France will be aiming to complete a clean sweep of the South Americans when they take on Argentina in their final Test of the month at Estadio Jose Amalfitani in Buenos Aires on Saturday night.
With Australia looking solid against Wales, Los Pumas are at risk of slipping to eighth place in the world rankings if they lose this one by a big margin, while France are looking to keep the pressure on third-placed New Zealand.
While Scott Robertson was able to guide New Zealand to a narrow victory over England and Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies got the better of Wales, Felipe Contepomi was unable to mark his first match in charge of Los Pumas with a victory as his counterparts did last week.
Contepomi made a total of nine changes from their last match, the World Cup playoff in October, but was still able to field an experienced team, including flanker Pablo Matera, who earned his 99th cap as well as his dependable skipper Julian Montoya.
Montoya and substitute centre Matias Orlando were Los Pumas’ try scorers on the day and their contributions helped Los Pumas stay in the contest, but their hopes of a comeback were dashed with 13 minutes left as Theo Attissogbe celebrated his Test debut with a try to take Les Bleus to victory.
Including their 2019 World Cup defeat, Argentina have now lost each of their last five matches against France, dating back to a 27-0 demolition at Estadio Monumental Jose Fierro in Tucuman in June 2016.
However, with Les Bleus currently dealing with a host of issues off the field, Los Pumas may feel that this could be as good a chance as any of getting one over the side they have faced more than any other in Test rugby
