There is no denying that coaches can make or break rugby teams‚ and never was this more evident than with Argentinean rugby at the moment.
The Jaguares‚ who meet the Stormers in Buenos Aires on Saturday‚ are second on the SA Conference standings and in seventh on the overall standings. They are set to make the Super Rugby play-offs for the first time.
Coached by the gnarly‚ former Pumas hooker Mario Ledesma‚ they have been elevated from a talented‚ but spiteful and ill-disciplined team‚ into a unit that will cause problems for any opponent in Super Rugby.
The same players‚ or at least 90% of them‚ also represent the Argentinean national team – the Pumas. And at that level‚ a team that was in the World Cup semi-finals in 2015‚ can barely buy a win.
Since reaching the last four in England nearly three years ago‚ the Pumas have lost 22 of 28 Tests.
Over the past month they suffered two home defeats to a Wales second-string unit and a heavy 44-15 defeat against Scotland. That was a week after the Scots had lost to the USA.
Coach Daniel Hourcade has stood down and his likely replacement has to be Ledesma.
When the Stormers beat the Pumas in a tight match in round one‚ it seemed that the season would follow a similar pattern with the Stormers making the play-offs and the Jaguares bringing up the rear.
But in the aftermath of that defeat‚ and two more that immediately followed‚ the Jaguares have begun to resemble the Pumas of 2015.
Ledesma‚ who cut a frustrated‚ but confident figure at Newlands in February‚ promised then that the Jaguares just needed some time to come together under his coaching.
It took a month for their first win of the season – a 38-28 victory over the Waratahs. Two weeks later they beat the Lions at home‚ then lost to the Crusaders before embarking on their current six-match winning streak.
That run of wins also included a historic four wins out of four on their Australasian tour‚ which catapulted the Jaguares into play-off contention.
"It's really fulfilling‚ seeing the boys believing in themselves‚ and winning against Kiwi opposition is great‚" Ledesma said after his side beat the Chiefs 23-19.
"We'd never beaten a Kiwi side‚ and now we've beaten two on the road. So really proud of the work they've put in since the beginning of the season‚ and I hope everybody in Argentina is proud too.
“We just need some time and we have to work harder‚ it’s that simple‚” Ledesma said in February.
Of course it’s not that simple in reality. Lots of teams work hard and don’t succeed. Ledesma‚ who was part of the Wallabies coaching staff for several seasons‚ is able to get the players to believe in his methods‚ and in him‚ in a way Hourcade clearly can’t at the Pumas.
"I don't think the boys believed in themselves and their capacities when we [coaches] started with the team‚” Ledesma said.
“And week in‚ week out‚ they've been working hard. Obviously results help‚ but just the determination they're playing with‚ and not wanting to give a backward step‚ and keep working and keep defending. And it's been defence and discipline‚ compared to the last couple of years‚ it's a big one."
The Stormers‚ in the middle of their own crisis after nine defeats this season‚ are up against it this weekend.
Because despite the Pumas’ poor June form‚ when the Jaguares kit up‚ they are a different beast‚ literally and figuratively.
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