The Rugby Championship Players to Watch: Argentina

Juan Figallo- Argentine rugby has long been renowned for their scrummaging pedigree and they need this stereotype to hold up to a tough inspection during their inaugural campaign in the Rugby Championship. In the past 6-7 years, we have seen a large portion of Argentina's propping stocks retire from the international game and the lack the depth they used to be able to boast but in starting tighthead prop, Juan Figallo, they have a player that would have been up at the top of those front row stocks. At the World Cup in 2011, he was named the player of Group B, which was quite an achievement considering the tough scrummaging units that populated that group. And he did that at just 23 years of age, which is very young as a prop. He has been the anchor of Montpellier's scrum during their fight to become one of French rugby's powerhouses. A lot is going to be expected of the Argentine scrum and more importantly for Figallo, that facet of the game will be relied upon by Los Pumas.

Juan Martín Fernandez Lobbe- Selecting the skipper of the side probably is an obvious choice but it will be fascinating to see how he does in a competition of this stature and level. Lobbe is a backrower noted for his high level of work around the pitch with an incredible desire to push further. The side of this game though that the Pumas should be looking to use is his fantastic ball playing skills. This will be a higher level than Argentina are used to and they will need to adapted to the high levels of skills of the teams they are facing and Lobbe is the man who is capable of matching his opponents in this department and he will need to lead from the front in this department as well as passion and work-rate.

Juan Martín Hernandez- El Mago finally gets another opportunity to showcase his ability on the big stage for the first time since his standout performances in France in 2007. Since then, a torrent of bad fortune with injuries has kept him from building any momentum. The pivot, who now plys his trade with Racing Metro in Paris, is probably one of the most gifted players Argentina has ever produced. It is a shame that injuries and negative tactics have blunted Hernandez's development, as he could easily have been one of the top players in this sport of ours. While it is certainly overused, Hernandez has a howitzer of a boot and this can pin teams back if used effectively. But aside from that, he is an incredibly strong defender, which will be important when playing against the behemoths of the Saffa pack and Nonu and the likes for New Zealand. And while under utilised, he has a fantastic range of passing, which if employed properly could be the key to opening up the rigid Argentine side, while he will have no fears taking the ball to the line. I am really looking forward to seeing how Hernandez does at this level.

Juan José Imhoff- Argentina have never struggled to produce industrious outside backs but there has been a real dearth since Ignacio Corleto hung up his boots and even then, he missed a lot of time due to injury. Now though, like the cliché goes, you wait for ages for the bus and two come along at once. Lucas Amorisino showed some of his promise at the Tigers but has blossomed since his move to Montpellier but it is his back three partner Juan Imhoff who I will be advising people to keep an eye. He has electric pace but it his ability to move quickly off both feet and his eye for mismatches in defence and confidence to back his instinct which makes him a very exciting player for Argentina. One of the criticisms of Los Pumas has always been their lack of flair in their backline but Imhoff could just be the man that brings them into a new era, as if they are compete in this competition, they will need to add more arrows to their bow.

Is anyone in ARG not called Juan? This might be quicker.

anotherworldofpain wrote:Is anyone in ARG not called Juan? This might be quicker.

Good one AWOP

anotherworldofpain wrote:Is anyone in ARG not called Juan? This might be quicker.

True...AB gameplan...watch out for Juan...the rest will take care of itself...

Ah shoot, if I'd have know that, I may have just selected someone else.

Thanks MBTGOG, good read. One more week!! I can't wait to see how the pumas go, I only ever seem them once every four years.

MBTGOG wrote:Ah shoot, if I'd have know that, I may have just selected someone else.

well any Juan is pretty much as good as another.

Maybe they get a deal, buy Juan, get Juan free.

Two for the price of Juan, so to speak.

Lol.


Hees' the squad, in case anyone hasn't already seen it:

Horacio Agulla (Bath Rugby), Patricio Albacete (Toulouse), Marcos Ayerza (Leicester Tigers), Marcelo Bosch (Biarritz), Martín Bustos Moyano (Montpellier), Gonzalo Camacho (Exeter Chiefs), Manuel Carizza (Biarritz), Agustín Creevy (Montpellier), Julio Farías (Tucuman Rugby), Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe (Toulon), Santiago Fernández (Montpellier), Juan Figallo (Montpellier), Alvaro Galindo (Racing Métro), Lucas González Amorosino (Montpellier), Eusebio Guiñazú (Biarritz), Juan Martín Hernández (Racing Metro), Juan Imhoff (Racing Metro), Martín Landajo (Los Pampas XV), Tomás Leonardi (Los Pampas XV), Juan Pablo Orlandi (Racing Metro), Martín Rodríguez (Stade Francais), Rodrigo Roncero (Stade Francais), Federico Nicolás Sánchez (Bordeaux Begles), Leonardo Senatore (Los Pampas XV), Tomás Vallejos Cinalli (Scarlets), Nicolás Vergallo (Stade Francais)

They probably do their skills training Juan on Juan as well.











