Argentina skipper Agustin Pichot has warned his Pumas teammates, on a high after their stunning World Cup upset of France, not to drop their guard against minnows Georgia in Lyon today.
Argentina's 17-12 win on Friday blew a huge hole in France's hopes of making the quarter-finals while providing a boost to their own chances of being one of the two sides who will qualify from a Pool D which also includes Six Nations Triple Crown winners Ireland, who were hugely unimpressive in their win on Sunday over Namibia.
"World champions? We can always dream and I love to dream. But the reality is we must win our next game against Georgia," said Pichot, who is playing in his fourth World Cup.
"We know that as Latin players we can beat France but play badly in the next match. We are the only team who have to play twice in four days. It's not fair but that's the way it is," he said.
Coach Marcelo Loffreda said that their main objective apart from winning was to get a bonus point -- which was about the only good thing to have come out of the Namibian match for the Irish.
"However, Georgia will be no pushovers," said Loffreda, who joins English giants Leicester Tigers after the World Cup.
"They are a good team, they are top of Group B in European rugby, with numerous players who play in France [27 out of 30]. It is vital we are strong mentally, seize the initiative, mix up our style of play and be direct in attack," Loffreda said.
Georgia will be hoping to call upon the majority of support in Lyon as all but one of their squad play for French clubs.
"I think we'll have great support from the French fans -- second to the French team of course," flanker Rati Urushadze said.
Skipper Ilia Zedginidze hopes that at least one win in the tournament -- though the way Namibia played in the Irish match may have doused that hope -- can boost rugby at home in the former Soviet republic.
"Georgian rugby is continuing to grow. After the 2003 World Cup there were 50 percent more licenses and the popularity of the game increased a lot. I hope it will go up even more after 2007," he said.
Irakli Abuseridze, the vice-captain, said the Pumas will be a hard team to stop today.
Meanwhile, Georgia's French coach Nicolas Foulquier is looking forward to the match against his compatriots in Marseille on Sept. 30.
"They're really looking forward to the game against France in order to thank the French for the rugby experience they've been able to gain from them and to prove their own value to the French nation," Foulquier said.
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