Argentina coach says no panic despite poor results

DUBLIN: Argentina’s form this year suggests they have tumbled a long way from the dizzy heights of the World Cup semi-finals in 2015 but assistant coach Pablo Bouza is unfazed.
The Pumas ended a dispiriting run of seven successive defeats with a 31-15 victory over Six Nations whipping boys Italy on Saturday — only their second win this year after victory against second-tier Georgia in June.
But Bouza told AFP that playing New Zealand, Australia and South Africa on a regular basis in the Rugby Championship could only help the team, despite regular beatings handed out by the southern hemisphere powerhouses. Bouza was speaking ahead of the Pumas’ final Test of the year this weekend against in-form Ireland, who were beaten emphatically by Argentina in the 2015 World Cup quarter-finals in Cardiff.
Bouza, a renowned lock in his playing days, said Argentina had to learn to keep up their intensity for the whole 80 minutes of matches.While the Pumas have not been able to select players playing abroad, Bouza said their eye-catching performance at the last World Cup had boosted the sport in Argentina, a country more traditionally associated with its football obsession. The hope is that new talent will mature sufficiently by the time the 2019 World Cup in Japan comes along as several of the 2015 vintage have either retired or are ageing — the likes of captain and hooker Agustin Creevy is 32 and No. 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamon is 34. Bouza said that by playing the top sides annually — they have played in the Rugby Championship since 2012 — the Pumas learn not only from their opponents on the pitch but also off it as well and refine their training techniques and routines.
Bouza, though, acknowledges from next year the Pumas must show that they have learnt from the tough times in 2017 and begin to show they are coming together for the World Cup.