The Pumas did not roar, but they had the merit of reacting. Two weeks after losing to England, the Argentine rugby players won against Samoa (19-10), Friday September 22, at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Etienne. Supporters who were hoping to witness an offensive festival resembling that of the Blues on Thursday against Namibia will undoubtedly have been a little disappointed: the South Americans were content with a lackluster success. The fact remains that this allows them to get back into the race to qualify for the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
“The challenge is to defend well and create chances in attack. If we give the Samoans space, the afternoon risks seeming long,” confided Argentine center Santiago Chocobares, on the eve of the match at a press conference. History does not say whether the Stade Toulouse player ultimately had the impression that the minutes were ticking by at a frantic pace during the game. But he and his teammates had the merit of not leaving many opportunities to their opponents.
On the contrary, the Manu Samoa reluctantly did them some favors. Barely warmed up and from the first minute, center Duncan Paia’aua returned to the bench for ten minutes after receiving a yellow card for a dangerous tackle. Like the Toulonnais, the Pacific players multiplied their mistakes during the meeting (12 in total). Unfortunately for them, their opening half Christian Lealiifano got in tune with his team by also using his gifts offered to the Pumas: in charge of the penalties, he was guilty of two failures against the bars on attempts that were nevertheless largely within his ropes (15th and 38th).
Emiliano Boffelli took care of everything
Opposite, the Argentinians showed more rigor. For their first meeting against Samoa since 2005, they relied on one man: Emiliano Boffelli. Omnipresent in defense as in attack, the former Racing 92 player stood out by scoring the first – and only – try for his selection, at the conclusion of a collective movement (7th). He then distinguished himself in his role as a scorer to bring his personal tally to sixteen points this Friday. Enough to validate a victory for the Pumas which will be definitively assured by a final penalty from opener Nicolas Sanchez (80th).
Relaunched, the Argentinians are still in the race in this World Cup, especially as they will end their group phase with clashes against Chile and Japan, supposedly the two weakest teams in Group D. But before dreaming of walking on following in the footsteps of their elders – having reached third place in the 2007 World Cup, already organized in France -, coach Michael Cheika’s men will probably have to raise their level of play. For their part, Manu Samoa have not lost all hope to continue the adventure in France, they who had started their campaign with a large although difficult victory against the Chileans (43-10).
