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Coach Mario Ledesma he says amazing All the black people after a 35-year wait is his greatest achievement, hailing his Argentinian team after a long and emotional journey to break his voodoo.
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The Pumas entered Saturday’s Three Nations clash in Sydney without having played a Test in 13 months, while enduring coronavirus lockdowns in Argentina and Uruguay before being quarantined for two weeks in Australia.
Some of the players and staff have not seen their families in four months, dealing with a dozen staff members who tested positive for Covid-19 along the way.
But instead of being disappointed or going crazy, adversity brought them closer together.
Ledesma said his spirit and stamina played an important role in the 25-15 upset of three-time world champion New Zealand, their first victory against the rugby powerhouse in 30 events.
“There is no magic formula, it is always the players,” he said.
“They’ve been great throughout the whole pandemic situation. Going from quarantine to quarantine. Some of the kids haven’t seen their families for four months and they haven’t complained once, they’ve always been positive.
“They have been incredible.”
Their victory was all the more remarkable given that their European-based players only made it to Sydney in late October, remaining locked in until just days before Saturday’s game.
Clearly, it didn’t affect France’s high-ranking midfielder Nicolás Sánchez, their standout player who scored the Pumas’ 25 points: one try, one conversion and six penalties.
His Stade Francais colleague Pablo Matera was also exceptional, with the Argentine captain dominating on the blind flank.
“We just wanted to show our people that if you work hard with a lot of determination you can get things done,” Matera said. “So, we are very proud of this team and of our country.”
Ledesma, a former assistant coach for the Wallabies, was excited after the game, shedding tears as he celebrated with a small but noisy contingent of Argentine fans at Bankwest Stadium.
“We will remember this for a long time. Not just because of the game, but because of the special situation that brought us here,” he said.
When asked if it was his best achievement, Ledesma replied: “It has to be up there.
“As a coach, the best, for everything we live and live and all the emotional journey we have lived.”
They face Australia next week in their second Tri Nations clash, with Ledesma urging his team to “stay humble and keep working.”
While Argentina enjoyed one of their biggest victories, the All Blacks were stunned by one of their worst defeats.
The New Zealand media criticized them on Sunday as “just horrible” after their first consecutive losses since 2011, following a loss to the Wallabies last weekend.
They lacked the passion and composure of Argentina, and were being asked about their leadership under captain Sam Cane and coach Ian Foster, who has only had two wins out of the five games he has been in charge.
Foster, who was promoted to the top spot ahead of Scott Robertson to replace Steve Hansen, said they were “bitterly disappointed” and admitted that his team could not match Argentina’s “enormous energy and enormous desire”.
But he denied having felt additional pressure with a bye next week, giving him time to figure out what went wrong before a return clash with Argentina on November 28.
“We clearly have to go and ask ourselves some serious questions,” he said.
“That defeat is going to hurt and we have to go back and take advantage of the next few days, recharge the team and make sure we finish the year in the best possible way.
“We don’t like another team playing harder than us and we have to go and figure out how to respond.”
