ANY LEINSTER FANS looking for skin in the game this Friday night have a pretty good choice.
Joe Schmidt is a key part of the New Zealand set-up and there’s no doubt his detailed coaching will be vital ahead of this World Cup semi-final in Paris, while the Argentina coaching staff is led by two other Leinster legends.
When Michael Cheika took on the job last year, he knew he needed to have Felipe Contepomi with him.
Contepomi had been an important player under Cheika back in his days coaching Leinster from 2005 until 2010, a period that saw him lead the province to their first Heineken Cup title.
‘Dr Phil’ missed that final against Leicester, having been injured in the semi-final win over Munster on a day that Johnny Sexton stepped up in a big way.
Contepomi left Leinster that summer, with Cheika departing a year later, but they ended up working together for another stint soon after as Cheika brought Contepomi to Stade Français in 2011.
Their paths diverged thereafter but once Contepomi stepped into coaching after his retirement from playing, it always seemed likely there would be a reunion. Contepomi returned to Leinster in 2018 as backs and attack coach, building his reputation to the point where Cheika knew he needed to recruit his former out-half for the Argentina set-up last year.
The pair of them have now coached Los Pumas into the World Cup semi-finals and Cheika believes Contepomi’s influence has been vital.
“Mate, Felipe has been unreal,” said Cheika this evening in Paris after naming his Argentina team.
“He has a lot of good, new ideas. One of his strengths is he’s extremely open to learning new things.
“We’ve had some where I’d bring something to the table, he’d be very opinionated on what he wants but he’s open to hearing things as well to add to his repertoire.
“His time at Leinster has taken him to another level. The great players don’t always make the great coaches but he was a great player and he’s going to be a great coach.
“That’s coming along, he’s got the knack. He studies the opposition well, he has a rapport with players and he’s going to be doing a great job for Argentina I’m sure.
“A lot of the ideas he had as a player, plus what he learned at Leinster as a coach, it’s really forming him nicely right now.”
Of course, Cheika’s influence has been the real key for this Argentina side. They opened their World Cup with a miserable performance in defeat to 14-man England but steadied the ship with pool wins over Samoa, Chile, and Japan to earn a quarter-final spot.
The first half was tricky against Wales last weekend but the Pumas were strong thereafter to win 29-17 and earn their place against the All Blacks on Friday night.
They’re underdogs, but Cheika likes it that way. Whether with Leinster, winning Super Rugby with the Waratahs in 2014, or guiding the Wallabies into the 2015 World Cup final, he has a habit of surprising people.
“Yes, they’ve helped me as well as the times that I’ve messed it up too,” said Cheika of drawing on those experiences now with Argentina.
“When I haven’t gone good, that’s helped me as well because that’s probably where you get more. But they’re all different experiences. This is very different because I’m dealing with a different culture and people.
“It’s one that I really love being around and I’m very connected to. So those experiences have definitely helped me in preparing one for the other for the other. So the Leinster one to the Waratahs one to the Wallabies one. In that collective order, that helps me have a set of experiences that help me in this situation.
“It’s a big situation but it’s a beautiful one. It’s a great opportunity for us and we’re doing everything we can with that to try and take it.”
It helps that Argentina have actually beaten the All Blacks before. They enjoyed their first-ever win against the Kiwis in Sydney in 2020 and then pulled off a big shock win away to the New Zealanders in Christchurch last year.
“You can’t say that one game means we can do it as there are a lot of games where we haven’t,” said Cheika.
“That moment has to be just a part of it. What we have done since then, all the successes and failures [matter].
“The other team are heavy favourites, everyone is expecting a New Zealand and South Africa final. We just have to focus on what we can do.”
Cheika has made just one change to his team after last weekend’s quarter-final win over Wales, with Gonzalo Bertranou coming in for Tomás Cubelli at scrum-half for this clash with the All Blacks.
Argentina (v New Zealand):
- 15. Juan Cruz Mallia
- 14. Emiliano Boffelli
- 13. Lucio Cinti
- 12. Santiago Chocobares
- 11. Mateo Carreras
- 10. Santiago Carreras
- 9. Gonzalo Bertranou
- 1. Thomas Gallo
- 2. Julián Montoya (c)
- 3. Francisco Gómez Kodela
- 4. Guido Petti Pagadizabal
- 5. Tomas Lavanini
- 6. Juan Martin Gonzalez
- 7. Marcos Kremer
- 8. Facundo Isa
Replacements:
- 16. Agustín Creevy
- 17. Joel Sclavi
- 18. Eduardo Bello
- 19. Matias Alemanno
- 20. Rodrigo Bruni
- 21. Lautaro Bazan Velez
- 22. Nicolas Sanchez
- 23. Matías Moroni
Referee: Angus Gardner [Australia].