Pouting Pumas point the finger

PUMAS captain Augustin Pichot was hardly sitting behind the top table in the old Lansdowne Road pavilion after Saturday’s gripping encounter when he launched into an amazing attack on the Irish team.

He accused them of “begging” with referee Tony Spreadbury to dish out a series of yellow cards and to even send off some of his players. And so it went on from Pichot, his half-back partner, Felipe Contepomi and coach Marcelo Loffreda.

Enter Eddie O’Sullivan and Brian O’Driscoll and suddenly it was a different story altogether. Now we were hearing from O’Sullivan how six Irish players had been gouged, five in the eyes and one in the mouth. One had needed a stitch to the side of his eye.