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'Disrespected' - Mario Ledesma lashes out over photo

Mario Ledesma /Getty

Pumas’ head coach Mario Ledesma has lashed out after he alleged that Argentina were snubbed in an official Rugby Championship captains’ photo opportunity.

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Argentina fell to a 27-8 defeat at the hands of the Wallabies at Queensland Country Bank Stadium in Townsville, but it wasn’t just the loss that irked Ledesma.

This week Ardie Savea, Michael Hooper and Siya Kolisi were all gathered for a photo opportunity with the Rugby Championship trophy, but Ledesma claims the Puma’s were effectively snubbed by organisers.

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“I just want to make a point about what happened this week with the captain’s photo,” Ledesma told press after the game. “The boys and the staff, we felt really disrespected.”

“Last week it [the photo] was supposed to happen but it didn’t happen because one team pulled out once, and the other team pulled out the other time. And then when it was our time we couldn’t make it, we were told they weren’t supposed to take the picture, and then there was the picture and the video.

“We’re not asking for much; last year when South Africa pulled out we came over here, went through strict lockdown, we were away from home three or four months.

“We’re the only team who hasn’t played at home for more than two years; South Africa played at home, obviously you guys [Australia] are playing at home and New Zealand played at home. And we’re always travelling, we never complained and we feel sometimes that we’re getting treated with disrespect and we just continue and cop it on the chin.

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“I don’t know if it was Rugby Australia, SANZAAR or whatever, but it’s just disrespectful and it hurts a lot because we have families and we have kids that we haven’t seen for ages now, and in a couple of weeks’ time we’ll be out of houses again.

“And the only thing we’re asking is to get treated fairly and with respect and obviously in this case it wasn’t that way. And I don’t think it was too hard to move that and respect us as a team, as a nation; rugby has values, I’m sure of it, and they weren’t respected here.”

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Tom 5 hours ago
Will Bristol's daredevil 'Bears-ball' deliver the trophy they crave?

Also a Bristol fan and echo your sentiments.


I love watching Bristol but their approach will only get them so far I think. Exeter played like this when they first got promoted to the prem and had intermittent success, it wasn't until they wised up and played a more balanced game that they became a consistently top side.


I really want Bristol to continue playing this brand of rugby and I don't mind them running it from under their posts but I don't think they need to do it every single time. They need to be just a little bit more selective about when and where on the pitch they play. Every game they put themselves under so much needless pressure by turning the ball over under their posts trying to do kamikaze moves when it's not required. By all means run it from your goal line if there is a chance for a counter attack, we all want to see Bristol running in 100m tries from under their posts but I think until they learn when to do it and when to be pragmatic, they are unlikely to win the premiership.


Defense has been a real positive from Bristol, they've shown a lot of improvement there... And I will say that I think this kamikaze strategy they employ is a very good one for a struggling side and could be employed by Newcastle. It's seems to have turned around Gloucester's fortunes. The big advantage is even if you don't have the biggest and best players, what you have is cohesion. This is why Scotland keep battering England. England have better individuals but they look muddled as a team, trying to play a mixed strategy under coaches who lack charisma, the team has no identity. Scotland come out and give it full throttle from 1-15 even if they struggle against the top sides, sides like England and Wales who lack that identity drown under the relentless will and synergy of the Scots. If Newcastle did the same they could really surprise some people, I know the weather is bad up there but it hasn't bothered the Scots. Bristol can learn from Scotland too, Pat is on to something when he says the following but Scotland don't play test matches like headless chickens. They still play with the same level of clarity and ambition Bristol do but they are much better at picking their moments. They needed to go back to this mad game to get their cohesion back after a couple of seasons struggling but I hope they get a bit wiser from matches like Leinster and La Rochelle.


“If there’s clarity on what you’re trying to do as a team you can win anything.”

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