The World Cup in France is fast approaching and this week we turn our focus to Los Pumas. The Argentines secured a victory over Australia before going down by just one point to South Africa in the Rugby Championship. Michael Cheika’s side are sat on the easier side of the draw and will look to take full advantage by topping a poll containing England, Japan, Samoa and Chile. To do this they will look to empower their strengths; their kicking game, their defence and their ability from the tee.
The Pumas Kicking Game
We can see how kick heavy Argentina are by looking at their team style radar. The Dashed line represents where the average side would lie and as you can see the Argentine are incredibly kick heavy. They kick more than 81% of teams across professional rugby as they look to assert control and strangulate teams. Obviously this trait is more common in international rugby, but at the World Cup only four teams kick more.
However kicking a lot isn’t necessarily the best strategy, there’s a reason a kick is only as good as its chase. Argentina regained more kicks by catches than 85% of the sides, a sign of their aerial pressure. This catch from the second test vs Australia last year shows their prowess well. The winger starts pinned right on the touchline allowing him to circumvent the escort runners and get to the landing zone.
We see the same picture with their chase line when kicking from 10 against the Kiwis. The right winger is pinned right on the far touchline meaning that his run to the catch zone is unimpeded by any All Black players. While they can’t reel the ball in, it is a great example of their kick chase looking to start wide and angle through to the catch zone.
They also used their kicking game to apply pressure on the ground. The Pumas use low kicks more often than 90% of teams aiming to twist the knife in the wide channels.
Take this clip from their first game vs NZ last year where we can see the approach. A turnover means the NZ defence is disjointed and Argentina’s Fly Half picks from the ruck before immediately dropping it on the boot. While they don’t regather the ball, it shows the intent to kick to space and apply pressure just behind the defensive line.
This clip from their game vs Australia in the Rugby Championship which again shows the Argentine approach of dropping the ball in behind. On this occasion they flow around the corner and kick into space. The ball bounces in behind and targets the no man land between the Australian Winger and Fullback. The kick is well measured and confusion in the Australian ranks sees Argentina race away for their opening score.
The Pumas Bite: How Argentina Defend
Argentina are a side who face more carries than the average partially driven by the high kicking game. Given this, their defence will be a crucial part of the charge at the Rugby World Cup. Argentina are a side who look to tackle slightly lower than the average, however this doesn’t impact their tackle with more big hits than the average side. Lets break down this defence and how it may pave the way to the upper echelons of international rugby.
Last year against Australia we saw their defence set the tone, with a big hit forcing an error just in front of the Wallaby posts. Feeding their defensive aggression will be key for the Pumas if they are to disrupt the opposition.
The low chop and stop tackle was the main defensive tool for Argentina as they looked to build their defensive wall. This chop tackle from Julian Montoya is a great example which enables a challenge over the ball. Of their World Cup rivals Argentina sit fourth for defensive rucks challenged, a sign of the disruption they will look to cause later this year.
This focus on the breakdown and causing turnovers was an important part of the Argentine attack. This best time to attack an opponent in rugby is often during transition, and for Argentina this is undoubtedly true. The Pumas have created more breaks from turnover per game than all but four sides within the World Cup later this year (including Chile who have just 3 games in the database).
Take for example this try from the game versus Australia in the Rugby Championship last year. Australia’s attack is blunted from a tackle targeting the ball which allows Argentina to turnover it over. Despite the ball slow Argentina are quick to set and they attack a lethargic Australian defence. The space they are given allows the Pumas to stick the ball in behind, and Argentina score another try.
This try is a great example of how Argentina combined their weapons. From a physical defence which slowed the Australian attack, before ruck pressure and a turnover which allowed the Pumas to go onto the attack. During the follow up attack the Argentine’s make a break and kick in behind creating a pressure situation that the South American’s can control and score from. A great example of how Argentina will look to counter punch teams at the Rugby World Cup.
Keeping the Scoreboard Ticking
This brings us to the final part of the Argentine strategy, strong goal kicking. This again buys into the theme of counter punching or strangulation of opposition teams. The Pumas are a side that do not need to get to the 22 in order to score, but are instead happy to keep the scoreboard from moving anywhere inside the opposition’s half.
Argentina have some of the most accurate goal kickers in world rugby, they have converted a higher percentage of their tries than any other side apart from Wales in international rugby. This allows them to keep building scores and stay in games longer even if they are struggling to break through the defence.
One way of seeing how teams like to build scoreboard pressure is by looking at which teams kick more penalties vs those that target more tries. For Argentina the picture is clear, they love taking 3 points, only Italy have taken more penalty attempts compared to total tries scored in international rugby.
It’s this trait which gives me the feeling that Argentina will be a dark horse at the World Cup in France later this year. They seem to be tailor made for knock out rugby where winning by just a single point is enough.
World Cup Dark Horses?
Argentina are a side with a more established reputation across international rugby having secured semi final rugby at the 2007, and 2015 editions of the World Cup.And there’s no reason they couldn’t replicate this in France. Argentina bring a strong kicking game which will allow them to both pin and pressure opponents while their defensive work is a steel edged accompanier. If Argentina can get both of these aspects of their game right, then they have a scoring profile which may help drive them to World Cup glory.
The Analysis Guy 