Rugby: Pumas prove they deserve the big stage

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Argentina are in New Zealand on a double mission - to repeat their World Cup heroics of 2007 and to win the respect of their soon to be Southern Hemisphere peers.

This time next year Los Pumas are hoping to have convinced Sanzar that they are a worthy and sustainable addition to the Tri-Nations. They needn't worry too much - if they can consistently repeat the intensity and technical excellence of their performance against England, they will do just fine.

Possibly more than fine as Argentina's pack is a candidate to be considered the best at the World Cup. England are a strong tip to make the semis if not go further, a giant of the Northern Hemisphere scene whose game is founded on their set-piece and the clout of their forwards.

For almost 65 minutes in Dunedin they had no means of coping with the raw physicality of Argentina.

England couldn't budge a Pumas scrum that still prides itself on the famed bajada - the eight-man shove; they were outplayed at the breakdown where the strength of their opponents over the ball was impressive and they couldn't push the Argentineans' notoriously fiery temperament into ill-disciplined eruptions.

If only Argentina had a goal-kicker who could hit a barn door and they would have made the most resounding statement. Maybe they suffered, too, as a consequence of not having enough exposure to regular test match rugby of this intensity.

Once more of their players have experienced a few years of Four Nations action - played the All Blacks, Wallabies and Springboks a handful of times, then Argentina can believe in their future with some confidence.

The way their back five hunted as one was a thing of beauty. The performance of captain Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe was extraordinary but his fellow loosies almost matched him for work rate and commitment.

The two locks were the sort of players New Zealand would kill for - two colossal men yet spring-heeled, mobile, agile and thunderously hard.

Fans in this part of this world find it hard to appreciate rugby without tries, off-loads and pass and dash. To believe Argentina aren't equipped to survive in the Four Nations because they are not creators and exploiters of space and believe in the drop kick is folly of the highest order.

Argentina are a compelling blend of brutality and bravery and if they can defeat Scotland will possibly earn the right to prove definitively they belong with the big boys by taking on the All Blacks in the quarter-final.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY