A little over four months ago Mario Ledesma came to Eden Park with his muscular Jaguares team and achieved a breakthrough victory against the Blues before charming the assembled media with his observations and his fears about his players' playoff mentality.
As it turned out, the Jaguares did make the playoffs for the first time, only to lose 40-23 to the Lions (the eventual grand finalists) in Johannesburg in their quarter-final, but now Ledesma, the bald former front rower with a wicked sense of humour, is back in New Zealand with the Pumas, effectively the Jaguares in disguise.
The task that he and his men face in Nelson on Saturday against the All Blacks is big but, bolstered by their form in Super Rugby this year and the run the Jaguares went on – seven consecutive victories including wins over the Blues in Auckland, and, probably more impressively, the Chiefs at Waikato Stadium – there will be confidence among them that they can create history at Trafalgar Park.
The Argentines have developed more subtlety in the outside channels – as evidenced by their recent victory over South Africa in Mendoza - and are good defenders, but their main asset is their pack and in particular their set piece and that is the area where the All Blacks are expecting to face their biggest challenge.
"They take real pride in their set piece," prop Owen Franks said today. "You saw against Africa they kept the ball in their scrum and they had ascendency.