Ever since the late 19th century when British went out to Argentina to build their railways – not so much out of the goodness of our hearts but rather because it was seen as a smart investment – and took polo with them, there has been a strong bond between the countries’ horsemen.

Of course, just like football – which we also invented and exported – the Argentines became much better than us at it. Initially they honed their game at home – there are some 600 polo grounds within two hours of Buenos Aires – before their players started to arrive in force to play in England in the late 1960s.

They are now in a league of their own; 90 per cent of the world’s players with a handicap of seven or higher are Argentine and if England put together a team of its four best polo players, it is said Argentina could put out 20-plus teams to compete against it.

Though their players were temporarily banned from playing here during the Falklands War, it was only a blip and it did not create a bad atmosphere between the players.

It is somewhat ironic though that, where the Foreign Office failed, the Home Office is succeeding in souring relations with its block on both grooms and players coming here, though the vast majority are very seasonal and stay only from March to July and are gone by October in time for Argentina’s summer.