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Hopes that Argentina could repeat their surprise 2007 third-place World Cup finish in New Zealand next month are remote because of poor results, Pumas captain Felipe Contepomi said.
Argentina, though, have taught the world to expect surprises from them and they go into their opening Pool B match against England in Dunedin on Sept. 10, having had time together to rebuild their identity and self-belief.
For the Pumas, it is all about overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds. The entrenched amateurism in the domestic game, fighting among factions in the home union, a relatively small player base compared with the big rugby nations and losing players to Italy over the years.
But fears that Argentina will find it hard to live up to their brilliant third place in France are well founded in disappointing results since and the struggles to fill gaps left by retired players like talismanic captain Agustin Pichot, number eight Gonzalo Longo and fullback Ignacio Corleto.
“We have played badly. We had only one full match where we played well when we beat France (41-13 in Buenos Aires in June 2010),” hooker Mario Ledesma said recently in the sports daily Ole.
That victory was a remarkable comeback by the Pumas from a depressing home series defeat by Scotland, another of their pool rivals in New Zealand, in the previous two weekends.
“In these four years there were things that worried me more than game factors... in some matches it seemed we were playing without will, that we were lacking the rage, a Pumas flag,” he said.
Ledesma, going into his fourth World Cup, was referring to the rebellion in the face of the odds that has marked Pumas sides and that appeared to be lacking particularly in a 29-9 defeat in Ireland on tour last November.
Argentina are in transition as they also look further ahead to taking part for the first time in something they have lacked, an annual competition, when they join a revamped Four Nations tournament in the southern hemisphere next year.
Where they can draw some positives is from their widening player base as the second string Jaguars and third tier Pampas get more international action than the Pumas.
Coach Santiago Phelan’s squad contains no less than eight players drawn from the Pampas, who impressed by winning this season’s Vodacom Cup, the third level competition played by South African sides after the Super 14 and Currie Cup.
Making the parts a whole has been the task of the last few months, particularly once Phelan could work on a continual basis with all his players.
Argentina have got whatever opposition they could muster in preparation for the World Cup.
After drawing a series 1-1 with the French Barbarians in June they romped to a 78-15 win over a weak South America XV in August that served only for last-minute decisions on which 30 players to pick for the World Cup.