International Rugby Interview: Santiago Phelan

Internationals / Geoffrey Riddle / 11 November 2009 / Leave a Comment

"Despite the lack of preparation, injuries and disrespect shown to the visitors, Phelan is bullish about his side’s chances. “We have not come here to see what happens. We have come here to play our best rugby, and if you play your best rugby it is possible to have good results.”

Geoffrey Riddle meets the Pumas coach to discuss being Argentina, planning for World Cup 2011 and why he won't be making any excuses if his side lose to England on Saturday.

Santiago Phelan, the Argentina coach, is not making any excuses ahead of his side's clash with England at Twickenham on Saturday.

We all know by now that Martin Johnson has a massive injury list, which was added to last week when prop David Wilson suffered an injury to his shoulder and neck. Phelan has a similar injury problem though, but one which is arguably worse. Key players such as Juan Martin Hernandez and Felipe Contepomi miss out, while Biarritz's outrageously talented Marcelo Bosch joins Gonzalo Comacho and Lucas Borges, who boasts 13 tries in 27 appearances, on the sidelines.

One loss that particularly galls Phelan though, is Leicester's Lucas Amorosino. The 24-year-old injured a calf muscle playing for the Tigers against Leeds on Sunday, having turned out two days previously in the historic victory over the Springboks at Welford Road. "We are not happy about that at all," said Phelan. "We are not happy with the decision that he played on Sunday. We think the most normal thing is that if a player plays on Friday in an international game that he won't be playing on Sunday."

It was ever thus for the Pumas. Despite the fact that they finished third at the last World Cup, and that they are ranked by the IRB as a better side than England, they continue to live on crumbs at rugby's top table. England, for instance, have been wrapped up at Pennyhill Park for a fortnight, whereas the Argentina squad converged on London only on Sunday.

"This is the reality of being Argentina," Phelan continued phlegmatically. "This is not an excuse, but it is a reality. But Argentina rugby will change in the future now we have an invitation to play against South Africa, New Zealand and Australia."

England have seen a lot of Argentina recently. The old enemies played a two-match series in the summer. England won with a fair amount in hand in the first leg at Old Trafford, but a week later in Salta, the Pumas scalped Martin Johnson's men 24-22. Argentina were better for the run, something which may be applicable once again.

"We have to build on what we did in June. We didn't start well in Manchester, but we did it better in Salta, and we finished playing good rugby against the French Barbarians," added Phelan. "Our goal is to build this team to prepare for the World Cup in 2011."

But for those who reckon Argentina might be under-cooked, Phelan revealed that his squad have met up since that 32-18 victory over the French Baa-Baas in June. "On September we met for three days doing physical training," Phelan said. "In October we also met. The England-based players were not allowed, but the players in France, Italy and our local Argentinian players all came."

Since their arrival in London on Sunday, Argentina have trained twice on Monday and once on on the following two days. Despite the comparative lack of preparation, the injuries and the lack of respect shown to the visitors, Phelan is bullish about his side's chances. "We have not come here to see what happens. We have come here to play our best rugby, and if you play your best rugby it is possible to have good results."

There is rain forecast for Twickenham this Saturday, but come rain or shine, Phelan is not making excuses. "The weather is not an excuse. We have concentrated more on handling the ball, but it is not something that will determine who has the advantage. It will be the same for both sides."

There are some mouth-watering match-ups all over the pitch, particularly between London Irish scrum-halves Alfredo Lalanne and England's Paul Hodgson. But top billing goes to the battle between Toulon team-mates Jonny Wilkinson and Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe. The Argentina skipper joined the big-spending Top 14 club in the summer from Sale, and has been impressed by Wilkinson's all-round attitude.

"In my few months there I discovered that everything that I thought about him is real," said the commanding back-row forward.

"He works really hard and is always positive. On Saturday we are going to be ready to stop Jonny and the whole England team. I will try to attack in different channels because Jonny will never move. He is excellent in defence."