Focused Leguizamon confident ahead of ‘war’ against Ireland

ARGENTINEAN back row forward Juan Manuel Leguizamon might not yet be a household name, but the London Irish man soon might be.

This Argentinean team were never going to be world class according to the powers that be, but came in, nevertheless, to this World Cup seeded sixth following a run of good performances.

Everything is relative. A year ago, Ireland would have pitched in at three; now they have to settle for five, but after Sunday’s showdown in Paris against Argentina, they could be dumped a couple of rungs down the ladder.

Dumped out of the competition to boot! But Leguizamon is unconcerned about Ireland’s fortunes. He is solely focused on the Pumas, explaining: “We’re close to doing what no Argentinean side has ever done, top a group in the World Cup. We don’t care who we meet, who we have to beat, the focus is on getting out of our group in a position of strength.

“We want to make the knock-out stages and, of course, we want to avoid New Zealand, whom we would have to play if the result against Ireland doesn’t go our way. If that result is terribly bad, we could be on the way home,” he said.

But the London Irish based Leguizamon is convinced that that doomsday scenario won’t come to pass and Argentina can dare to dream of a quarter, or possibly a semi-final place in this tournament.

He said: “Maybe then, maybe then, people will accept that we are a force to be reckoned in world rugby. It’s up to us, it was always up to us. We can complain about circumstances, but we have to be the people to solve the difficulties, to prove that we’re worthy of competing at the highest level.”

He added: “I always look forward; I never look back to the last game. I’m sure Ireland would not like looking back on the last couple; maybe we would be happy to go back a couple of games, but the truth is always in the next game.

“We’re a pretty good team, I feel, but Ireland are as well. They just cannot go stale overnight. I don’t buy into the argument that we will qualify from the top of the group; I don’t think we should ignore the fact that Ireland can beat us and, on the best of days, beat us by the type of margin they need.

“It’s going to be a war on Sunday; we must win the game and we won’t focus in on the necessity not to concede four tries. Our intention is to go out there and win the game, not to lose it,” he said.

Leguizamon revealed the secret to Argentina’s success to date when he admitted that every game, from the first game, was potentially their last.

“We came to this World Cup, knowing that we were in a hideously tough pool, believing in ourselves.

“We knew we had to win the opening game because it would, perhaps, have been impossible otherwise to qualify.

“Once we got that win, it became easier for us. Not much, but easier. We go into our fourth game this weekend in the knowledge that a victory will secure us a decent quarter-final draw.

“Sure, it’s going to be the toughest game since we beat France and I have no doubt that Ireland will come at us big time.

“From past experience, I think every man in this Argentinean team will show the utmost of respect to Ireland, but then forget about reputations as best as possible, because we do have faith in our own ability.”