Argentina’s late bloomers ready to put Shaun Edwards’ lessons to the test

Joaquin Moro is predicting a 'very intense game' against Ireland to kick off their November Tests

Joaquin Moro during an Argentina rugby squad training session at the Belfield Bowl in Dublin. Pic: Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile

THE atmosphere at the Aviva Stadium for the British and Irish Lions' game against Argentina last year was highly-charged, despite there being nothing really at stake before Andy Farrell's squad flew out to Australia.

But there was a sea of red on Lansdowne Road that June night for what was a historic occasion, the first Lions home game ever played on Irish soil.

For Simon Benitez Cruz and Jaoquin Moro, it was some introduction to Test rugby. Moro had scored two tries on his debut against Uruguay before the game in Dublin, while for Cruz it was his Test bow for the Pumas.

Getting the call from Felipe Contepomi to join that tour was the moment that Cruz realised he could be a professional rugby player.

Before that, he had got into the furniture business with friends, while representing his club CUBA (Club Universitario De Buenos Aires), as his grandfather Prata and father Federico had as number ones before him, and as his younger brother Plas had done after him.

"Two years ago, when Felipe called me and told me I could be in the squad, that changed my life and I trained really hard to be here, so it's an honour now to be here," he said.

The 27-year-old reflected on the night the Pumas deservedly won a thriller 28-24 against the undercooked Lions.

“It was incredible," said Cruz. "Then I got the opportunity to come to the UK and play for the Red Bulls. So now I'm 100% focused on rugby and playing for my country.” 

While Cruz grew up in a rugby-mad family, Moro's background was rooted in soccer club River Plate but he went the rugby route because his father played the game.

Like Cruz, he was a relatively late developer, and also made the move to the Prem after that Lions game in Dublin.

"I dreamt when I was young of being here, but I never imagined being in this place with this team," said Moro, speaking after training at the UCD Bowl.

"I went to the stadium to watch the Pumas a lot of times when I was young. But I never imagined to be in this place sharing a team with a lot of players that I loved to see when I was young. So it's a dream come true, yeah."

In fact, Moro was five years into his medical studies when he abandoned them as a 22-year-old to focus on a career in the oval ball game.

Ironically, Contepomi persevered with his studies and qualified as a doctor in Dublin while with Leinster.

"Well, I know that Felipe finished his career here," said Moro. "But I don't think that I will go back to it.

"Joining Leicester was a big change because I played with Pampas at home, then I made my first appearance here with Argentina in 2024.

"And after that, my agent sent me an offer from Leicester. I couldn't say no because it's a very big club. So much history.

"When I was younger, I watched Leicester playing because it's a big club everybody in Argentina knows and a lot of history of Argentinian players being there. Pablo Montoya was the captain two years ago.

"They gave me a lot of things to develop in my rugby - like, the DNA of Leicester playing the set-piece, the ruck, the contact."

Both Moro and Cruz are relishing the prospect of putting Shaun Edwards' words of wisdom into action against Ireland after the defensive guru came on board ahead of this month's Nations Championship fixtures.

Edwards, who left France earlier this year after helping Les Bleus to win three Six Nations titles, and former Pumas head coach and hooker Mario Ledesma, started work on Felipe Contepomi's staff at the end of last month.

"Yes, he's putting a lot of detail into D, so it's great having him here," said Cruz. 

"It's an honour for us. He loves to work really hard, so we like that. He hasn't really changed much, but he's really into detail, so we like that. 

“It's going to be a tough game. They have a great team, one of the best, their attack is really good. So we've got a good opportunity to use our ‘D’ and use our game against them.

"Felipe is also into detail. He's really passionate and he loves the D and he's really into making us grow in ‘D’, so we can attack from there.

"He loves to play with space. First play with space and then with the system, so that makes us free to play too.” 

Moro, 25, is predicting a "very intense game" to kick off their November Tests.

"I think Argentina and Ireland have a similar way to play rugby," said the flanker. "So it's going to be very tough, the contact, the 1v1 in the game."