Beautiful moment Argentinian rugby coach breaks down in tears after his side beats the All Blacks in Sydney for the first time ever
The coach for the Argentian rugby team burst into tears after his team's historic win over the All Blacks on Saturday.
Mario Ledesma coached the team to its first victory over the New Zealand champions in the club's 35 year history.
In a year that started with zoom sessions, continued in lockdown in camps in Argentina and Uruguay before two weeks of quarantine in Australia, the Pumas' first result on the pitch was a stunning 25-15 triumph over the All Blacks.
'Unreal, unreal - surreal. After everything that happened this year,' a tearful Ledesma said on the pitch at Western Sydney Stadium.
'We have been through hell and... and the boys just kept ticking, working and making efforts.'
Mario Ledesma coached the team to its first victory over the New Zealand champions in the club's 35 year history. He was filmed wiping away tears as he realised his team would win
Ledesma said his team focused on 'just staying positive with everything that is going on... which in itself is already a lot'.
'And then coming out here and playing the game that they played, it is just incredible.
'Just so proud of them.'
Still with tears in his eyes as he fronted the post-match news conference, the former Pumas hooker said the victory was his greatest as a coach and again paid tribute to his players.
'There's no magic formula, it's always the players,' he said.
'They've been great throughout the whole pandemic situation. Going from quarantine to quarantine. Some of the players haven't seen their families for four months and they haven't complained once, they've always been positive.'
Ledesma said his team focused on 'just staying positive with everything that is going on... which in itself is already a lot'
Puma fans celebrated the historic win against the All Blacks - the first in the club's 35-year history
Pictured: Beauden Barrett from the All Blacks moments after their historic loss
Equally as elated with their victory, the players and staffers hugged and cried on the field after realising they couldn't be beaten.
Argentina captain Pablo Matera, who led by example with a brutal performance at blindside flanker, said he had fully expected to beat New Zealand for the first time in 30 attempts.
'Yeah, 100%,' he said. 'We have a great team, a lot of great young players arriving to the team and they put in a lot of energy and they really know what the jersey represents for Argentina.'
Matera said that former Australia coach Michael Cheika, who Ledesma brought in as a consultant for the Tri-Nations, had helped imbue the side with that self confidence.
'He just came to us first day and said, ''what are you waiting for? You've got everything, you've got big players, young players, you've got a lot of energy, just go and take it'',' Matera recalled.
'I think that made us believe a lot more in ourselves.'
Matera would have been a strong contender for man-of-the-match had flyhalf Nicolas Sanchez not scored all of Argentina's points with a try, a conversion and six penalties, including one from halfway that sealed the victory.
'You just don't come here and perform like that,' Ledesma said. 'There's no magic formula, he prepared himself to be successful, and he was spot on on the gameplan.'
Equally as elated with their victory, the players and staffers hugged and cried on the field after realising they couldn't be beaten
In a year that started with zoom sessions, continued in lockdown in camps in Argentina and Uruguay before two weeks of quarantine in Australia, the Pumas' first result on the pitch was a stunning 25-15 triumph over the All Blacks