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'Disrespected' - Mario Ledesma lashes out over photo
By Ian Cameron
Pumas' head coach Mario Ledesma has lashed out after he alleged that Argentina were snubbed in an official Rugby Championship captains' photo opportunity.
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.
"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.
"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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Latest Comments
Recent complaints that SA players have a 12-month workload isn't of itself a credible enough excuse to lay at the door of EPCR administrators. If SA clubs want to participate in NH league and club competitions and also participate in SH internationals, then clearly something has to give.
From the EPCR perspective, I do think that the format/schedule issues can be fixed if there's a strong enough desire to remove some of the logistical challenges clubs are facing with these long and frequent trips across the hemispheres.
From the SA player workload perspective however, I'm not sure how players can participate safely and competitively at both the club and international levels. Perhaps - and as Rassie appears to be developing, SA develop a super squad with sufficient player numbers and rotation to allow players to compete across the full 12-month calendar.
Bottom line though, is the geographical isolation is always going to restrict SA's ability to having the best of both worlds.
Go to commentsMoriaty refused to play for wales also he’s injured, France’s is being coy about wales, North in the dark but Sam David and jerad are you joking their not good enough
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