“If (South African flyhalf Manie) came in Libbok we finished like the first game against Australia”, this is how the head coach of The Pumas, Felipe Contepomi how the table can change and the result of a match does not exactly reflect the role of whoever ends up losing. The euphoria for yesterday’s victory against South Africa is enhanced with those achieved against the other two powers in this same Rugby Championship: New Zealand y Australia.
“What dimension do I give to those triumphs? I think we were able, at times, to impose our game against three powers. Then, the results… I didn’t see the table well, but I think we can win or finish third. So it doesn’t make sense to focus on the results, but on how we progress. For me, the important thing is the 80 minutes and the actions that happened in those 80 minutes,” Contepomi responded to Clarion at the press conference after the game.
“We are in a process in which we want these games to stop being feats and to be able to compete on equal terms with the powers, although sometimes you win and other times you lose. For now we are doing well, except for the second against New Zealand, but then we were competing as equals,” he remarked.
Before the match took the course it did, it was one that seemed to lead Los Pumas to a defeat. The first 12 minutes were fatal. “You try, more than staying calm, to trust. At the start, we were overwhelmed there. They made unusual penalties. When they stopped seeing the result and we were able to carry out the game we wanted to propose, we played a very nice rugby game” he boasted. For that reason and because Libbok did not enter, with one date left the victory against South Africa puts us in a head-to-head fight for the title.
Julian Montoya The captain also present at the conference was the voice of the group. Are the players motivated to reach the last date with the chance of something unprecedented?
“A while ago it was something unprecedented to beat New Zealand, the number of tries against Australia, to beat the three powers… so we are thinking about the process. We weigh in on the next game, on the rival. We know what the game represents, but we have to think about it as always, work on the things that we couldn’t do today and we have to improve,” highlighted the captain.
28 players will travel to South Africa – Marcos Kremer will be out – and the squad travels with a logical change. The team’s starting flyhalf was no longer Santiago Carreras and shirt 10 seems to have been left in the hands of Thomas Albornoz. The change, which during the Michael Cheika era was something of a state issue, was made by Contepomi, who at the beginning of the cycle also used him in that position.
“Santiago Carreras is an excellent 10, as is Cepillo (Albornoz), Nico Sánchez, (Domingo) Mingo Miotti and all the 10 we have in mind. Carreras is an excellent player, who can play as a wing number 10, as a fullback and helps us in many sectors,” he cut short the possibility of controversy.
When he entered to replace Bautista DelguyNegro Carreras added his 50 parties with the Argentine shirt. The Contepomi process included a good number of players who began to earn their first caps with the National Team, who join figures who have already played in several World Cups.
Although it seems hot, Santiago del Estero has not yet given everything it can give in terms of thermal stress. The thermometer stood at 36 degrees, enough for any average Santiago resident to assure that heat, what is called heat, is suffered in December and January, with registered marks above 50. The day had already gone out and in this province The triumph of Los Pumas resonates like a breath of fresh air, like the one that Contepomi breathes into his team.