ON RUGBY: Speaking to Argentinian television in the wake of the Pumas' win over Italy in Rome on Saturday, their captain Lisandro Arbizu admitted: "We know that Ireland respect us and that they will be waiting for us next Saturday with knives in their mouths."

Lest anyone think there might be bloodshed over a game of rugby, Arbizu was merely using a figure of speech which is commonly used in Argentina sport when applied to one team seeking revenge over another for a previous defeat. And, of course, Ireland don't just owe the Pumas one, they owe them two.

The 34-23 defeat to Argentina in the dustbowl of the Ferro Carril Oeste stadium was one thing, but the 28-24 loss in the quarter-final play-offs of the last World Cup quite another. As far-reaching as the consequences were for Irish rugby on that fateful and seismic night in Lens on October 20th 1999, so they were for Argentinian rugby also. That was the night the Pumas touched the nerves of the Argentinian public like never before. They had arrived, at home as well as globally, and have never really looked back.

An unprecedented television audience of 2.2 million witnessed that win over Ireland back in Argentina, figures that were repeated for the ensuing quarter-final defeat to France. It wasn't just that Argentina beat Ireland, it was the way they won which struck a chord with the Argentinian public, according to Sergio Stuart, a rugby writer with the OleOle newspaper in Buenos Aires, who, like many of his colleagues in the Argentinian media, cannot accompany the Pumas on this tour because of their struggling economy.

"If you remember the nine minutes of injury time and the constant Irish attacks, the Pumas defended like heroes on their line, all the players defending together for their country. Sport is an escape from the economy and politics for a lot of Argentinian people, who want to see their team play with heart."

Amid the disappointment of their multi-millionaire footballers at this year's World Cup it is this stamp of courage which has since seen Argentinians take their women's hockey team, aka Las Leonas (female Lions) to their hearts after beating Holland en route to losing the final of last year's Champions Trophy in Korea to the hosts in a penalty shoot-out.

The subsequent change in attitude to rugby post-Lens has been well documented. Agustin Pichot became the first rugby player to win Argentina's Sports Personality of the Year, was presented with the trophy by President Carlos Menem and Diego Maradona dedicated his official biography to him. And it was Ireland's misfortune that they ran into the Pumas on their unofficial World Cup homecoming eight months later.

This is indisputably the finest generation of Pumas to come together, and they are enjoying remarkable longevity together. To say they are familiar faces is an understatement. All bar one of the backline used against Italy last Saturday played against Ireland in Lens, as did three of the tight five and all of the back-row.

To some degree this is due to their lack of options, and in particular their coach Marcelo Hernan Lofreda will be looking to this tour to increase his back five options in the pack. By far the most significant of the minor tampering to a successful side however, was one which Alex Wyllie had made in Lens.

NEEDING a try when trailing by six points in the last 10 minutes, Wyllie moved the ace goalkicker but somewhat ponderous Gonzalo Quesada to full back, bringing on Felipe Contepomi at outhalf and sacrificing Ignacio Corleto. Hitherto one-dimensional, Contepomi duly launched the dummy scissors and skip one move which culminated in Diego Albanese scoring the decisive try in the corner while, crucially, the metronomic Quesada was still on hand to nail the touchline conversion and an ensuing penalty for a match-winning four-point lead.

Watching the Pumas lose in South Africa over the summer, it was striking how much the same dilemma remained. The Argentinian pack began well but Quesada remains a fairly ponderous presence, who struggles to launch his backs. For this leg of their season, Lofreda decided to leave Quesada in Beziers, while trusting Contepomi with the outhalf role outside his club halfback partner Agustin Pichot.

Initially, the move backfired against Australia a fortnight ago in that Contepomi missed seven penalties at goal, at least five of which Quesada might reasonably have landed, and the Pumas were never able to exert the kind of pressure on the scoreboard which their all-round play deserved. To compound the debate on Lofreda's decision, at the time Quesada had scored over 20 points in each of four successive games for Beziers.

The Pumas were stung by the nature of the defeat, and especially being booed by chunks of the 50,000 crowd in the River Plate Stadium - an experience unheard of since a defeat to France a decade before.

However, against Italy, one saw the merits in Lofreda's thinking, as the Pumas' pacey outside backs were unleashed - again though, like poker players judging their hands, only sporadically but to telling effect - in scoring five tries. They also kept their try line intact for the first time since beating Canada away in their final game of the PanAmerican Cup last year, though Contepomi did miss three of his eight kicks at goal.

In the heel of the hunt it could yet be that Quesada will be brought back for the World Cup next year. By then too, the Pumas should be considerably better prepared than they are on this tour, given they only came together a fortnight ago on the Monday before the Australian game, and are having a demanding travel schedule.

Of the 22 players on duty that night in Lens, only five were based overseas. But that campaign made the world sit up and realise there was untapped talent in Argentinia, and of the 20 who were used against Italy in Rome on Saturday, 14 are based overseas.

Having so many fully fledged professionals overseas is, of course, a double-edged sword for Lofreda, but come the World Cup it can only be beneficial. Then, akin to '99, Lofreda will have his squad together for a month before the World Cup begins, and given the Ireland-Argentina Pool A tie will be on the third weekend of the competition, at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday October 26th, they'll have been in camp for over six weeks.

More or less the same as Ireland then, on neutral turf, in climatic conditions (albeit night time) far more to the Pumas' liking. A more even playing field in effect.

gthornley@irish-times.ie