Pumas down France
16 Jun 2012
Argentina made a statement for the Rugby Championship by beating France 23-20 in the first Test in Cordoba on Saturday.
Argentina have generally been hard to beat at home but reinforced that they would not be pushovers in the southern hemisphere showpiece with an impressive performance to edge the World Cup finalists.
France scrumhalf Morgan Parra kicked an early penalty, but a converted try by Belisario Agulla took the Pumas ahead. However, France No 8 Louis Picamoles crossed the chalk 30 minutes into the match and two more Parra penalties gave his side a 14-13 lead at half-time.
Further penalties from Parra and flyhalf Francois Trinh-Duc to one from Contepomi had the French leading 20-16 but they were unable to take advantage when Argentina No8 Tomas Leonardi was sin-binned.
Then with four minutes left and France in possession, Contepomi recovered the ball in defence, centre Joaquin Tuculet kicked ahead and Manuel Montero chased for the decisive try.
4 Comments
17 Jun 2012, 08:52 am
Puma Dragons! These boys are going to score a few upsets in the four nations….
17 Jun 2012, 09:21 am
Very hard to really judge Argies on this game. This side doesn’t resemble the 15 that will play in the Championship. None of their top players were playing. What it does tell us, is that there is actually a lot more depth in Argies rugby these days. Lots of Pampas guys in that team who are making a stepup. Expect to see the Pampas in the S15 before too long.
17 Jun 2012, 09:33 am
Nicely done Argies! Top 4 teams in world rugby should be SH.
17 Jun 2012, 09:40 am
My second favourite team. Well done!
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