Phelan: Time for Pumas to grow up
Having taken over the side in 2008, this season has proven to be a major landmark for rugby in the country and Phelan wants his players to show what they have learned in recent months by putting performance first at the Aviva Stadium.
“Yes, I’m happy about how the team is improving game by game, it was a huge year,” he said.
“There were a lot of games. It started in June with perhaps our second team and playing Rugby Championship was very good because of the intensity of the tournament. This tour we started well — good against Wales but not so good against France although we did some interesting things in that game. Now our goal is to finish by playing our best rugby.”
Asked about what the regular home-and-away fixtures against Australia, New Zealand and South Africa have meant to his team, he said: “We always try and add to our game but now we play a different intensity. We weren’t used to playing so many games so now we are trying to get better with the ball, focus more, move it better and be more dynamic.
“But also, we have our old strengths — our scrum, our defence, playing with a lot of heart, the main thing Argentina players always have. So we try to keep moving up and play a more complete game and we think we improved a lot with intensity and velocity, compared with four or five years ago.”
Today’s game has an added dimension as the draw for the World Cup will be based on the rankings which will be released afterwards and a defeat for Ireland would see them slip to a third seed as they’d exit the world’s top eight teams. But despite that pressure and a recent dip in form, Phelan is expecting a game every bit as tough as they’ve faced on their northern tour.
“We know Ireland a lot, because we play them often. Perhaps they don’t have some of the senior players but they are still doing very well.
“They are very strong, a good pack of forwards, they play well with the backs and have some very good results and have good quality.
“We know it will be tough and we will have to fight a lot to have the ball. We will see the conditions but we are working and thinking about our game, knowing it will be difficult.
“They have some young players, new players, but also we know those players are competitive.
“They are playing professional games every week so we know they are in good shape. We know what to expect but we have a lot of confidence.
“We don’t talk about winning or losing, we talk about improving.
“That’s our main goal. We are just looking at what we have to do to have a good game, to play our best rugby and obviously to get our best result.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
