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Pumas optimistic Argentina could beat All Blacks, claims coach
AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) -- Argentina's rugby union coach Marcelo Loffreda remains optimistic his team might sneak a win against the All Blacks on their four-match tour of New Zealand. Loffreda said Thursday he rates New Zealand the best team in the world and says it will be no easy task for Argentina to pull off a first-ever win against the All Blacks. "Who knows?" he said, smiling, when asked if the Pumas can win. "We are going to try to take that challenge, it's not going to be easy." Argentina opens its tour against Counties Manukau in Pukekohe on Sunday, and play Thames Valley before the All Blacks test in Christchurch on June 23. Their fourth match is against New Zealand Maori. The tour is the fifth in New Zealand by the Pumas, and their last visit in 1997 marked Argentina's worst international result, a 93-8 loss to the All Blacks. Former All Blacks coach Alex Wyllie was the team's technical adviser then, but two seasons later he took the Pumas to their best ever result at a World Cup when they reached the quarterfinals. Loffreda took over the team last season, and the progress continued with Argentina losing to world champion Australia by just seven points at Canberra, and to South Africa by four points in Buenos Aires. "We played quite good against those top teams, but we know that New Zealand I think is the best one so it's going to be more difficult than last year," he said. "The aims are trying to improve and develop more variations than we had last year." Loffreda has assembled a mix of experienced and new players for the tour, including the top points scorer at the World Cup, flyhalf Gonzalo Quesada. Halfback Agustin Pichot will also bring some knowledge of New Zealand play to the team, having joined Carlos Spencer, Christian Cullen, Ron Cribb and Norm Maxwell in the Barbarians team which played South Africa last December. Loffreda said he would use the opening two games to run most of his players before settling on a test lineup. Argentina remains unbeaten this season after winning the Pan American tournament with victories over the United States, Canada and Uruguay, but Loffredo said those results were not relevant here. "I think that was another level," said Loffreda. "Here is the best one."
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