosch, 12-Santiago Fernandez, 11-Juan Imhoff, 10-Nicolas Sanchez, 9-Martin Landajo; 8-Leonardo Senatore, 7-Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 6-Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe (captain), 5-Julio Farias Cabello, 4-Manuel Carizza, 3-Maximiliano Bustos, 2-Eusebio Guinazu, 1-Marcos Ayerza
Replacements: 16-Agustin Creevy, 17-Nahuel Lobo, 18-Francisco Gomez Kodela, 19-Tomas Vallejos, 20-Tomas Leonardi, 21-Nicolas Vergallo, 22-Gonzalo Tiesi, 23-Manuel Montero
No comments:
Post a Comment