Dwyer: Big-game men can tame Pumas
Argentina's strength has always been an awesome pack built on the dual pillars of bulk and technique and Ireland have been on the receiving end to know the dangers involved.
Yet that very strength may also turn out to be their Achilles' heel according to Dwyer, who guided Australia to their first World Cup title 12 years ago at Twickenham. To make his point, the 62-year-old pointed to the opening game of this tournament when the Pumas failed to live up their billing in defeat against the hosts in Sydney.
"I know a few of the Argies very well, particularly Agustin Pichot who I coached for a few years in the UK," Dwyer said yesterday. "I was speaking to him a few days after the Australia game and he admitted they didn't play well and I said, 'no mate, you can't have'. I thought they must have been in the rugby league Grand Final because it was all one pass-crash, one pass-crash, one pass-crash and then kick the ball.
"He said that was all part of their game plan, that they thought they could get somewhere that way, but you just can't beat a top team like that. You can see it coming a mile away.
"You gotta do better than that, you gotta do something better than average. In that respect, I just think Ireland are a better team all around the park."
Dwyer, now coaching the New South Wales Waratahs in Super 12, did concede the one-track approach could pay dividends. In 1991, the Wallabies' campaign was almost halted in the last eight by a gutsy Irish display in Dublin based on a similar gameplan.
"Argentina are tough nuts with guys coming at you the whole time I suppose a lot like Ireland in '91. Ireland did have some good players out wide but they weren't doing anything extra special. They just kept coming at you and coming at you. I thought we were home and hosed in that game. I mean, we were clearly on top and all of a sudden we went behind.
"They just kept stopping us, stopping us or coming at us time and again and all of a sudden we cracked. Now, Argentina can do that too. They'll play like their lives depend on it, but Ireland will be prepared for that. They've got some big, athletic forwards themselves. The likes of Costello and Wood are big-game players."
Where Ireland really hold all the trump cards, Dwyer says, is in the backs. "Argentina have got a few good players (out wide) but they don't seem to have the confidence to use them as much as they could. If you look at Ireland there's a great foil between Maggs and O'Driscoll. You've got a back three than can really attack using different qualities. One's (Shane Horgan) as big as a horse and can run, the other (Denis Hickie) can really scamper and the other (Girvan Dempsey) is very agile as a full-back."
Yet Dwyer can only wonder what might have been had Geordan Murphy, who he coached at Leicester, been fit.
"I just keep thinking what a difference it would make if Geordan was there. I was talking to a few of the Irish guys at the opening game and they were saying how sad they are for Geordan. I'm sad for him because I brought him over to Leicester when he was a young fella and he's an exceptional player who could have been a real star at this tournament."
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