Pumas coach shares his ‘passion’
If Mario Ledesma’s fusion ever works, look out.
It’s just hard to see the Pumas coach finding the perfect marriage of Argentina and Australia, in time to beat New Zealand in Nelson tonight.
He’s an impressive guy, Ledesma. A former Pumas captain, who played and coached extensively in France, it was his years as righthand man to Michael Cheika with the Wallabies that inform a big chunk of his coaching.
Argentina are a tough team to play. The All Blacks know that as well as anyone. Of the 160 minutes they played against the Pumas last year, only about 60 were any good.
It is now Ledesma’s job to take Argentina from being competitive, and nuisance value, and turn them into winners.
Tonight will mark his first clash with New Zealand, since ascending to the Argentine job in June, and it remains to be seen if he enjoys any more luck against All Blacks coach Steve Hansen than Cheika has.
‘‘They’re a little bit colder, we’re a little bit warmer. Like a little bit more passionate,’’ Ledesma said of the difference between Australians and Argentines.
‘‘But the bad side from that is that we’re not used to respecting systems and processes and everything changes from one week to the other and obviously discipline was a major issue.
‘‘One of the biggest things from Australia is exactly that; just respecting the processes, having a plan and going all the way and not changing and being more disciplined. The player-management from Michael Cheika was a big thing for me.’’
On the park, making the Pumas’ scrum a weapon again is a focus, along with ball-retention and accuracy.
‘‘By no means do I want to change our DNA. No, that’s a good thing about us. All that passion and stuff, that’s a good thing.’’ Mario Ledesma, coach of Argentina
He doesn’t believe talent is an issue, more the ability to express it consistently.
But those aren’t things that can be fixed up in a few weeks. As encouraging as last month’s 32-19 win over South Africa was, Ledesma said the All Blacks would have made the Pumas pay for being so ill-disciplined at 32-7 up.
That’s the nature of Argentine players and while he wants to refine that, he certainly doesn’t want to alter their essential character.
‘‘By no means do I want to change our DNA. No, that’s a good thing about us. All that passion and stuff, that’s a good thing,’’ said Ledesma.
But it’s hard to see how it will earn them victory at Trafalgar Park. The All Blacks have made significant changes to the team that retained the Bledisloe Cup against
Australia in Auckland last month, but influential types such as Ben Smith, Kieran Read, Brodie Retallick and Owen Franks remain.
Throw in the emerging talents of Richie Mo’unga, Ngani Laumape, Waisake Naholo and Scott Barrett and that represents a fairly complete team which possesses the luxury of then bringing Damian Mckenzie off the bench to either change or finish the game off.
It was Mckenzie and Lima Sopoaga and Vaea Fifita who dug New Zealand out of a hole, the last time the teams met in this country, before Read and Naholo and Beauden Barrett featured in a 40-minute effort that blew the Pumas off Buenos Aires’ Estadio Jose Amalfitani in October.
But the All Blacks made hard work of things the rest of the time and might have to accept that they won’t pick up where they left off against the Wallabies a fortnight ago.