Pumas peeved at being knocked out by single point

AUGUSTIN PICHOT, the Argentine captain and scrum-half, made no attempt to conceal his abject disappointment.

His frustration at was understandable after seeing his team knocked out of the tournament by a single point when other countries have been beaten out of sight and still go through to the quarter-finals.

The Pumas are a very strong side, especially up front, and certainly the tournament would be the better for having them in the last eight instead of already winging their way back to Buenos Aires.

“I have to be very careful what I say,” Pichot reacted when asked if he believed the organisers would ever give the small and medium nations a fair schedule.

“There will be teams like Scotland who lost by 50 points against France and Wales who lost by a big score against the All Blacks and will go through to the quarter-finals and Argentina won’t and they lost by only one point.

"We addressed this issue two years ago when we thought we were fifth, for that was the ranking after the last World Cup. But we were changed to number eight and that meant we were in a pool with Ireland when in fact it was Wales we should have been playing. We have a bitter feeling and we’re not happy.

“I think it goes a little higher than the IRB. It goes to television and the whole concept of rugby at the moment.

"It’s about the big nations thinking about themselves and not providing equal conditions for everyone. I strongly believe it’s not equal. In France in four years’ time, you will still have lots of matches with teams losing by 80 points and teams from the top eight qualifying for the quarter-finals by the second weekend.

"None of them will be absent from the quarter-finals of this World Cup.” Pichot believed Ireland won because they made fewer mistakes than his own side. He accepted that “it didn’t make much difference whether we lost by one point or thirty.”

Coach Marcelo Loffredo concurred: “It’s hard to find comfort. Ireland are ranked third in the world, so there is something there I suppose.

"This was all about winning. The team worked hard; there was a lot of effort and commitment. There were eight professionals and seven amateurs out there so they are entitled to a lot of praise.”

Argentine rugby has come on in a big way since they beat Ireland in the 1999 World Cup and there is now an understandable fear that the sport, which has always played second-fiddle to football, will suffer for support.

Pichot, however, is hopeful this will not be the case. “I’m sure the people of Argentina will understand.”

You could hardly argue against Pichot’s belief that they have far more right to be going to the quarter-finals than either Scotland or Wales and if the IRB want to improve the image of their tournament and give every nation equal opportunity, they must look at a situation where Argentina had completed their four Pool matches before England began their third!