Bermuda captain Bobby Hurdle was left to reflect on what might have been after his side failed to tame the Pumas in yesterday's World Rugby Classic curtain-raiser.

Despite a performance of typically strong running from Hurdle he could not inspire his side to victory at National Sports Club and the hosts went down 36-5 to the defending champions.

"It was a rough game,'' said Hurdle, who along with several other Bermudians only last week returned from a tour of England with the West Indies.

"Argentina are always a tough squad, they play hard up front and I think we stepped back and let them come at us instead of meeting them head to head and that really killed us in the second-half.'' Hurdle went on: "The rain held out, the field was nice and soft underfoot, so conditions were pretty much ideal. I think we should have just stepped up and taken it to them instead of letting them come at us.

"Our game plan was to really hold them out for the first 15 minutes and really go at them. After the first 15 or 20 minutes if we were still level or ahead then we knew we could play.'' Hurdle said Bermuda had followed the instructions to the letter in the beginning -- restricting the Argentinians to just one try early on and a second as the interval approached.

"But then the second-half, we just went off the boil and let them run at us,'' he said. "Whenever they have the ball in their hands running they are really good and they ran in a couple of good tries and put us on the back foot.'' Clearly disappointed Hurdle said: "We don't think that that team was better than us. They played much better than us on the day but I think we were very capable of beating them.'' Bermuda now go on to play the joint Spain/Portugal side on Wednesday and Hurdle said lessons had to be learned if they were to record their opening win.

"I think we have to learn we can't play on the back foot. You can't win the game playing on the back foot -- you let them attack you and you are going to be playing defensive for the whole game and if you're playing defence you can't score.

"We have to be a little bit more offensive in a defence if you understand what I mean and that way put them on the back foot and meet them head to head.'' Argentina ran in their first try after just five minutes and the conversion put them 7-0 up.

The home side had an opportunity to reduce the arrears, but Alan Oliver's penalty kick was wide of the post.

They were almost made to pay for the miss when the Pumas made their way towards the try line and were awarded a penalty within easy distance of the posts.

However, the kick struck the upright and although the South Americans recovered possession they could not get the score.

They did stretch their advantage after 26 minutes when they forced the ball over the line and despite protests from Bermuda a try was given.

The conversion was missed though -- the ball once again striking the upright.

The Pumas kicked a penalty within three minutes of the second half getting underway to make the score 15-0 and another try and successful conversion gave the Argentines a commanding advantage.

But Bermuda ensured there would be no shut-out when Pete Shillingford drove over the line after good play down the right.

The conversion was missed though and any hopes the home players may have had of pulling the game around vanished when the Argentines broke down the left and after evading a couple of challenges ran the ball over the line. A successful conversion made the score 29-5.

A clever chip and run saw the Pumas notch their final try and with a clean conversion they rounded off a convincing victory 36-5.

Argentine prop, Serafin Dengra, a veteran of 26 international caps, said despite the scoreline Bermuda had given his side a good game and they would have to play better if they were to beat New Zealand in their next match.

"For Argentina nobody concentrated. I think for the next match against the All Blacks, Argentina will be very, very concentrated,'' he said.

Asked what he thought the outcome would be, he said: "For me the All Blacks will be difficult -- they are the champion team.'' Photos by Nigel Richardson Riding high: Argentina, in blue and white, win a lineout against Bermuda during the South Americans' opening victory in the Millennium World Rugby Classic at Nationals yesterday.

Coming through: Bermuda captain Bobby Hurdle muscles his way through an Argentine challenge during yesterday's defeat at the hands of the Pumas.