Given Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe played a key role in Argentina reaching the World Cup semi-finals for the first time in 2007, you may think he would be flattered by Eddie Jones’s claim the Pumas are looking to emulate that side. Not a bit of it.
“I think I will say that Eddie is a very clever man, he loves playing his mind games,” said Lobbe, now Argentina’s forwards coach. Jones was making the point that Argentina have gone away from the all-court style that took them to the last four again in 2015 and now rely heavily on a strong set piece and “up to 30 kicks a game”. No doubt it was also a comment he wanted Argentina to hear and perhaps tease a response from.
“He is a very, very clever coach,” added Lobbe. “He is definitely analysing us with the kick, [and] the ball in hand. We are just trying to use the best weapons we have to try and win the game.”
Lobbe is certain Argentina have to win on Saturday. Mathematically they would not quite be eliminated if England make it 10 wins in a row against them but the former Pumas captain is under no illusions. “If we lose we are out,” he said. “That helps. We are not going to hide it. It is a big game and we are going to prepare like it. We are just trying to use all the weapons we have. We know that in rugby in this type of competition and at this level defences are very tight so it is just about trying to get the best winning formula you can get and sometimes it is using kicks, sometimes it is ball in hand, sometimes it is just using the lineout, the drive and the scrums.”
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Team guides
Pool A: Ireland, Japan, Russia, Samoa, Scotland
Pool B: Canada, Italy, Namibia, New Zealand, South Africa
Pool C: Argentina, England, France, Tonga, USA
Pool D: Australia, Fiji, Georgia, Uruguay, Wales
Before his side were beaten 45-7 by England, the USA head coach, Gary Gold, said he could see no weaknesses in Jones’s side. Lobbe disagrees but acknowledged that their ball-carrying power is among their greatest strengths. Indeed, Maro Itoje confirmed on Wednesday that a bigger emphasis has been put on carrying in the England squad due to the conditions making handling difficult.
“I promise you, in any rugby team, if you get two or three guys who get over the advantage line every time then it is going to be the easiest game of your life,” Lobbe said. “That’s the way rugby is right now. If we get our go-forward men going forward for us it is much simpler to attack. If we stop them, it is much simpler to defend. Rugby nowadays is like that, it is all about those inches and that advantage line and it is about fronting up on Saturday.
“Four years ago when [Eddie] started he said he wanted a big English team. He said: ‘I want a big set piece, a big defence and I want people running hard lines and going very straight and I want a good kicking game.’ We can recognise all of those items in the English team and then they have a lot of good playmakers. I can stay here for a long time saying good things about the team we are playing on Saturday, but again I trust the boys that we have what it takes.”
