Argentina must beat England in next month’s two-Test home series to restore the image formed at the 2015 World Cup and erase the memory of a poor 2016 season, former Pumas captain Agustin Pichot told Reuters.
Pichot, World Rugby’s vice-president, also said in an interview in Buenos Aires he would like to bring the 2027 World Cup to Argentina and that his country would make an exciting destination for a British and Irish Lions tour.
The June Test series may not be against England’s best, who have contributed 16 players to tour New Zealand with the Lions at the same time, but Pichot said the Pumas can still expect a very strong side under Eddie Jones.
“We need to win,” said Pichot. “After last year our image wasn’t great, so now we need to win and playing locally against England it’s a must.
“Eddie Jones is doing very good work. He is bringing a lot of young players, so that could be very dangerous for Argentina. Even against a non-Lions England team it’s going to be very tough.”
Pichot took Argentina to the top rungs of the game with his leadership of the bronze medal-winning Pumas at the 2007 World Cup in France. He helped them find a place in the southern hemisphere’s Rugby Championship, and he watched proudly as they reached the semi-finals again in England two years ago.
But 2016 was a year of transition, with more disappointments than success. It left Argentina with barely two wins in nine Tests and a slump to ninth in the rankings before next week’s 2019 World Cup draw in Japan, where Pichot was headed yesterday.
He said Argentina made no excuses for ending up in the third tier of seeds for the draw and landing in a pool that will include two top-eight teams — with the risk of missing out on the quarter-finals — but there were mitigating factors.
“After that (2015) World Cup, which was a great achievement, with the (introduction of the) Super Rugby team, there were many things that changed the reality of Argentine rugby,” Pichot said.
“The difficulties of the Rugby Championship, plus Super Rugby, plus the November tour was very hard on the players and the results were not those expected,” he said, considering that Argentina have a pool of around 45 players from which to pick a team for the Jaguares franchise and the Pumas.