Compared to most of Argentina’s wandering minstrels or rugby-playing nomads drawn from various clubs around the world, their experienced scrumhalf Gonzalo Bertranou is a relative home bird.
Granted, after four seasons with the Jaguares Super Rugby franchise, Bertanou did sign a short-term contract with the Dragons in 2022, which in turn led to a two-year deal. But then after Cardiff signed him on another short-term deal he suffered a broken jaw, which required surgery, and concussion in the Blues’ loss to the Lions in Johannesburg in May 2024.
The Blues lodged a complaint over what they saw as a deliberate act of foul play, namely a swinging arm, but the URC said there had not been a “clear and obvious” error by the match officials.
“I don’t usually say this but I wasn’t very happy with the action that led to the injury,” said Cardiff head coach Matt Sherratt at the time. “It looked like a swinging arm [and] we’ve gone through the right channels with it. It was never going to be clear and obvious but I was gutted for him because it was a nasty injury.”
That was Bertranou’s last sojourn away from home. Officially, the 65-times capped 30-year-old is listed as ‘unattached’, to which he jokes: “Because it’s a secret! It’s secret.”
But, speaking to the Irish media at the side of the Wanderers’ pitch, he’s evidently happy out with his lot.
“Now my head is 100 per cent in Argentina, playing for my country and being the best ‘9′ that I can be for the team, just making the team play good. So, my head is here, I’m happy, my family is in Argentina and I have a club. My hometown club. They must put that club, Los Todos Rugby Club, beside my name.”
He reckons he started with Los Todos, in Mendoza, when he was three-years-old.
“My dad [Miguel] also played for the Pumas so I started really, really young playing with him and I’m very, very happy and very, very proud of representing my country. But he was a backrow, so my mum give me my little bit of skills,” he quips.
When Los Pumas come from various parts of the rugby world to link up together, such is their close-knit bond and pride in the jersey that they are often likened to a club side.
“No, no, sorry if I correct you, but never playing for your country is like a club,” stresses Bertranou.
“The good thing is that we are all Argentinians, we all know each other a lot, we have been playing together for a long time. But representing Argentina is different to [representing] any club and we know that we are going to face a different beast with Ireland because we never win against Ireland in Dublin.
“It’s the only team that we haven’t beaten in Europe at home, so we know what’s coming. We know that Ireland is, if not the best team in the world, in Dublin they are very, very, very good so our detail must be on spot on Friday night.”
Bertranou is perhaps more conscious of having a few scores to settle than most of his team-mates. His father won 15 caps between 1989 and 1993, and was the openside when Argentina were beaten 20-18 in the first meeting afforded Test match status by the IRFU in October 1990.
In their only previous visit, Argentina lost 21-8 in November 1973 and didn’t return until 1999, when beaten in a World Cup match which was dramatically overturned by Los Pumas’s breakthrough win over Ireland in a quarter-final play-off two months later in Lens.
Argentina have caused Ireland plenty more World Cup pain, and have won three of four such meetings, but starting with that 1990 game, they have lost on all 10 visits to Ireland. Bertranou has played in the last three of them in 2017, 2018 and 2021 as a replacement, from where he has claimed some 26 of his 65 caps.
In that 2017 loss at the Aviva, his deft left-footed grubber set up a consolation try for Ramiro Moyano with the last play of the game. But he has cemented his status as first-choice ‘9′ under Michael Cheika and Felipe Contepomi over the last three years.
He started five games, including the wins over New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, in the Rugby Championship before missing their 48-7 defeat by a vengeful Springboks at Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit.
Bertranou is a classically tidy and selflessly efficient scrumhalf who has good footwork, runs good support lines and has an eye for quick taps and the try line, witness his opportunist and nonchalant try last week.
“Yes, we have a great coach with ‘Phil’,” says Bertranou of Contepomi, adding: “We have a great team of coaches with all the guys. They are doing a great, great job. We are focusing on every single detail. It’s been years of improving so now [we] are very happy with Phil and the things that we are learning from him.”
“The attacking style of rugby is good. It’s been years of trying to improve and to play good rugby. But defence is the thing that wins matches and wins tournaments, so first of all playing defence and after that playing rugby.”
