They love an arm wrestle in these parts but this was no occasion for that. Instead Argentina brought a blend of cunning and clout, mixed with some second-half slapstick, before a flurry of late tries took their total to nine and denied Leicester what was shaping up to be the mother of all comebacks.
It was Marcos Ayerza’s testimonial, and after a first-half shift for the Pumas the loosehead prop came on for the last 10 minutes for his beloved Tigers. By then it was bedlam.
A charge-down try from Leicester’s replacement hooker Harry Thacker, an interception score from Freddie Burns and a dazzling finish from the 18-year-old speedster Paolo Odogwu brought them from 38-13 down to 38-34, before Juan Pablo Socino, Juan Manuel Leguizamón and Horacio Agulla dotted down to spoil the party.
Argentina will not be overly concerned. They were slick enough in the first half to approach their World Cup opener on 20 September against New Zealand with confidence, albeit tempered with the knowledge their opponents will not be as welcoming.
“We were dynamic, sometimes this type of game is very open,” Daniel Hourcade said, “but the idea was to try to play and we did that for most of the game.” The Pumas coach added: “Argentina is a team that when we play well we can cause anyone problems but we know New Zealand are better.”
That this will be the only international action Welford Road sees this autumn continues to confound. Among the reasons given by the World Cup organisers to opt for the neighbouring King Power Stadium was that the pitch here was too narrow. It has subsequently been extended and Argentina certainly gave it some width.
“Welford Road is a world famous stadium. It’s a shame, this club has a huge tradition,” said Leicester’s director of rugby, Richard Cockerill. “I think the King Power is the only stadium that has not sold out which proves its point.”
Leicester have claimed a few international scalps over the years – notably the then world champions South Africa in 2009 – but early on, before both sides changed practically their entire XVs, this never looked like being one of them.
Leicester were awarded a penalty and kicked for the corner. By the time they were awarded a second they were 7-0 down after a fine move resulted in Santiago Cordero darting over.
Unsurprisingly, Leicester went for goal with their second penalty, the fly-half Tommy Bell slotting the three points but Argentina were in the mood. Marcelo Bosch, the centre with the booming boot, was showing hands to match, dovetailing with Hernández inside him and it was the Saracen who danced his way over for the Pumas’ second try.
Juan Imhoff then finished off an overlap before Nicolás Sánchez landed his third conversion from the touchline. Leicester responded when the prop Riccardo Brugnara plunged over for the kind of try so often seen here. Bell landed the conversion for 21-10 but an interception try from Sánchez reasserted Argentina’s authority. A long-range penalty from Bell was the last action of the half.
After a tranche of replacements at half-time, it was Argentina who extended their lead, this time using the might up front for try No5, scored by the hooker Julián Montoya from the back of a ruck. Santiago Iglesias, another replacement in place of Sánchez, missed the conversion.
Before the hour, Argentina spread their wings again. Fizzing the ball through the backs it was Agulla, now with Bath but having spent two years at Welford Road, going over in the corner.
Cue chaos. First it was Thacker to score for the Tigers, then Burns and Odogwu in quick succession, ensuring Cockerill was happy enough with his side’s outing, not least with Tom Croft and Manu Tuilagi both to return.
“Tom’s shoulder is good, we just want him to have a good solid couple of weeks’ training. Manu’s rehabbing well. His weight is good,” he said. “There’s no time scale on Manu, he’ll be fit when he’s fit but hopefully sooner rather than later.”
