Four Nations opening game in Buenos Aires?

Many years ago, the Penguins, an English side, invited me to tour Argentina with them. A number of international players were going, but my parents advised me not to accept. I was very young, ambitious and naive, and their research suggested the adventure was more social than serious and might be detrimental to my career.

With some sadness, the invitation was duly turned down, but this turned to relief when details of the trip emerged. In celebrating a win, some of the players got a bit out of hand and there was an incident involving an Argentinean flag. In the 1970s, the Malvinas, or Falklands, issue hadn’t exploded but was simmering.
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Also, Sir Alf Ramsey’s outburst after the very physical soccer World Cup quarterfinal between England and Argentina in 1966 still rankled. Disgusted at the Argentine approach, Sir Alf labeled them “animals” and to say Anglo-Argenine relations were at a low ebb was an understatement.

When apprehended by police for stealing the flag as a souvenir, one of the drunken players pretended to blow his nose in it. It was not a brilliant idea and three Penguin players were arrested and thrown in the clink.

Jail in the 1970s in Argentina was not fun . Regularly, prisoners were taken out and beaten up and some were never seen again. After a month, two of the players were released and sent home, but the guilty one, a lock from Ulster, stayed on alone with no sign of any official urgency to resolve the issue.

His father had to sell off family land to pay legal fees and for a while, the player was a forgotten man in Argentina. He cried regularly. In the end, someone remembered that Northern Ireland’s Fifa representative had voted to let Argentina host the World Cup in 1978, and his intervention saved the day, and the Penguin was released. I have still never been to Argentina.

Having come third in the last Rugby World Cup, it is wrong that the Pumas have had no regular competitive competition in which to develop and demonstrate their skills. In a rare display of progressive thinking, Sanzar have announced that from 2012, the Pumas will join an expanded the Tri-Nations.

Think of it. Two games each weekend instead of the current one will actually shorten the competition and allow a more equitable travelling scheme to be set up. Instead of three games against two sides, each nation will now play two against the other three.

In a way, it is sad that many of the records and statistics of the Tri-Nations will fall away, but the addition of the light blue and white colours and the unique Argentinean style of play will provide freshness and glamour and inject a new energy into the event. I bet we will also see more players emulating Hernandez the Shark by plying their trade here in the Super 14 and Currie Cup competitions.

Rugby is becoming a truly global game and, along with Italy being in the Six Nations, this move will expand the number of top competitive sides in the game.

By all accounts, rugby has undergone something of a revolution in Argentina and the result is a more professional approach domestically. This will lead to the development of even more top players. Who knows how many budding Hugo Portas are just waiting to be discovered.

Congratulations to the Springboks and to coach Peter De Villiers. He has endured a lot of stick and has answered his critics in the best way possible. The Boks thoroughly deserve their Tri-Nations success. After the next World Cup, I can’t wait to see the scramble to win the first Four-Nations. Let’s hope the opening Bok game is in Buenos Aires. If it is, I’ll see you there.

John Robbie hosts the breakfast show weekdays on Talk Radio 702
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SOURCE:
“What a prospect: Boks v Pumas in Buenos Aires”
By John Robbie
September 19, 2009
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