Wales v Argentina: Best is yet to come from Pumas, says Agustin Pichot

Argentina great Agustin Pichot believes the Pumas have only shown 60% of their ability before the World Cup quarter-final game against Wales.

Former Argentina captain Pichot believes his nation will start as underdogs in Marseille on Saturday.

The former World Rugby vice-chairman also says he is concerned about the spectacle the sport has become.

And Pichot has raised issues with how rugby is going to address the "closed shop" of the top nations.

The 49-year-old played in three World Cups as he won 71 caps for Argentina between 1995 and 2008.

He captained the Pumas to a third-place finish in the global tournament in France in 2007.

'Wales are favourites'

Argentina coach Michael Cheika was quick to install his side as underdogs for the quarter-final against Wales.

Pichot has the same opinion given that Wales topped their group with four wins, while Argentina failed to beat 14-man England and only finished runners-up after defeating Japan to clinch a last-eight place.

"I totally agree [with Cheika]," said Pichot.

"If you have seen the shape of this World Cup, Wales have won all their games and played really well and Argentina have won and not played well, so Wales are the favourites.

"I think coming here as underdogs has helped Wales. They came into the World Cup with major doubts and then all of a sudden they are in the top eight when people were thinking Wales would have exited at the group stages."

Argentina are yet to reach the heights of the Rugby Championship, where they picked up an away victory over Australia and lost in South Africa by only a point.

"I think we had a lot of expectation after seeing the team play so well in the Rugby Championship," said Pichot.

"The game against England was not great so pressure starts to build and the wins against Samoa and Chile weren't great either.

"If we had lost against Japan we would be on the plane home, so you get a sense of relief we won.

"The positive is Argentina are probably playing 60% of their potential, but they have qualified.

"The amazing part of a World Cup is once you go through the qualifying stages, it is knockout rugby. Now it is the top eight teams in the world, so let's go for it."

Pichot believes it will be a special occasion in Marseille thanks to the two sets of fans.

"It is going to be interesting because there is going to be a lot of Welsh fans travelling to Marseille as they always do and they are very passionate and sing a lot," said Pichot.

"Then you have the Argentina fans who are amazing. It will probably be the best two crowds of the World Cup.

"France is very special for us. It is a rugby place, we love it. We love playing here, we are Latin people. Even if we don't play amazingly well, people still go mad."

Wales love affair

Pichot has a special bond with Wales.

"I have a very strong relationship with the Welsh players," he said.

"I became very close with the Quinnell brothers, Scott and Craig, when I signed my first contract in England with Richmond. I also spent time with Jon Davies, Barry Williams, Allan Bateman, Andy Moore and Adrian Davies.

"I love the Quinnell family. They took me in when I was in 21 with my first contract. I was by myself in England and they kept on inviting me to their homes, to Wales.

"Those things that rugby gives you, you don't take for granted. I am really grateful I found those people in my career."

Pichot says he also enjoyed time with the people of Wales.

"We have played against each other several times and we have a lot of respect for Wales, and Patagonia is a very strong connection between the two countries," said Pichot.

"If you ask me which is the team you have more connection with outside of Argentina and Uruguay, I would say Wales.

"With my international career I always felt comfortable going out at night in Cardiff or Llanelli, doing the pre-season in Merthyr Mawr or playing golf in Newport with the likes of Gary Teichmann and Andy Marinos, I can go on forever with my tales of relations with Wales.

"They are very humble and passionate people and I formed a bond with Wales. And one of my heroes is the best scrum-half, well the best player of all time, Sir Gareth Edwards."

Global concerns

For all his excitement about Saturday's quarter-final, Pichot is concerned about the current state of rugby on the field.

"I don't like how rugby is being played at the moment," he said.

"I think the rules are very difficult. There is a lot of kicking and not much ball in hand. Rugby is not an attractive game at the moment."

Pichot the player became Pichot the administrator after his retirement in 2009. He quickly rose through the ranks and became World Rugby vice-chairman under Sir Bill Beaumont in 2016.

Pichot served four years before announcing his bid to become chair in 2020, where he went up against former England captain Beaumont.

Here was a new, modern figure with his smart suit and white trainers with a manifesto to change the game and open rugby up.

His bid failed with Beaumont re-elected for another four years in May 2020, having beaten Pichot by 28 votes to 23.

Pichot soon resigned from his role on the World Rugby Council and as Americas Rugby president and the Argentine Rugby Union representative.

He returned to the council in 2023 as one of the Argentina representatives.

Pichot remains concerned about the development of emerging nations, with Portugal producing arguably the moment of the group stages with their victory over Fiji, who still qualified for the quarter-finals.

Uruguay, Samoa and Tonga have had encouraging moments during the tournament, while the likes of Romania, Namibia and Chile struggled.

There have been calls to develop these nations by exposing them to more games against tier-one teams, namely Six Nations sides and the four sides who compete in the Rugby Championship.

Beaumont has promised "greater opportunity" for tier-two nations.

"I think there are a lot of things that need to be questioned to move forward and be positive," said Pichot.

"The closed shop is one. What is going to happen to these emerging nations?

"You have this sustainability model for 10 teams, but most of them are broke and you have your own experience in Wales.

"Then you have all these other nations that you need for a global game, you need them to be in a good state.

"There are a lot of questions to be asked and not just an easy road to protect 10 [teams]. If rugby would like to have that hard look [at itself], I am not so sure."