Focused Pumas will give Ireland no quarter

Argentina face a different kind of pressure. Sunday's final Pool D clash, against Ireland at the Parc des Princes, offers a tantalising prospect in winning for Marcelo Loffreda's team. Their incentive is to avoid New Zealand in the quarter-finals, and to guarantee that scenario, they must not lose to Ireland.

They could still miss out on qualification, but in the light of what's already come to pass in the tournament, Ireland scoring four tries in victory and denying the Pumas a losing bonus point touches the realms of fantasy.

The Argentine squad, meanwhile, seem to be operating according to an old mantra: carpe diem. In order to steel themselves mentally they have to gloss over Ireland efforts to date and focus on the potential within Eddie O'Sullivan's squad.

Captain and scrumhalf Agustin Pichot explains: "In truth our fate lies in our own hands and we are concentrating on playing well for Argentina, not necessarily on Ireland or France. In the changing-rooms (after the Namibian match) we talked about beginning our preparations for Ireland.

"Before the World Cup people were saying Argentina wouldn't get through the group stage and now it looks like we are on top. For us, we have said the objective is to win the four matches. Ireland is a strong team. We will all try to finish first (in Pool D).

"Everyone said they (Ireland) are not playing that well, but I think they're playing better than France."

He won't get many takers even in Ireland for that last statement but perhaps it's a specially cultivated mindset ahead of Sunday's clash.

"I think Ireland are a very difficult team to beat. They are going to be even more difficult on Saturday because they play their last card against us."

The theme is taken up by the Contepomi twins, Leinster's Felipe and Manuel. Felipe says, "I don't care about Ireland. We have to prepare in a good way because when we are okay mentally we are a very tough team to beat. Ireland will have one last chance against us and we need to be prepared for that. We have to win, at all costs, this group of death." Manuel admits, "Ireland are not in their best moment but historically they are a very tough team to beat. It's not going to be easy."

Every Puma who has articulated on the matter emphasises respect for the opposition. The London Irish number eight Juan Manuel Leguizamon says, "Ireland are one of the world's better teams and we are going to face a tough battle anyway." Their kicking metronome at outhalf, Federico Todeschini, ventures, "Ireland will give everything against us, but we will do the same. We can't relax."

One further statistic that illustrates the magnitude of Ireland's task at Parc des Princes is that Argentina have yet to concede a try in this year's tournament - while Eddie O'Sullivan's men are required to score four.

Argentine assistant coach Daniel Baetti points out, "It will be a very close match, without too many spaces, which is a very good thing for Argentina. We must put an unusual kind of pressure on Ireland because they are a very strong side that will play their last chance (to reach the quarter-finals) against us.

"They didn't play well so far, but they have great potential. Without a doubt, it's going to be a very difficult match."

As for keeping their tryline intact, Baetti adds, "We enjoy it. We worked very hard for that to happen. That was always our aim, but when you play at this level, it's very hard to achieve that. This is a virtue of this team."

He also confirmed the injured Juan Martín Hernández should be available for the Irish match: "I think he will. We don't have the final medical staff decision yet, but he is recovered. He is to resume training as normal and our goal is for us to be able to count on him against Ireland."