Since hitting the lofty heights of third in the world after Rugby World Cup 2007, Argentina have experienced mixed fortunes in the test match arena and their current fourth place in the IRB World Rankings could be under attack over the coming weeks.
Defeats by South Africa, Scotland and Italy earlier this year have not helped their quest to remain in the top four and be among the top band of seeds when the Pool Allocation Draw is made for RWC 2011 in London on 1 December.
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Throw into the mix the retirement of their inspirational and long-time captain Agustín Pichot, and the fact that they need to repeat their RWC 2007 wins over France and Ireland over the next three weeks, and it seems a more difficult prospect.
However Argentina still have world class players of the likes of Juan Martín Hernández and Felipe Contepomi in their ranks, with the latter keen to return to France and the scene of the Pumas’ memorable World Cup heroics.
“I think playing France in France will bring back some great memories, but the World Cup is over and we need to go and play a different team, with a different team,” Contepomi told Total Rugby.
“We’ve got new faces and new coaches, France have got some new faces and new coaches as well, so hopefully we can repeat that experience.
“I think that the most interesting thing will be being back in France at the scene of the best piece of history for our nation’s rugby. Hopefully we can enjoy it as much as last year.”
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Argentina currently have only a 0.2 rating cushion over fifth ranked England and so a loss to France in Marseille on Saturday evening will see them slide one place – and possibly two should Wales beat South Africa convincingly – in the IRB World Rankings.
England would climb to fourth in the event of a Pumas loss, even though they cannot improve their rating point total of 83.16 this weekend as their encounter with the Pacific Islanders is not eligible for the IRB World Rankings.
A win for France, regardless of the winning margin, is unlikely to improve their own position of seventh, unless Wales suffer a third defeat in 2008.
However, were the Pumas to repeat their World Cup heroics over France – and claim a seventh win in eight matches against Les Bleus – they could move out to more than a point above England ahead of their encounter with Ireland at Croke Park on 22 November.
Ireland cannot improve their position of eighth as they play Canada in Limerick, a side ranked seven places and more than eight rating points below them. By contrast a first ever loss to Canada would drop Ireland to a new low of 11th, and propel the Canadians up two places to 13th at the expense of Tonga and Georgia.
Scotland and Italy currently sit below Ireland in ninth and 10th respectively – with only 1.35 points between them – ahead of their encounters with Tri Nations champions New Zealand at Murrayfield and Australia in Padova.
Second place at stake
With New Zealand top in the IRB World Rankings and sitting 15.49 points above Scotland, even a repeat of the All Blacks’ 40-0 victory at RWC 2007 will not improve their rating point tally.
Australia will improve their rating by up to 0.5 depending on the margin of victory, although they will remain third unless they defeat Italy by more than 15 points and world champions South Africa lose by a similar margin against Wales.
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The Springboks would then slip below Australia with Wales remaining sixth unless Argentina also lose in France. For Italy, the consequence of losing by more than 15 points would see them slip to 11th, swapping places with Fiji.
Rewards in store for historic wins
A first ever win for Scotland over New Zealand would see them climb above Ireland and potentially also France and Wales, depending on their results. New Zealand would lose two points from their rating with a defeat, but would still retain the number one position.
If Scotland lose and Italy break their duck against Australia then they would climb above Scotland and Ireland to equal their best ever ranking of eighth. Australia would remain third with defeat, unless the Pumas were to win in France in which case the two would swap places.
Away from the top 10 in the IRB World Rankings there are a number of other fixtures which could also have an impact this weekend with the USA Eagles entertaining Uruguay in Salt Lake City and four matches in the European Nations Cup 2010 – the pick of which is Spain’s visit to Russia in the top tier.
Russia, Uruguay, USA and Spain are ranked from 18th to 21st respectively and so a number of permutations are possible with the Russians retaining their position and improving their rating points by a few tenths with victory on home soil or potentially sliding four places were they to lose and USA also beat the higher ranked Uruguay.
The USA Eagles will swap places with Uruguay with a win, but were Russia to also lose they could assume 18th position, one place above another side on the rise in Spain. On the other hand, an away win for Uruguay and they would climb above Russia, regardless of their result against Spain.
Laying down markers in Europe
For Russia and Spain it is an early chance to lay down a marker with the top two in Division 1 when the European Nations Cup concludes in 2010 qualifying for Rugby World Cup 2011 in New Zealand.
Netherlands are the next highest ranked side in action in 43rd. They travel to Jelgava to face Latvia in Division 2B of the European Nations Cup, the side ranked only five places below them. An away win could see the Dutch climb one of two places depending on the margin of victory, while Latvia could potentially slide six places to 48th with a heavy loss.
By contrast a Latvian win – allied with a victory for 45th ranked Lithuania victory away in Andorra – could see them climb above their visitors, who would slide a minimum of four places to 47th. In this instance Lithuania would climb two to 45th with Andorra sliding one place.
A victory, though, for Andorra in their opening Division 3A match of this European Nations Cup campaign would see them climb three places to 56th and Lithuania slide five to 50th.
The other European Nations Cup fixture sees Slovenia travel to Vienna to tackle Austria in Division 3B. Slovenia are ranked 60th, some 29 places above Austria but a victory away from home could see them climb one or two places with their hosts falling two or three spots.
If Austria, though, can triumph at the Hohe Warte Stadion then they will jump eight places to 81st with Slovenia sliding six. A victory by more than 15 points and the two sides could climb or fall by two more places.
The IRB World Rankings update every Monday at 12:00 UK time.