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The Pumas have pounced on all-comers but will South Africa have them for dinner?

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The Racing Post's Geoffrey Riddle tells us how Argentina have defied the odds in making it to the semis and where the value is when they face South Africa on Sunday

Argentina set alight this World Cup in the curtain-raiser against hosts France, and once the blue touch paper was lit, the Pumas' light blue strip has carried on illuminating and enriching all those neutrals who have tuned in to rugby's magnificent showpiece.

That 17-12 defeat of Les Bleus set the tone for the rest of the competition. It surely is a romantic thought too far however, to view that performance as the inspiration for the heroic minnow's efforts in the group stages. From Georgia's eye-poppingly surprising effort in pushing Ireland to a 14-10 scoreline, to Tonga almost upsetting current favourites South Africa in Montpellier in the final group match.

And yet, the Pool stages did not signal the end of the upsets. France themselves bought into Argentina's example and dourly defeated New Zealand in the remote outpost of Cardiff, while even world champions England managed to get in on the act and sabotaged their old enemy Australia in Marseille last weekend.

Argentina quite simply have brought rugby back to its roots. They play with passion, they play with instinct, and if you look at any player with a single figure on his jersey; none of them ever take a step backwards. Led from behind by the ever snappy skipper, Agustin Pichot, the pack refuse to let anything past them. If any of you saw the Ireland game, it was remarkable how the Pumas savaged anyone that moved when Paul O'Connell and Co tried to find a way through a ruck or driving maul.

We have seen before how Marcelo Loffreda's squad line-up in Europe, so how has this sensational World Cup streak occurred under our noses? Firstly, Loffreda and his fellow coaches have picked a squad of 30 with no less than 23 players who were born in Buenos Aires. This has, by all accounts, set up an environment that some have described as a 'band of brothers'. However you want to describe it, this tightly-knit group have a history together and over half the squad also play in France.

The encounter with the hosts apart, and perhaps the Ireland match if you want to pick hairs, Argentina therefore, have pretty much been playing home games, with the French fans shouting them on. There will be only one team supported in Paris when South Africa take on the Argentineans, and Jake White knows it is unlikely to be his Springboks.

Loffreda has also made the selection of the tournament in picking Juan Martin Hernandez at fly-half. At Stade Francais, Hernandez can barely get a game in the No.10 jersey, and in an age of high-tech video analysis, Hernandez has surprised all who have come across him due to two reasons. Firstly; he is frighteningly good, and secondly; no-one really knew how he would operate as a pivot.

The Pumas were heavily under-rated when they came into this competition and their record against northern hemisphere teams made a mockery of their odds for winning the competition. My colleague, Tony Calvin, has been banging on about them since August, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of his cash was involved in them being traded at as high as 140 to lift the Webb Ellis Trophy.

Even now, having dispatched France and Ireland, they are 4.1 to defeat White's favourites on Sunday. Just 0.4 points separate them in the IRB world rankings, and yet, still punters are content to lay Argentina on Betfair's 9.5-handicap at around 1.98.
They have a superstar fly-half, most of their team plies their trade in the best sides in Europe and they have a kicker in Felipe Contepomi, who has compiled fewer points than only Percy Montgomery.

Personally, I cannot see the Argies winning the second semi-final. Their pack, though magnificent, is no better than South Africa 's. Contepomi is not quite as accurate as Montgomery with a 22/33 success rate to 28/37 of the full-back's. And yet, when you look at everything else, they look a blindingly obvious bet to stay within the handicap. And that is where the value bet lies for Sunday.