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Who will win the RWC battle of the boots?
By Sasha Distel October 4 2007
Argentina v Scotland for a place in the semi-final of the Rugby World Cup is hardly a battle of the giants compared to the other quarter-finals. But both teams deserve their place in the big match in Paris on Sunday – the match which was probably supposed to feature hosts France when the original draw for the competition was made.
Logo_ScotlandLogo_ArgentinaBut they’ve been despatched to Cardiff as punishment for failing to beat the Pumas on the first day of the tournament for a massive test against New Zealand, and unbeaten Argentina can strut their stuff at Stade de France.
And Scotland aren’t there to make up the numbers, either. Ireland were supposed to do best amongst the home nations, but while they’ve been sent packing the Scots have been quietly going about their business, their impressive pack giving Chris Paterson the chance to kick them to the quarter-finals.
Whether his incredible accuracy can take them any further remains to be seen.
Paterson has a perfect record at RWC 2007, with 15 kicks out of 15, and Argentina will need to watch their discipline if they want to avoid defeat.
Argentina fans celebrate victoryBut while the Scots have powerful Paterson, the Pumas can boast the best-looking fans at the tournament (right) and the man who is suddenly being hailed as one of the best players in the world.
Fly-half Juan Martin Hernandez wears No10, just like another Argentinian who made a bit of a name for himself in another game. But the similarities end there – Hernandez comes from a proud sporting family, and his sister has two Olympic hockey medals.
Hernandez had been playing at full-back for his country until the World Cup, but the understanding he has with scrum half Pichot, built up as a club pairing with Stade Francais, and with inside centre Felipe Contepomi have given him the chance to dominate games with his vision as well as his kicking, as he did against Ireland in the last Pool D game.
If Contepomi doesn’t recover from flu, Hernandez may be asked to take the kicks at goal as well, but that won’t worry a player who has shown huge nerve to go with his talent during the tournament.
Scotland coach Frank Hadden came under fire for picking what was virtually a reserve team for the pool game against New Zealand in Edinburgh, but while that clearly wasn’t fair to the paying public of Scotland, nobody in authority seems to have minded.
Hadden says the ends justify the means, and if Scotland can reach the semi-finals they will have gone way beyond where many experts expected them to go.
It could all boil down to the boots – Paterson v Hernandez, and if that happens anybody could win.
But if it’s a handling game, Argentina could be on their way to the semi-final.

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