Contepomi succeeded Cheika after the 2023 World Cup and has authored wins over the likes of New Zealand, South Africa and the British and Irish Lions as head of the coaching ticket.
Starting their second block of Nations Championship fixtures against Ireland in the Aviva Stadium on Friday offers the chance for another big scalp.
But he arrives back in Dublin amid reports, external he ruled himself out of the succeeding Leo Cullen at Leinster following the conclusion of his current contract with Argentina following next year’s World Cup.
Contepomi’s Leinster connection, coupled with a coaching CV boasting Test rugby success, naturally led to the 49-year-old being touted as a leading option to replace his former team-mate in one of the premier jobs in club rugby.
The likes of Ronan O’Gara, Stuart Lancaster and Leinster’s current senior coach Jacques Nienaber were all also linked to the vacancy that it has now been confirmed will be filled by Bordeaux-Begles’ Irish attack coach Noel McNamara.
Irrespective of what the future holds, Cheika believes Contepomi is doing an under-rated job with the Pumas building towards next year’s global showpiece in Australia.
Ranked eighth in the world, the side may have won only six of their 15 Tests since that famous win over the Lions in Dublin last year, but Cheika points to the differing constraints in the role when compared to other leading nations who have the benefit of a stronger domestic game and, as a result, less disparate playing bases.
“They’re performing great, well above their weight,” he said.
“People take it a little bit for granted with Argentina. Well, ‘yeah, they’re a great team’ and all that, but these guys are performing with so much less access to resources than any of the other countries that are at the top.
“He’s had to go back and I suppose teach himself how to do that and he’s done it really, really well and that’s why the team is able to achieve more consistency than it’s ever probably had before.
“I’m very proud of him, obviously as a friend of mine, a former player of mine, and now a colleague from coaching as well and I hope that they can continue that movement all the way through to the World Cup of ’27.”
Leave a Reply