{"id":676532,"date":"2026-11-06T07:38:14","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T07:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/676532\/"},"modified":"2026-11-06T07:38:14","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T07:38:14","slug":"ireland-primed-for-argentina-challenge-and-a-chance-to-start-restoring-old-order-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/676532\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland primed for Argentina challenge and a chance to start restoring old order \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nations Championship: Ireland v Argentina, Aviva Stadium, Friday, 8.10pm \u2013 Live Virgin Media One and UTV<\/p>\n

When the dust has settled on next year\u2019s World Cup<\/a>, the result of this game will likely be a footnote in history. Another autumnal clash with Argentina given questionable additional meaning by a cobbled together tournament structure. Yet, if this Ireland<\/a> team is to boldly go where no Irish team has gone before, then this month\u2019s four-match international window feels like it should be the start of something. <\/p>\n

That has been the message from Andy Farrell<\/a> and Dan Sheehan<\/a>. This team is behind where it was four years ago after the statement series win in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were world number one four years ago, now we\u2019re sitting at third,\u201d said Farrell. \u201cYou can talk whether we should be fourth, fifth, third or second. It\u2019s not really relevant. But there\u2019s a realisation of where we\u2019re at within the group and where we need to get to. And we\u2019re not there yet, but that\u2019s the exciting part.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are few excuses. Save for Caelan Doris, Jack Conan and Garry Ringrose, Farrell has a fairly full hand. Sean Jansen\u2019s emergence soothes the loss of Ireland\u2019s go-to number eights and the return of Andrew Porter, Ryan Baird and Mack Hansen<\/a> sprinkles power, athleticism and stardust through the team.<\/p>\n

Ireland are primed for the November Tests. They\u2019re at home, and Friday\u2019s game could go some way to defining their month. Beat Argentina and Fiji next Saturday, and the game against South Africa inches into bonus territory. But lose to Los Pumas and the month could become a setback. <\/p>\n

\"\"Casey and Timoney to start against Argentina<\/p>\n

After all, Ireland have beaten Argentina in all 11 meetings in Dublin, but that makes them a more prized scalp given the visitors have won away to every other Tier 1 country. <\/p>\n

Felipe Contepomi\u2019s team have won three of their last 10 fixtures, and the bookies have them at 10-point underdogs, 11\/4 to win. But Argentina were 15-point underdogs and 17\/2 to beat the Lions in Dublin 18 months ago. On that occasion, they sent Farrell\u2019s tourists on their way to Australia with a 28-24 defeat. Seven of the Argentina players who lined out in that game are set to feature on Friday, including Juli\u00e1n Montoya.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s certainly referenced in my mind, because they\u2019re a bloody good team,\u201d said Farrell. \u201cI\u2019m sure it registered in the minds of the players who were involved as well because the game tells its own story really.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Lions played some good rugby that day, but if you make too many errors against a side that\u2019s got so many fantastic athletes, they\u2019ll hit you on the break and you\u2019ll be under your posts before you know it. There\u2019s a lesson in that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ArgentinaArgentina Head Coach Felipe Contepomi. Photograph: Nick Elliott <\/p>\n

Contepomi has made 12 changes from their draw at home to Australia in September, but this is arguably a stronger side \u2013 any team would benefit from the return of world-class Toulouse fullback Juan Cruz Mall\u00eda. <\/p>\n

Argentina were also 11-point underdogs and rated 4\/1 to beat Ireland in Dublin two years ago when Mall\u00eda\u2019s brilliant try saw them recover from a 22-9 deficit to leave Ireland hanging on for a three-point win in the end. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0 Rugby \u2018They\u2019re proper proud and talented\u2019: Joe McCarthy looks ahead to Argentina clash in DublinOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

They have some inventive strike plays off the first and second phase under the influence of ex-Highlanders attack coach Kendrick Lynn. Their defensive mindset may well receive a boost from Contepomi co-opting Shaun Edwards on to the coaching ticket, and they are exceptional at transitioning into attack off turnovers from anywhere on the pitch. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is top of the bus,\u201d Farrell said of the opening November Test. \u201cThey\u2019re always unbelievably hard to beat. On any given day, they can beat anyone in the world. They\u2019ve proven that time and again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got a lot of time for Felipe. I think he\u2019s doing a fantastic job along with the coaching staff. They\u2019ll get a bounce from Shaun coming in as well and a few players coming back into the squad who were rested over the season. They\u2019ve grown a little bit of depth and competition there as well. This is top-drawer side coming on Friday night.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Dan Sheehan confident Ireland can raise the bar for Nations Championship run-inOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also the possibility of another World Cup quarter-final meeting next year. If Argentina win Pool C ahead of Fiji, Spain and Canada, and Ireland top Pool D, ahead of Scotland, Uruguay and Portugal, and both win their respective Round of 16 ties against third-placed qualifiers, they will meet in the last eight in Brisbane on October 31st. <\/p>\n

Whether a potential quarter-final could be impacted by the result of this game is a moot point, but a win could kick-start this Irish team\u2019s evolution from a good side into a very good one. <\/p>\n

This is the fifth anniversary of Sheehan\u2019s debut against Japan. A week later, he played the last half-hour against Argentina in what is his only previous game against the Pumas.<\/p>\n

\"NickNick Timoney, Dan Sheehan and Robert Baloucoune. Photograph: James Crombie\/Inpho <\/p>\n

\u201cWe were only watching clips of it last week,\u201d Sheehan said of the 2021 game. \u201cI looked like a baby in it. But those were brilliant times and I always try to go back to that mindset of just being grateful to be in this jersey and representing my family, the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a sell-out, but that\u2019s not a negative for the captain.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we feel the love from the people and we need to make sure that we put on a show and show how much it means to us to be representing them on the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve talked about what the little kid in the crowd thinks of us and what they\u2019re aspiring to be. That\u2019s our role as players, putting on a performance for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The timing would be opportune too.<\/p>\n

IRELAND: H Keenan; R Baloucoune, R Henshaw, S McCloskey, M Hansen; S Prendergast, C Casey; A Porter, D Sheehan (capt), T Furlong, J McCarthy, T Beirne, R Baird, N Timoney, S Jansen. Replacements: R Kelleher, T O\u2019Toole, S Illo, J Ryan, J van der Flier, J Gibson-Park, C Frawley, B Aki.<\/p>\n

ARGENTINA: JC Mallia; B Delguy, J Piccardo, S Chocobares, M Carreras; T Albornoz, G Garcia; B Wenger, J Montoya (capt), F Morena; G Petti, P Rubiolo; JM Gonzalez, M Kremer, P Matera. Replacements: L Oviedo, M Vivas, J Sclavi, E Elias, JM Scelzo, S Benitez Cruz, G Prisciantelli, L Cinti.<\/p>\n

Referee: L Pearce (Eng).<\/p>\n

Forecast: Ireland to win.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nations Championship: Ireland v Argentina, Aviva Stadium, Friday, 8.10pm \u2013 Live Virgin Media One and UTV When the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":676533,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[75388,25747,1453,65851,61,60,1449,56672,86133,43,1255],"class_list":["post-676532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-andrew-porter","tag-andy-farrell","tag-argentina-rugby","tag-dan-sheehan","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-ireland-rugby","tag-mack-hansen","tag-nations-championship","tag-news","tag-rugby-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=676532"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/676532\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/676533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=676532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=676532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=676532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}