The Pumas now play 11 or 12 tests per year, most of them against fellow Tier 1 sides. Samoa played only 12 matches between the 2019 World Cup and this one, half of them against their fellow Pacific Islanders.
Emiliano Boffelli, at his second World Cup, was at pains to say they are a tight group. “The most important thing is talking to each other, about how we feel, what we think,” the Pumas sharpshooter said.