The subplot is thicker and more appealing. As much as it is Italy v Argentina, it will also be Gonzalo Quesada v Felipe Contepomi, former teammates, old neighbours in Las Lomas de San Isidro.
Can Los Pumas beat the All Blacks in either of the two upcoming tests? Now that the hoodoo of never beating the All Blacks has been broken.
It's a weird coincidence not lost on Andy Nicol, the Bath Heineken Cup-winning captain. Not since that fateful January 1998 day in Bordeaux when he led the English club to European glory had he set foot in the French city...