Pumas upbeat despite loss
Argentina prop Rodrigo Roncero played down the importance of his side’s 27-20 defeat to Wales on Saturday.
The Pumas launched a late onslaught in Cardiff but were unable to grab a win which would have boosted morale ahead of the World Cup.
Roncero was not particularly despondent despite the setback however.
He said: “In the first half, we made childish mistakes. To win was not the main thing but we were looking forward to giving a greater identity to the team.”
Felipe Contepomi, who played at centre despite an outstanding display against Ireland earlier this year at fly-half, was also unconcerned, adding: “We need more time playing together. We shouldn’t be too desperate over this.”
Federico Serra believed a more measured approach could pay dividends.
He said: “I think we need more patience in some situations. In the second half we changed our plan and that’s a good thing.
“There are several things to correct. We made quite a lot of mistakes in defence during the first half. In these kind of Tests we cannot give away those types of errors.”
Argentina’s final warm-up game before the World Cup in France comes next Saturday when they meet a Belgium XV in Brussels.
One player who will hope to take part is centre Martin Gaitan, who suffered a “cardiac problem” after the Wales game.
He fainted in the dressing room and was rushed to hospital where it was discovered one of his arteries was dilated.
