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Pumas sharpen claws for Springboks clash

The Pumas have never beaten the South African Springboks before. But don't remind Argentine fans of that. Their country's first trip to the Rugby World Cup semi-finals is being touted as "Mission Possible."

Posters in Argentina's blue-and-white have gone up ahead of tomorrow's game bearing the slogan "Mission Impossible" -- only with the "Im" in "Impossible" crossed out.

"Let's Go Pumas" the poster adds. "Let's go because we are making history."

The Pumas, unbeaten in France, already have made history. For the first time, they have reached the World Cup's final four -- making them first team from outside of Europe's Six Nations or the Southern Hemisphere's "Tri-Nations" to achieve the feat.

Rugby even threatens to upstage soccer in the home of a two-time World Cup champion.

When Argentina beat Scotland 19-13 to reach the semi-finals, Buenos Aires crosstown rivals Boca Juniors and River Plate had to move their game -- dubbed the superclassico -- two hours ahead so as not to conflict with the television coverage from Stade de France.

"Moving the River-Boca game forward was just one more victory," said Santiago Ramallo, rugby manager for the San Isidro Club, which sent six players to the World Cup. "For the first time in history, rugby has topped soccer. The fact that they rearranged one of the most important soccer games in the world for rugby is pretty amazing."

He said the Pumas were also bringing in new recruits.

"Since the World Cup began, we've had 31 requests on our Web site to start playing rugby with the club," he said. "It's part of the Puma phenomenon."

The phenomenon seems to be contagious.

Puma T-shirts sold briskly all week, better than Argentine soccer jerseys, at sporting goods stores along a bustling pedestrian street in downtown Buenos Aires.

Locos por el Futbol, a popular sports bar whose name means "Crazy for Soccer," has gone wild for rugby with a sellout crowd expected tomorrow.

Carlo Palermo, an employee, said soccer fans are learning to embrace rugby. The 240-seat bar saw Boca-River fans stay on after the match to cheer Argentina last week against Scotland.

Few in Argentina considers victory impossible. Never mind that the closest thing to an Argentine victory over South Africa was a Pumas win over an under-22 Springbok squad -- not the full national team.

"I think our team can win," said Porfirio Carreras, 60, vice president for the Buenos Aires Rugby Union, which organizes the 80 rugby teams in greater Buenos Aires. "But we still recognize the historical strength of the South African team against Argentina."
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