ARGENTINA HEAD COACH Mario Ledesma hailed Ireland’s impressive improvement under Andy Farrell after watching his side lose 53-7 in Dublin.
Ireland completed a clean sweep of their Autumn Nations Series by scoring seven tries against the Pumas as they backed up impressive victories over Japan and New Zealand.
Argentina weren’t helped by a second-half red card for lock Tomás Lavanini for his cheap shot on Cian Healy, but Ireland were thoroughly deserved winners against the Rugby Championship side.
Speaking post-match, Ledesma praised Ireland for their excellent form this autumn.
“France and Ireland were the best teams of the international window,” said Ledesma.
“Obviously, the level they showed against the All Blacks and how they dominated them throughout the 80 minutes was quite impressive so, yes, I would say they are a hugely improved team from a couple of years back.”
Nonetheless, Ledesma had frustrations with how his side let the game slip away from them.
“Obviously, the last 20 minutes is difficult to analyse when you come from a yellow card and a red card,” he said.
“I thought there was a big moment in the first half where we missed six points and then obviously that big opportunity [where Mateo Carreras knocked-on after a linebreak] when we could have scored and we could have come back to 17-14 or 17-16.
“A minute later they scored and it was 24-7 and then we saw in the second-half we had two good lineouts positions which we missed and then they scored again and the difference was pretty big at that point.”
It has been a rough 2021 for the Pumas.
They lost all six of their Rugby Championship games and this November window has included defeats to France and Ireland, as well as a win in Italy.
Ledesma summed up how tough his squad have found the year.
“The context that Argentina rugby has been in since last year when we lost our professional team [the Jaguares from Super Rugby] and players started moving to Europe,” said Ledesma.
“And obviously not playing at home for two years has been tough because we have been in a bubble everywhere we have gone. Sometimes we have a day off where we can go sightseeing but just for a picture and then we go back.
“It has been really hard on the players and we don’t have the budget to bring the families like some other teams do, so it has been tough and they have been grinding the whole year. It’s a big ask for players.
“We are always talking about player welfare and mental health and then you go two years without playing at home and being in a bubble… I challenge any team to do that, it would be a struggle. At the same time, it is not an excuse.
“These are the conditions we are playing in and we have not been getting the results. We expected a different result today and thought that up until yesterday we had a pretty good tour, a very good game against France, winning convincingly against Italy and then coming into this game with three weeks of work, obviously, we expected differently.”
There will always be a market to exploit in Ireland. Even though there is apparently a recession Irish people seem to always have the money to waste on sporting events that are anything but what they appear to be.
We saw it with Bernard Dunne with the O2 packed everytime he fought there even though he was fighting lads who were handpicked so they could cash in. When he had to fight the mandatory challengers he was exposed.
Dana White sees that he can cash in with the Irish people so willing to spend money. No doubt McGregor will have several fights handpicked so they can sell out a few O2 dates and bleed the Irish dry before he fights an actual good fighter and is exposed.
“Money to waste on sporting events”…”bleed the Irish dry”…You would swear by your comments that people aren’t free to make their own choices on whether to buy a ticket or not!
Whether Mcgregor fights or not, the O2 will sell out with the thousands of UFC fans in Ireland! If people want to spend their hard earned money on going then its their choice, whether you believe its a waste or not!
I went to all of Dunnes’s fights in the O2. I dont class any of them as a waste of money. It gave everybody in there a great feeling and was very enjoyable to watch!
Agree with what you say about Bernard Dunne to a certain extent, Brian Peters and Rte certainly built up some of those fights to be far more than they actually were, to entice the casual fans. But people got their moneys worth with his performance against Cordoba.
But as far as McGregor goes with the UFC.. McGregor is already huge in the states and the last thing the UFC needs is to be showing his fights at 2 in the afternoon over there. They’ll have him fight next year in Dublin but after that I’d say most of his fights will be in the states.The o2 is only roughly a 9k seater stadium. The UFC makes far more off televison deals and pay per views than they do off ticket sales. The likes of Alexander Gustaffson whos swedish and a huge hit there has only got to fight there once, because its far more profitable for the UFC to have him on at a prime time in the US on pay per view cards.
And as far as opponents go, theres talk of him fighting Diego Sanchez in his next fight which is by no means an easy one. A big lightweight, whos a veteran. The quicker the UFC get him up the ladder and closer to contention for a title the more money for the UFC. McGregor has an international audience at this stage, not just the Irish.
No they were not a waste of money as he was winning but he was beating nobodies. He beat one good fighter in his career and was then exposed by the better ones and put into retirement. He avoided the best fighters for as long as possible so he, Peters and RTE could all make as much money before he was exposed and the bubble burst. If he was a great fighter he would still be boxing now and certainly wouldn’t have retired when he did.
It’s too early to judge how good McGregor is going to be but I’m sceptical.
Agreed. But there’s no value for the UFC in nursing him against nobodies in Ireland. They should move him on quickly enough. If he beats Diego Sanchez convincingly I’ll start believing. I’d much rather he stayed at featherweight though, and I think the UFX could feel the same, so that fight mightn’t happen. They could give him a handy fight like Andy Ogle at featherweight in Dublin but I hope not. Cole Miller would be an interesting one, and a step up in class.
I don’t think he would beat Diego sanchez.
Tough one..he would definitely outstrike him, Sanchez has sloppy striking and he overcommits way too much. Sanchez is a beast though and he would come in heavier than McGregor. I reckon McGregor would beat him..but I’d rather he stayed at featherweight!
He’s a featherweight /lightweight
“It’s a most distressing affliction to have a sentimental heart and a skeptical mind.”