Juan Martin Hernandez eyes another Irish ‘clasico’

It’s been eight years since he terrorised Eddie O’Sullivan’s crew at a World Cup, and three since he last faced Sunday’s World Cup quarter-final opponents, but the passage of time hasn’t dimmed Juan Martin Hernandez’s appreciation for Argentina’s epic rivalry with Ireland.

“It was a good day for us,” he said last night of Paris in 2007 when the Pumas consigned Ireland to an early exit and claimed top spot in Pool D, “but I also remember 2003 when I was on the bench and we lost by one point. I remember in ’99 as well, when we went to the quarter-finals for the first time.

“I was not part of the Argentina team then, I was very young, but I remember watching it on TV. These games are like, how do you say, classics, a derby. A little bit. I know Ireland has European teams, but for us it became a nice challenge. A good derby.” Lens, Adelaide, Paris. And now Cardiff.