LET us first deal with the ill-fitting labels. We read everywhere that they call him El Mago, the Magician. But actually, they don’t. No one ever calls him that in Argentina and if they did, he would hate it. It is just an easy way of expressing the glorious richness of his talents when you haven’t much Spanish.
The Maradona of rugby? He’s always hated that one too, and even though that rather warped, bloated ex-genius footballer is now not so much a shadow of his former self as four times the size, they still revere him all over Argentina. Even British TV showed us a barrage of shots of the great man sitting in the front of the stand at Leicester supporting the Pumas in a recent match. But Juan Martin Hernandez still hates it – “It is an insult to Maradona,” he says. So we needed another way to get Hernandez to talk about himself, of his armoury and aura, the booming kicking, the power in the tackle belying a frame that weighs in at less than 15 stone; the passing and the vision, and the time he apparently has on the ball when in possession.
“Can I ask you about the pass you threw in the bronze medal match in Paris in 2007?” I said. I explained that it was, as it zipped through the Parisian evening in a rocket spiral, on its way to Rimas Alvarez, about three miles away, and created a try in the corner, the most memorable moment I have ever seen in rugby.
“Well first, thank you,” he said. “I used poor technique for the pass by modern standards, but if I had used the new technique it would have not reached half-way to Rimas. He is a lock and if I had thrown it 10 times to him, maybe he would only have caught it once. He caught the one that mattered.”
The 2007 World Cup was already his third, and at that stage he was at fly-half, at the head of the whole operation. He was often glorious but you felt that he shouldered too much responsibility, perhaps forgot the simple play to try to give steam to his team and his own excellence.
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But in his long run in French rugby, first with Stade Francais then with Racing Metro and finally with Toulon, he was so often sublime. I remember a European Cup match in Paris between Stade and Llanelli in which he held the match on his own personal piece of string. Perhaps sometimes his vision outdid a simple execution, but he was then and remains the most sumptuously talented player I have seen.
Today, the quarter-final against Ireland in Cardiff is bound to be another stellar occasion. There has been much publicity surrounding the injuries to Johnny Sexton, Peter O’Mahony and Paul O’Connell and far too much publicity about the punch thrown by Sean O’Brien, who is suspended today. But Argentina actually have as many first-choice players absent, and will miss, in, particular Marcelo Bosch in the centre, and Nahuel Teta Chaparro and Mariano Galarza up front.
Hernandez realises fully that Ireland, however, are quite magnificently passionate themselves. “A fantastic side, and always a pleasure to play against,” he said. “Very intense, very difficult.”
In previous tournaments Argentina may now be losing momentum, due to the sheer unfamiliarty of playing so many games in so short a time, after a history when to play four Tests in a year was a long fixture list. Now, seated at the top table in The Rugby Championship, they are used to weekly pressure. They began by losing 15 Championship matches in a row but now, they have started winning.
“The biggest improvement is experience of high-level games weekend after weekend,” said Hernandez. “To perform every weekend at our max, that’s what this competition is about, and that’s the best thing we can take.”
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It is said that he is not entirely happy about playing in the centre, but is too proud a Puma to say it. Plus, Nicolas Sanchez, alongside him at fly-half, is a coming man. How wonderful to have a true all-round talent at inside centre, instead of the one or two-dimensional players favoured by England and others. Life in France is now over for him, after nine seasons. He returns at the end of this tournament to Buenos Aires, his native city, to play in the inaugural season of the Jaguars, who enter the Super Rugby competition and become the first truly professional rugby team in Argentina. He is loving the prospect. “I went overseas from second grade rugby because I knew it would give me a better opportunity to play for Argentina and to learn the sport. Now, I have no excuses and that is why I am going back. Argentina is not an easy country but for my family to grow up amongst family and friends, is a great thing. It is time to go home.”
He does not rule out playing another World Cup when he will be 37, and considering that class is permanent, and so too a passion to play for Argentina, then why should he not? He realises that Ireland have a mass of street wisdom and are narrow favourites at the Millennium stadium. If Argentina win then we will still not be calling Maradona the Hernandez of football. But we will be acclaiming this most special of players. And praying he is with us still, next time around.