Ayerza: with respect, I hope Irish play poorly

RESPECT and confidence are the two key ingredients as Argentina seek to qualify for the knock-out stages of the World Cup against Ireland in Paris on Sunday.

Marcos Ayerza may be a young gun at 24, but he does respect the opposition, not least Ireland’s giant prop John Hayes. The sting in the tail is that he’s also a very confident young man.

“I’m afraid of nobody,” he declared yesterday, hastily adding: “But I’m afraid of everybody.

“OK, it’s a bit like the chicken and the egg story, but reputations mean nothing until you get on the pitch and face up to the challenge. Things can go right or wrong on the day. Perceptions really mean nothing,” said the Leicester-based international.

With 15 Puma games under his belt, he could be considered a veteran. He hopes one day that a charge such as that will be levelled at him.

“It’s exciting right now to be involved with this Argentinean team; it has been a great World Cup to date. We knew, once the draw was made, that it would be very difficult; the challenge was to beat France in the opening match rather than having to wait until the last game to see whether we could qualify.

“Ireland was always going to be a huge challenge — look at the history — so we’re now in the driving seat, but still not the driver. We have to win on Sunday to make sure.!”

Having beaten France, Namibia and Georgia with fairly high-quality rugby, Argentina will seek to have the perfect result against Ireland in their final pool game.

Ayerza believes it is probable rather than possible.

“Nobody in this squad is thinking about losing; certainly we’re not thinking about losing by giving away four tries. We pride ourselves on defence and have done pretty well up to now,” he said.

Yet there is a nagging doubt.

“I think we have not yet seen the real Ireland in this tournament. Maybe before, you would say that it’s a bad Irish team that can’t get better. Not so, I believe, because they have too many good players in the squad.

“This could be their last match, but it might not be; they will give it everything to survive and we must be careful to avoid a backlash.

“We cannot allow Ireland to play, and maybe we will have to make sure that we slow the presentation of their ball down. We’re not in the business of giving out favours. Sure, we have not conceded any tries in the tournament so far, but every game is different. You can go through a match when everything is perfect, then you go through another when everything is not.

“We must take this game for what it is: a huge challenge. We have got to go into it with caution and build the game slowly. We know what to expect but, in another way, we don’t know what to expect because Ireland has not shown the true side of their rugby in this competition. We’re waiting to see how we could deal (with it) if they do come out of the blocks in full flight.”

As a relative youngster, Ayerza is intensely proud of the messages coming from home as Argentina make their way through this World Cup group successfully.

“It has been amazing; every day there are messages coming, sometimes from the most unlikely of sources. For us, it has always been difficult to compete with football, but it’s getting better; the game is getting headlines and the players are getting recognition. I don’t care for myself, but it’s nice the sport is coming in for such recognition.”

That could all change in an instant, as Ayerza is aware.

“From what I know, and it’s early days yet for me, rugby has had some good days in the past but then lost its status. We need to build on the present success; we really do need to qualify for the quarter-finals — that is by no means a guarantee — and go from there.

“But first, we have to play Ireland, a real force in world rugby. I can’t say I’m sorry to see them not play well in this tournament so far. I’m not sorry and I hope they don’t play well again. But I suspect they have something in reserve. I hope they’re not saving it all for us.”