IRELAND V ARGENTINA: Inconclusive video evidence means no action will be taken against any Argentinian players following accusations of eye-gouging during Ireland's last-minute, 21-19 win over Argentina on Saturday, but the bitter fallout is likely to rumble on all the way to their scheduled meeting in the pool stages of the 2007 World Cup.
It seems it will be ever thus between these two.
The match commissioner, Alberto Recaldini of Italy, reviewed the tape of the game but could not find any evidence to support the claims by the Irish management that six of their players had been gouged, five in the eyes and one in the mouth. The Irish camp are said to be extremely disappointed.
The half dozen players concerned were Malcolm O'Kelly, Shane Byrne, Anthony Foley, Ronan O'Gara, Brian O'Driscoll and Simon Easterby, who allegedly had his mouth gouged.
O'Kelly required a stitch to a wound beside his right eye and O'Gara was visibly annoyed in declining to comment on the cause of a nasty-looking gash adjacent to his right eye, while Byrne was sporting a number of blotches around his eyes on Saturday night.
Los Pumas have a bit of "previous" in this regard. Similar accusations were made against the now retired Argentinian Test props Mauricio Reggiardo and Roberto Grau after Ireland's 16-15 win in the pool stages of last year's World Cup at the Adelaide Oval, when both players were formally suspended for gouging.
Nor is the sense of bitterness confined to Ireland. Argentina captain Agustin Pichot led a vexed post-match outcry at Ireland, and Brian O'Driscoll in particular, when he accused the home side of "unsporting" behaviour.
"Rugby should be played with ethics. Asking for yellow and red cards and crying for 40 minutes (in the second half), I think the Irish should have a little more than that. We didn't get respect from the Irish players. If I go on the field and start calling for players to be sent off, that's not rugby," said Pichot, who claimed he had never experienced this in his career. "Five times they asked for yellow cards and for fellas to be sent off."
A clearly annoyed O'Driscoll rejected the Argentinian captain's accusations.
"Just to set the record straight, not once did I say we want a yellow card. I was just indicating to Tony that they were persistently infringing and that they weren't allowing us to have any fast ball, (I was) just bringing it to his attention. He said: 'Fair enough, I'll deal with it'. As far as I' m concerned, that's as far as it went, and because it was persistent, I said it to him a couple of times."
Listening in to the "ref link" for the duration of the game supports O'Driscoll's version of events. Not once can one recall him using the words yellow or red, or even asking for such sanctions. Prior to O'Gara landing the penalty which reduced Argentina's lead to 19-15, an exasperated O'Driscoll could be heard saying to Tony Spreadbury: "This (the rash of penalties) is getting frustrating. One last thing, eye-gouging, eye-gouging," he said, pointing in turn to team-mates. "This is getting f***ing dirty."
Leinster's Felipe Contepomi, one of the Pumas who will not be released to play against South Africa in Buenos Aires next Saturday, was equally aggrieved, though his claim that the second-half penalty count was about 15-3 to Argentina hardly tallied with the match stats, which made it 10-8 to Ireland over the 80.
O'Gara, as he did in the win over South Africa a fortnight before, and the 18-9 win over Australia here two years ago, scored all of Ireland's points, with five penalties from five, and two out of three drop goal attempts, in another masterful kicking display. The Irish match-winner admitted that the intention had been to go through another phase and bring the posts closer into range than 40 metres for the decisive drop goal.
"The pre-call was for another phase and get the forwards in there, but once it was set up in the middle it was on. Strings hit me on my right leg, a great pass, so you just kind of trust your technique from there."
But heh, it went over. "Closer and wide is no good, is it?"
The first person he ran to, and ran to him, was his kindred spirit in such moments, David Humphreys.
"Argentina are a good team, the conditions suited them and after the start they had we showed good balls to get back into it and eke out a win," said O'Gara, who maintained that there were "massive" benefits from it.
"Especially with the break now to the Six Nations. It would be hanging over you through Christmas if you hadn't performed and it would have been a long time to the Six Nations. Now there's a huge bounce in everyone's step and fellas can't wait to get into camp again."
Argentina's post-match rants have to be viewed in the context of their acute frustration over the International Rugby Board's failure to enforce their regulations and ensure the availability of all the Pumas' European-based players for next week's Test at home to South Africa, and the board's poor financial support. Their press conference was almost literally a cry for help, and in all of this they have a valid gripe.
That said, when the dust settles, the enmity between these two will simmer and no doubt come to the surface again in the next World Cup. Roll on 2007 and another grudge match? Ye gods.
