Leguizamon’s off to a flying start at Pampas
FORMER London Irish back row Juan Manuel Leguizamón is enjoying a flying start to his coaching career with Pampas in his native Argentina, but he still has time to remember where it all began for him.
It may have been 20 years ago, but 40-year-old Leguizamón recalls the nerves of those early weeks as though they had just happened. Many of us might imagine we would leave everything behind to travel 7,000 miles if it meant we got a chance to live out our dreams. Ultimately, most people probably wouldn’t. Even fewer get the chance. For Leguizamón, it wasn’t just a dream – it was the best apprenticeship he could have asked for.
He told The Rugby Paper: “The first few weeks at London Irish I was asking myself every day: what am I doing here? I would speak with the other Argentinians in Europe, and we all thought what we were doing was crazy.
“I had some great people around me there. I had Bob Casey who was a great guy and Toby Booth taught me so much. Mike Catt was still playing then but he was like a coach already. Back then, I was only a kid, and I had no idea how to be a professional. I owe those guys so much.”
It is fair to assume they would be proud of the player Leguizamón went on to become. He won 87 caps for his country and played in four World Cups, reaching the semi-final twice. His club career took him to England with London Irish (2005-08) and a seven-year spell in France with Stade Francais and Lyon, before he returned to Argentina to play Super Rugby for the Jaguares. Whatever it was Toby Booth and co were saying, it appears Leguizamón was paying attention.
His young Pampas squad are tied on points at the top of the league, so it appears they have been listening too. Leguizamón is the latest member of his trailblazing generation of retired Argentinians to try his hand at coaching. If they prove to be half as successful on the sidelines as they were on the pitch, then the rest of the rugby world would be wise to pay close attention.
While Argentina’s recent World Cup performance was a success on paper, Leguizamón, below, accepts that it felt like an opportunity missed.
He said: “I’m still close with some of the players so it was hard to watch. In the second half against Wales, the team did great and showed their qualities. We were all very proud of that but we want to have that level more consistently.”
Argentina may have beaten finalists New Zealand as recently as 2022 but they were blown away by them in the World Cup semi-final in a disappointing 44-6 defeat. In years gone by, results like that might have been seen as par for the course but not anymore. Expectation is the price you pay for success and success is one thing Leguizamón and his generation delivered in spades.
He added: “2007 changed the standard. We already knew we could beat anyone but in that World Cup, we showed it. Now the pressure on the team is different. 2023 was too inconsistent. The challenge now is to win consistently. It is the same thing I tell my players at Pampas – you need to be 100 per cent certain in every action you make on the pitch. If you can do that then the coaches will be happy.”
It is difficult not to compare the 2023 and 2007 tournaments, both of which were held in France. Two semi-final exits for Argentina don’t tell the whole story and fail to do that 2007 team justice. They overcame remarkable odds, beating Ireland, Scotland, and hosts France twice on their way to a best-ever third-place finish. The achievement is even more remarkable when one remembers the team wasn’t competing in the Rugby Championship at the time. Only eventual champions South Africa were able to stop Leguizamón and his teammates from reaching the final.
“Our generation went through a lot,” said Leguizamon. “We all know how lucky we were to go and play in Europe, to experience new places but this generation of players in Argentina are lucky too. They don’t have to go abroad for opportunities so young. They can take their time.”
Leguizamón’s beloved Argentina are now coached by two of his former team-mates, Felipe Contepomi and Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe.
The country is now firmly established as one of the sport’s major powers, having reached the final four in three of the past five World Cups and are a fixture in the Rugby Championship. While Leguizamón’s former club, Jaguares, no longer exists, the country’s two professional clubs occupy the top two spots of the Super Rugby Americas table. It must be easy for young Argentinians to imagine their country has always enjoyed regular matches against the world’s best and professional rugby at home. Former players like Leguizamón are the reminders that it wasn’t always this way.
He said: “We want to give them the chances – that is all. The players already know what to do. My players here are young and they make mistakes but that is ok. When they get out onto the pitch, they will be committed, and they will give everything they have. Can we be successful – why not?”
It has taken a long time for Leguizamón and his countrymen to get here. The next step might come faster than we think.