Pumas' fly-half considers his mentor, England's Jonny Wilkinson, as the best player of all time
LONDON, 22 Oct – When asked which name he believes belongs first in rugby's hall of fame, Argentina's Nicolas Sanchez does not hesitate.
“When people ask me, ‘who is the greatest player ever’, I say Jonny Wilkinson," the Pumas' fly-half said. "He is a legend and I tried to take advantage of his knowledge as much as possible.”
Sanchez (above) played at Toulon with Wilkinson, who won the Rugby World Cup in 2003 with England, and still appreciates the master class from the Englishman.
“Wilkinson worked with me on my kicking and made me focus on the details. One important thing we worked on was the mentality that a kicker has to have and he taught me how to be focused,” Sanchez said.
“Wilkinson worked with me on my kicking and made me focus on the details. One important thing we worked on was the mentality that a kicker has to have and he taught me how to be focused,” Sanchez said.
On Sunday Sanchez will face an Australia back-line in the semi-final of RWC 2015 containing a familiar face, centre Matt Giteau, another teammate from Toulon (pictured left with Wilkinson).
“Giteau is a world-class player,” 26-year-old Sanchez said. “I learned so much from him even though I didn’t have the chance to play a lot with him because he was injured so much.
"He is a fantastic player and a great decision-maker in attack, and he will be a key player this weekend.”
NEXT TWIST
So far Sanchez's career has taken him from the Pampas XV that played in South Africa’s Vodacom Cup to Bordeaux-Begles and then Toulon in France’s Top 14.
The next twist in his career will take him back to Argentina where he will line up for the new Argentine Super Rugby franchise, which is to join the competition in 2016.
With Argentina, he forms a formidable partnership with inside-centre Juan Martin Hernandez, who, at 33, is enjoying a career Indian summer, which has rekindled memories of when Hernandez played fly-half for Argentina on their run to the bronze medal at RWC 2007 in France.
He is one of the senior players, who, along with the likes of Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, Juan Manuel Leguizamon and Marcos Ayerza, will be intent on avoiding the result of Argentina's previous RWC semi-final appearance - a 37-17 loss to South Africa in 2007.
“Juan has a key role and brings a lot to the team,” Sanchez said. “He has a very good kick and is the second fly-half. It helps keeps things very simple for me.
“They said we need to be confident, quiet and relaxed. After our yellow card (Ramiro Herrera) and conceding some penalties (versus Ireland), Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe told everyone to stay calm and relax. You could see his experience coming through.”
He is one of the senior players, who, along with the likes of Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, Juan Manuel Leguizamon and Marcos Ayerza, will be intent on avoiding the result of Argentina's previous RWC semi-final appearance - a 37-17 loss to South Africa in 2007.
“Juan has a key role and brings a lot to the team,” Sanchez said. “He has a very good kick and is the second fly-half. It helps keeps things very simple for me.
“They said we need to be confident, quiet and relaxed. After our yellow card (Ramiro Herrera) and conceding some penalties (versus Ireland), Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe told everyone to stay calm and relax. You could see his experience coming through.”
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