11 hours ago
Lions might be missing players in their opener against Argentina, but Matías Moroni's focus is on fellow Pumas
The boy flying his blue toy aeroplane around the terrace at Old Belvedere RFC in Dublin looked like he belonged there, even though he was speaking Spanish to his mother on sunny Tuesday morning.
On the pitch in Ballsbridge the
Argentina
backs were kicking and catching, finding touch, and on the back pitch the forwards were grunting, pushing and measuring the angles and pressure points of the scrum.
Three days out from the first game of the
Lions tour
, at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin, and the weather was kind to coach
Felipe Contepomi
and his side.
His hat pulled down, the former
Leinster
outhalf and coach brought the session to a close and the boy who was flying around the terraces then flew through their air on the training pitch as he was hoisted up high by a player to catch a ball gently thrown to him lineout style.
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It was a relaxed mood with Contepomi and his son larking around with the players at the end of the session, but there will certainly be less distraction and more than a little pride at stake when Argentina line out against the Lions on Friday night.
Afterwards it was handshakes and hellos from Contepomi. He picks his team on Wednesday. There are more than a few in the Argentina squad that are familiar with the Lions players.
Matías Moroni, previously of Leicester Tigers and Newcastle before he moved to Brive and ProD2, is one of them. Aged 34, he is one of Contepomi's most experienced centres.
'I know he has done really good things here for Leinster for our country,' Moroni says of Contepomi. 'He is in the Hall of Fame. I cannot say nothing more than you and everyone knows. And now he is our coach and we have to follow his orders.'
The Lions won't be awarding caps for Friday's match, although in 2005 when Clive Woodward's Lions drew 25-25 with Argentina in Cardiff caps were awarded.
Then in 2021 the Lions decided that caps would only be awarded in matches against the host union's national representative side, which will be the three Test matches in
Australia
.
But it's not a thing that will keep Moroni awake this week.
'For us the most important thing is not who we play or where we play, but the jersey we put on, so it doesn't matter if it's a game in a park or a stadium with all the crowd,' he says.
'Every time we put on our jersey it is the most important thing because we represent all the players who have played for Argentina. We represent our country, our family, our amateur clubs, our coaches, so obviously it is going to be a really good atmosphere, but the most important thing is putting on the jersey.'
Matías Moroni of Argentina is tackled by New Zealand's Anton Lienert-Brown in the 2023 Rugby World Cup semi-final in Paris. Photograph: Dan Sheridan/INPHO
It wouldn't be a great leap of faith that if the players involved in last weekend's
United Rugby Championship
(URC) and Premiership finals in Dublin and London respectively are rested, then Irish centre
Bundee Aki
may get a run.
For the optics of playing in Ireland and a home crowd, coach
Andy Farrell
knows it would be wise to have a sprinkling of Munster and Connacht players involved.
Moroni is familiar with the Ireland and
Connacht
powerhouse Aki; in the 2020-2021 season Moroni scored his first try for Leicester against Connacht in a Challenge Cup round of 16 game.
'Obviously there are some players missing because they were playing in the final on Saturday in the Premiership and the URC, so they are not going to play,' Moroni says.
'But we know they are really good players, so we just focus on us and what we want to do, what we want to bring to the game.
'When you play against Bundee Aki, it's like Manu Tuilagi, a ball carrier. You put your head down and go really low, and if you go down everyone goes down.'
Moroni wouldn't be drawn on whether Argentina have an advantage as Friday will be the Lions' first competitive match of the tour. Defeat for the Lions wouldn't be fatal, more like scratching the paintwork on a brand-new car.
But for cohesion and familiarity Argentina might have an edge, although the quality of the Lions players and the national teams they play with brings a level that will challenge any Test side.
'In our team we have a lot of new guys,' Moroni says.
'We have some players who [are] still playing in France.
'I think I played with most of the players. Obviously my last season was in France, so maybe I missed to play [with] the new guys.
'But I have played in internationals and in the Premiership with most of them. They are really good players. I think they can adapt.'
