Chalkboard: The problem with the Pumas

The Pumas not getting any straightening of the attack from Juan Martin Hernandez. Photo / Getty

In today's Chalkboard I want to highlight Argentina's attempts to play a more expansive game and the one aspect that is holding them back.

They have developed enough backline talent now to compete with the very best. Players like Lucas González Amorosino, who is not playing on Sunday, Juan Imhoff, Joaquin Tuculet and Horacio Agulla have speed, talent and attitude to burn.

Nicolas Sanchez and Marcelo Bosch also have the ability to create opportunities.

For me, the main problem with the Pumas, which I have highlighted in my drawing, is they are not getting any straightening of the attack from the second-five.

They are playing laterally, but it is not effective width because they are not holding the inside defenders. That means their talented outsides are getting the ball in channels that are still congested.

Juan Martin Hernandez, great player that he was, is a makeshift No 12 and his tendency to play lateral is a big part of Argentina's problem. How many times does he just hit a line, or angle and engage, or take on the inside defence?

If, as in the lower diagram, he straightens along with some others, it will hold the defence, creating space on the outside, something the All Blacks do exceptionally well. It would also give Sanchez more freedom to attack the line himself.

So for all their ambition to attack wide, it is too easy to defend. Yes, they will make some ground, but not line breaks that lead to points.

How do they fix it? Hernandez needs to straighten up and change his attitude, or they move Bosch into 12 and switch them depending on what moves they intend to run.

For Argentina to improve and be a genuine threat to the top teams, they must fix this lateral issue and become an attacking force.