Pumas close to pulling out - Loffreda

Argentina coach Marcelo Loffreda claims they came close to pulling the plug on their prestigious match with the British & Irish Lions later this month because of mounting frustrations over player availability.

Loffreda finally named his squad for the Cardiff encounter at the weekend but it will be a far from full strength Pumas side that take on the might of the Lions.

Lucas Ostiglia, Martin Durand and Marcos Ayerza are all out injured while Stade Francais duo Agustin Pichot and Rodrigo Roncero, plus Toulouse’s Omar Hasan, are absent because they will be playing in the Heineken Cup final 24 hours prior to the Lions match on May 23.

That means Argentina will be facing the Lions with only nine players who play professionally in Europe – a situation that has not pleased Loffreda.

“We were close to not going,” revealed Loffreda.

“This was a very hard week because we had to telephone lots of people. I’ve kept on saying that this is one of the most important matches for the Pumas in many years, and a big defeat could damage our prestige.

“We only travelled because a contract was signed,” he added.