WE CAN WIN THIS
Landajo praises Ireland but his men are unafraid
MARTIN Landajo’s c or di a l patter says it all about how different the narrative is these days in the build-up to a World Cup clash with Ireland.
The three previous encounters — matches that defined the campaigns for each nation in 1999, 2003 and 2007 — fizzed and bristled with anger, such was the enmity bred into two sides in a grudge that became one of the World Cup’s most famed rivalries. No more, though. Such has been the passage of time since that last encounter in Paris eight years ago, when the Pumas tipped the elimination score in the fixture 2-1 in their favour, that Landajo can now walk into a room and charm people with his cheekiness.
It’s evident in his explanation for the high spirits in the Pumas’ camp.
‘The Argentines are like that. We’re Latins. We’re meant to be happy all the time. It’s our roots and the Irish are very cold,’ he quips with mischief- making merriment.
If someone like the warring Mario Ledesma said that about the Irish character during the old rivalry’s heyday it would have been interpreted as some sort of disrespect and there would be blood on the walls of the Irish dressing room with revenge vowed.
However, such i s the mutual respect that currently exists between Sunday’s quarter-final pairing that they happily shared a plane ride from Resistencia to Buenos Aires 16 months ago following the first June 2014 Test. Rather than sitting in separate groups on the plane, the players were intermingled due to the seat allocation and they all got on famously.
Landajo, the 27-year- old scrumhalf who has faced Ireland in three Test matches and also featured against the Wolfhounds at Tallaght in 2009, fully appreciates the size of the task f acing the Pumas in Cardiff, claiming their attacking game more resembled a southern hemisphere side than any of their Six Nations counterparts.
‘Ireland is one of the best teams,’ he says. ‘They have one of the best attacking games. They also defend well, but I like the way they attack. It’s much more similar to southern hemisphere where we are attacking and being dynamic and moving the ball.
‘Maybe the other northern teams are a bit slower. France or England are slow but Ireland is one of the best teams, not only in the north but in the world.
‘They are the best European team. If they won twice in the Six Nations, they are the best.
‘We watched the Ireland-France match and it was a tough game. France started very well, trying to be physical and Ireland had some injuries and some important people out but they kept on playing well. They played better, got the lineouts and got the scrum, and we are now up against one of the best teams in the world.
‘It is bad news for them [that Paul O’Connell is out injured]. He is one of the best players, the captain, the leader. But we don’t think about that. They had the player that came in [Iain Henderson] who did brilliant. Ireland played even better, so it will be tough,’ he continued, adding that he’d prefer to face Ian Madigan rather than Johnny Sexton, if possible.
‘Madigan plays similar rugby but we know Sexton is one of the best players in the world. He is very important for Ireland. He has many caps. It will make a difference (if Sexton doesn’t play) but Madigan will do great.’
Argentina featured at previous World Cups without having an annual tournament to play in. However, having been admitted to the Rugby Championship in 2012 they arrived into England 2015 on the back of a memorable 37-25 win over South Africa in Durban which showcased their ability to go wide and entertain by chasing tries, something previous Pumas didn’t do.
Landajo calls it the Graham Henry effect, the 2011 New Zealand World Cup-winning coach helping them out during their initial years in their new surroundings and encouraging them to play more ball-in-hand, a philosophy that worked as they are capable of regularly scoring tries in that tournament even if learning to win games is a slow process.
‘The rugby we are trying to play we have been doing so since we entered the Championship. Graham Henry came to help us and we have developed much better rugby,’ he suggests following a pool campaign where Argentina scored 22 tries, the third highest tally of the 20 teams at the World Cup.
‘He said we needed to make more tries. We had a great defence, one of the better defences in the world, but we didn’t attack much. He said it was impossible to win games like this and he changed our minds.
‘It wasn’t easy but now he has followed this advice, likes to play an attacking game and we have improved a lot.
‘Football in Argentina, we have the best attacking players, (Lionel) Messi and (Diego) Maradona, so we tried to change and started being similar to football by attacking a lot more.
‘But Sunday will be different. This is the first time we are playing a World Cup after four years playing against the best teams in the world. I have played against New Zealand eight times but this is different. I haven’t played a quarter-final and there is much more pressure.
‘We’re good enough to win. If we didn’t think that we wouldn’t be here.’
‘Ireland are the best European team now’