Unless it is two on two.

Juan day punning will be an arrestable offence.

Ya think, Juan can only speculate

Juan Love Juan Heart Let's get together and feel alright

Juan on the left, Juan on the right, Juan at the back, and the rest of you go scrum.

Wonder if it takes Juan to know Juan?

Juan would think so, wouldn't Juan?

Q: How many Argentinian rugby players does it take to score a try?

Juan?

Ok ok, Juan last Juan..nah, actually I'm done.

Come on, Juan more!

Gives a whole new dimension to the umber

Juan o ate Juan o

On a slightly more serious note will Marcos Ayerza finally be given the number 1 shirt for Argentina over the veteran Roncero or will he actually have to wait for the front row legend to die before he gets a chance to stake a proper claim. He is one of the best looseheads in Europe and his technical ability in the scrum couples with his excellent work rate (and pace) in the loose must surely be an advantage against the more mobile SH teams.

My preference is that Marcos Ayerza should stay out of the Juan shirt. It will just get confusing otherwise.

In preparation for the rugby championship, the All Blacks played tonight at Pukekohe.
playing two teams in two halves , First half they played Counties manukau winning 12 nil, second half they played Auckland winning 14 : 5,.

Sorry sir, apologies to every Juan out there.

aucklandlaurie wrote:
In preparation for the rugby championship, the All Blacks played tonight at Pukekohe.
playing two teams in two halves , First half they played Counties manukau winning 12 nil, second half they played Auckland winning 14 : 5,.

Who played 12/13, any Juan we know?

Ellison 12/Nonu 13 v Counties

Nonu 12/Ben Smith 13 v Auckland apparently

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/7457926/All-Blacks-two-from-two-in-training-games

chewed_mintie wrote:Ellison 12/Nonu 13 v Counties

Nonu 12/Ben Smith 13 v Auckland apparently

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/7457926/All-Blacks-two-from-two-in-training-games

Ben Smith . If there's a gap at center it's too tempting not to fill with a full back!? Isn't it...Preparing for the next RWC semifinal exit.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

On a slightly more serious note will Marcos Ayerza finally be given the number 1 shirt for Argentina over the veteran Roncero or will he actually have to wait for the front row legend to die before he gets a chance to stake a proper claim. He is one of the best looseheads in Europe and his technical ability in the scrum couples with his excellent work rate (and pace) in the loose must surely be an advantage against the more mobile SH teams.

I need to watch more of Ayerza as while he is a good prop, I certainly don't rate him as highly as people here do, but that is more due to not having seen him play enough. He'll definitely get quite a bit of game time and one or two starts considering that they will need to rotate the old Roncero.

Ayerza is technicaly good in the scrum but struggles against big opponents. He is probabley not busy enough around thé park either. For all that hé's better then Roncero.

Let's hope Argentina bring us more Juan and less Yawn. There is the possibility that their notorious negative style could diminish the quality to the 4N spectacle.

Quite a few other lads you could pick to watch:

Leguizamón is a very competent openside so let's see how he mixes it with Richie and The Guns.

Amorosino is the obvious omission. Superb strike running full back - he's been doing the do in France with Montpellier pretty consistently. Leaving the Tigers was the best thing that he did. A quality player.

I've heard that their young openside Tomas de la Vega is supposed to be quite good. I'd look out for Creevy as well the hooker, he's a very good player

Argentinian cheerleaders are quite hot too.

Beware Argentina, Ted wants them to score Tries,if they can with there solid pack they could be a handful.Especially at home.

I'm really intrigued how their pack will go, especially the front row.

Ledesma, Roncero out...Ayerza, Creevy in. Could really give an average SA scrum a hard time if they get the nudge on.

Ayerza is technicaly good in the scrum but struggles against big opponents. He is probabley not busy enough around thé park either

Hmm not strictly true. He doesn't really have the bulk for a big 'hit' in the scrum so tends to like hold his ground and then use his technical ability to fight back. If the scrum stays up and the ball doesn't come out quickly then he can do a lot of damage very quickly. If the scrum half gets a good feed or the opposition tighthead can either go forward and down or deny him a bind then they can sometimes steal a penalty and deny him a say in the scrum. If he developed more of a hit so that he gains equilbrium earlier and denies the opposition the chance to engate his effect in the scrum he could become the greatest loosehead in the scrum.

His work rate around the park is massive, it's like having another backrower, he's not the biggest carrier though he does pick nice lines off the half backs at times. He's not the biggest guy but he is a really great asset, his one appearence at the RWC was a great performance from him.

I'm sure they're all juan to watch

We shouldn't mock them, Juan might get upset.

Is this a case of all for Juan and Juan four all?

This thread is about the four Musketeers, no?

My wife said that she fancies Fernandez Lobbe.
According to his club site profile, apparently Imhoff loves fast cars.

So that's Juan for my baby.

And Juan more for the road.