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Alan Quinlan recalls the Ireland vs Argentina Dublin nightclub standoff

If Ireland had a nemesis in international rugby during the late 90s and the 2000s, Argentina woul...



Alan Quinlan recalls the Irela...
Videos

Alan Quinlan recalls the Ireland vs Argentina Dublin nightclub standoff

If Ireland had a nemesis in international rugby during the late 90s and the 2000s, Argentina would fit the bill.

In oft-heated encounters, the Pumas foiled Ireland at the 1999 Rugby World Cup, before Ireland just squeezed past them by a 16-15 margin four years later.

But in 2007 (a third test victory in a row for Argentina over Ireland) and 2015, it was the South American nation that defeated Ireland at the tournament.

However, in seven test matches in Ireland, we have never lost to Argentina. And there was almost an eight "encounter" for want of a better word that occurred in a Dublin nightclub back in 2004 between the two sets of players as ex-Ireland and Munster back row Alan Quinlan recalled on this morning's OTB:AM.

"We're all in Annabel's at 2 o'clock in the morning and there's a standoff. There's literally a standoff and guys are taking off the jackets," he said.

"We'd the blazers on, taking off the jackets, rolling up the sleeves and saying, 'Who's going to throw the first punch here?' And it didn't happen thankfully. But there was a nastiness and a narkiness there and that continued on to '07 in the World Cup."

Explaining what led to the standoff, he believes that it stemmed from Argentina's players taking umbrage with Ronan O'Gara celebrating during the match.

On opposition players that he didn't like on the pitch during his playing days, he cited Mario Ledesma, who he later found to be "one of the nicest guys you will ever meet and have a chat with and a beer with and that happened in '07".

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