While the All Blacks and Argentina have been affected by injuries, Pumas backs coach Fabian Turnes acknowledges the loss of Daniel Carter is different.
The Pumas are already getting by without their ace flyhalf Juan Martin Hernandez and No 8 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe while the All Blacks have to adapt quickly to the loss of their star first five-eighth.
«Maybe the advantage for us is that we arrived here without Juan Martin Hernandez and New Zealand have lost Carter before the quarterfinals,» he said.
Turnes felt that would have more effect on the All Blacks’ planning.
«He is a very important player. However, we don’t think it will be a great advantage for us because the All Blacks have many good players.»
Hernandez was injured playing in France before the World Cup while Lobbe has remained with the team after injuring a knee in the match against Scotland at Wellington.
The Pumas maintained their line following yesterday’s 25-7 win over Georgia that Carter is but one player.
«We have a game plan for the All Blacks. We know Dan Carter is a great player but he is part of a structure.»
Argentina recognise they don’t have the player depth of the All Blacks and that they battle to replace players like Hernandez and Lobbe. They also have captain Felipe Contepomi nursing sore ribs as well as having taken whacks to the cheeks from the Georgians yesterday.
Centre Gonzalo Tiese was injured earlier in the tour too.
Turnes said there were only a few bumps and bruises from the Georgia battle and no one else was likely to be unavailable to play the All Blacks at Eden Park next Sunday.
«Of course we know if we play against the All Blacks as we did against Georgia it will not be enough,» Turnes said.
The vibes around the Pumas camp suggest they are more than satisfied with having reached the quarterfinals and having earned automatic qualification for the 2015 World Cup in Britain.
Meanwhile, Georgian right wing Lekso Gugava will face a disciplinary hearing at 1pm today following a citing by Italy’s Achille Reali for a dangerous tip tackle on Contepomi during yesterday’s match.
The case will be heard in Auckland by the Independent Judicial Officer Jean-Noël Couraud of France.
– Manawatu Standard
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