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PARIS - Argentina's golden quartet of backs did not take part in contact training on Thursday but will all be fit for Sunday's World Cup semi-final against South Africa (1900 GMT), the Pumas' biggest ever game.
Captain Agustin Pichot, first five-eighths Juan Martin Hernandez, centre Felipe Contepomi and
fullback Ignacio Corleto did light training while they recover from minor problems following the hard-fought quarter-final victory over Scotland last Sunday.
"Everyone is fit, everyone's available for the match," flanker Juan Manuel Leguizamon told reporters.
He added that he had recovered from a twisted elbow shortly after coming on as a replacement against the Scots and would also be available to coach Marcelo Loffreda, who will name his team on Friday (1045 GMT).
Leguizamon played in the pool wins over France and Georgia. He suffered a knock on the head against the Georgians that kept him out of the wins over Namibia and Ireland, returning to the bench against Scotland.
Pichot is nursing minor back pains from a leg muscle problem, while Contepomi is not totally over the bout of flu that affected his build-up to the quarter-final although he did play against the Scots, contributing 11 points to the 19-13 victory with place kicks.
Lock Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, who with Pichot and hooker Mario Ledesma has played in a national record of 12 World Cup matches, said Argentina would have to repeat their best performances to have a chance of beating the Springboks for the first time.
"If we want to have a chance against the Boks we have to have the level of our games against France and Ireland," he told reporters.
Argentina upset hosts France 17-12 in the tournament's opening game and beat Ireland 30-15 to win their pool.
"Our mental strength will have to go up a little bit if we want to disturb the Boks, who are the best team up to now in the World Cup," said Fernandez Lobbe, who has played in four of Argentina's five tests against South Africa since 2000.
"Every time we play South Africa they are hard games, they usually play like in the Tri-Nations, open games, high tackles.
"Our kind of tackle is low, around the ankles and knees, and perhaps we can make them doubt."
He said that even if in their quarter-final against Fiji the Springboks had some problems, they had shown their true strength in the 36-0 pool victory over title holders England.
Fiji fought back to pull level at 20-20 in the quarter-final before the South Africans ran out 37-20 winners.
Fernandez Lobbe said Argentina's strength lay in their unity as a squad and their tactical discipline.
"When you prepare a strategic game and all the players from one to 22 plus the eight guys who are sitting in the stands know what you have to do, it's easy for the leaders, the halfback, the number 10, the hooker to guide the rest of the team to do what we are looking for," he said.
Fernandez Lobbe added that Argentina drew extra strength from the support they are receiving from back home where people who never before had given much thought to rugby were taking an interest in the Pumas.
"Even the taxi drivers who know nothing about rugby, they ask 'oh, what about the bonus point today?'," he said to a loud round of laughter among reporters.
- REUTERS
