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Ruck'd - Don't Cry For The Pumas, Argentina
Knight Of The Mind ^ | 20 November 04 | .cnI redruM

Posted on 11/20/2004 9:41:35 PM PST by .cnI redruM

The International Rugby world has become a predictable place. The Big Three of The Southern Hemisphere and the original 5 Nations of Europe pretty much call all the shots. New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, England, France, Scotland, Ireland and Wales can generally walk on to a pitch against any national team not on the above list and expect an automatic win. Ok, well maybe there's an exception or two. HEHEHEHEH!

Just when France-bashing had begun to go a wee bit stale, The Argentina Pumas remind us all of why Great French Moments of Courage is a very short history book indeed. The Pumas polished the Mighty Blues of France today. The 24-14 scoreline was a result of the Pumas not putting the cane to the French as hard as they could have. Rugbyrugby.com has the vital statistics.

Man of the match: The Argentina forwards were just immense, deconstructing the same unit that bullied the Wallabies into submission last week - namely, the cultured French pack. Our award goes to that man who always managed to coerce the best out of the bid Argentines - the irrepressible Agustín Pichot, surely still one of the finest exponents of scrum-half play to have ever graced a rugby field.

Moment of the match: With France creeping back into the game, Argentina opted for two line-outs when attempts at the sticks would have been the more pragmatic approach. It's could have pure machismo, or pure masochism - but when you can out-gall the Gallic, you know the day will be yours!

Villain of the match: Despite the furious clash of forwards, it was all good, clean fun. No villains.

The scorers:

For France: Try: Marsh Pens: Elissade, Michalak 2

For Argentina: Tries: Durand, Hasan Con: Contepomi Pens: Contepomi 4

The teams:

France: 15 Nicolas Brusque, 14 Aurelien Rougerie, 13 Tony Marsh, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Cedric Heymans, 10 Frederic Michalak, 9 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, 8 Imanol Harinordoquy, 7 Olivier Magne, 6 Serge Betsen, 5 Jerome Thion, 4 Fabien Pelous (captain), 3 Sylvain Marconnet, 2 William Servat, 1 Olivier Milloud.

Replacements: 16 Sebastien Bruno, 17 Nicolas Mas, 18 Pascal Pape, 19 Julien Bonnaire, 20 Julien Peyrelongue, 21 Clement Poitrenaud, 22 Jimmy Marlu.

Argentina: 15 Juan Martín Hernández, 14 Lucas Borges, 13 Federico Martín Aramburu, 12 Manuel Contepomi, 11 Hernán Senillosa, 10 Felipe Contepomi, 9 Agustín Pichot (captain), 8 Gonzalo Longo, 7 Lucas Ostiglia, 6 Martín Durand, 5 Rimas Álvarez, 4 Patricio Albacete, 3 Omar Hasan, 2 Mario Ledesma, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.

Replacements: 16 Federico Méndez, 17 Daniel Rodríguez, 18 Pablo Bouza, 19 Martín Schusterman, 20 Nicolás Fernández Miranda, 21 Juan de la Cruz Fernández Miranda, 22 Gonzalo Tiesi.

Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)

So Much for the famed French Pack. So much for the superior scrum-half and fly-half. The French came out flat and took one too lightly, and The Pumas ate Les Blues for lunch.


TOPICS: Sports
KEYWORDS: francesux; lemaginotscrum; letdown; pumas; rugby; upset
France beats Australia. France parties and shows up hung over vs The Pumas. Argentina makes them pay. Hopefully, the IBM World Rankings will banish Les Blues like Wellington did to Napoleon.
1 posted on 11/20/2004 9:41:35 PM PST by .cnI redruM
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