Argentina national rugby union team

Argentina
	180px
Union	Unión Argentina de Rugby
Nickname(s)	Los Pumas
Emblem(s)	Yaguarete
Coach(es)	Daniel Hourcade
Captain(s)	Agustín Creevy
Most caps	Felipe Contepomi (87)
Top scorer	Felipe Contepomi (651)
Most tries	José María Núñez Piossek (30)
Team kit	Change kit
First international
	Argentina 3 – 28 British Lions ; (12 June 1910)
Largest win
	Argentina 152–0 Paraguay ; (1 May 2002)
Largest defeat
	New Zealand 93 – 8 Argentina ; (21 June 1997)
World Cup
Appearances	8/8 (First in 1987)
Best result	Third place, 2007

The Argentina national rugby team, nicknamed Los Pumas, represents Argentina in international rugby union matches. The team, which plays in sky blue and white jerseys, is organised by the Argentine Rugby Union (UAR, from the Spanish: Unión Argentina de Rugby).

Argentina played its first international rugby match in 1910 against a touring British Isles team. As of November 2015 they are ranked 5th in the world by the IRB, making them the highest-ranked nation in the Americas. They have competed at every Rugby World Cup staged since the inaugural tournament of 1987, and the country may be considered the strongest within the Americas in all-time World Cup competition, undefeated against all but Canada, against whom they have suffered three losses.

Although rugby union is nowhere near as popular as football in Argentina, Los Pumas' impressive results since the 1999 World Cup have seen the sport's popularity grow significantly. Argentina has achieved several upset victories, are tough contenders when playing in Buenos Aires, and are fully capable of regularly defeating Six Nations sides. A surprise victory over the hosts France in the first game of the 2007 World Cup took Argentina to fourth in the IRB World Rankings. The team were undefeated in their pool, and reached the semi-finals for the first time, beating Scotland 19–13 in their quarter-final. They were defeated 37–13 by eventual winners South Africa in the semi-finals, but followed this up with a second win over France to claim third place overall.

In March 2008 the team reached an all-time high of third in the IRB World Rankings.

After their advances in competitiveness and performance during the 2000s, coupled with their location in the Southern Hemisphere, Argentina was the only tier 1 nation that had no regular competition, and some, among them former Pumas captain Agustín Pichot,^[7] have even spoken of them joining the Six Nations. Argentina officially joined The Rugby Championship in a meeting in Buenos Aires on November 23, 2011.^[8] where in their first tournament in 2012, Argentina secured a 16–16 draw with The Springboks in only their second game.

The 2014 Rugby Championship saw the first Championship-match win for Argentina who defeated Australia 21–17.,.^[9] 2015 proved to be a very successful year for Argentinian rugby, as the last match of the 2015 Rugby Championship was Argentina's first ever win over South Africa, where the Pumas defeated the Springboks 37–25 in Durban, and reached another semifinal at the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

History

Early years

R. Cooper, former team captain in 1928.

The team that played British Lions when they toured on Argentina in 1927.

The first rugby union match in Argentina was played in 1873, the game having been brought to Argentina by British immigrants. In 1899, four clubs in Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires, joined together to form the River Plate Rugby Football Union. In 1910 a side managed by Oxford University – supposedly the England national team, but including three Scottish players — toured Argentina as part of the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the Revolución de Mayo: the people of Argentina termed it the "Combined British", also known as "Great Britain XV". Argentina made its international debut against this team under the name "The River Plate Rugby Football Union" on 12 June. The match was played at Belgrano Athletic field and Argentina lost 28–3. The only try for the local team was scored by C.J. McCarthy of Belgrano Athletic. The Argentina line-up was: Saffery, MacCarthy, Gebbie, Bovet, Donnelly, Gribell, Hayman, Heatlie, Henrys, Heriot, Mold, Reid, Sawyer, Watson and Talbot, being all of them descendant of British immigrants.^[10]^[11]

In 1927 the British Isles Lions toured Argentina for second time, with the Lions winning all nine encounters; the tour did however become a financial success for Argentine rugby. Of the nine encounters, four tests were played, which Argentina lost by over 30 points in all. All the games took place in Buenos Aires. The important fact was that all the players on the field were Argentine-born.^[11]

Five years passed until another international team would return to Argentina, which would be the Junior Springboks in 1932, playing a two match series. Argentina lost both matches.

In 1936 the British Isles visited Argentina again, winning all ten of their matches and only conceding nine points in the whole tour. Only one test was played on the tour, with Argentina losing 23–0. The following month Argentina left the country to play their first away tests – against Chile in Valparaiso. Argentina won the first test (and their first game), 29–0. The second match was won by a similar margin. Two years later Argentina hosted Chile, which resulted in Argentina winning by 30 points.

Post war

Match played between Argentina and France rugby union teams in 1954, cover of El Gráfico magazine.

At the first South American tournament, in 1951, Argentina accounted for Uruguay 62–0, Brazil 72–0 and win against Chile by 13–3.

At the second South American tournament, in 1958, Argentina accounted for Uruguay 50–3 and Peru 44–0, And finally Argentina emerged victorious against the hosts Chile in Santiago, by 14–0. In 1959 the Junior Springboks returned to Buenos Aires, winning both fixtures 14–6, and 20–5.

1960s: "Los Pumas"

Marcelo Pascual diving in the ingoal of Junior Springboaks in 1965.

In 1960, France visited Buenos Aires for a three match series against Argentina. The hosts still could not get their first win over the French, with France winning all three tests 37–3, 12–3 and 29–6. The following year Argentina again showed their dominance on a continental level, winning the South American tournament held in Montevideo, by beating Brazil 60–0, Uruguay 36–3 and Chile 11–3. In 1964 a new version of the South American tournament was played in San Pablo and Argentina again achieved huge victories over Uruguay (25–6), Brazil (30–5) and Chile (30–8)

In the late 1960s the four home unions began tours to Argentina, and after Wales struggled in both Tests in Buenos Aires in 1967 it became clear that Argentina would be a difficult place to win a series. Scotland lost the first test in 1968, but won a close second test two weeks later.

The first trip of the Argentina national rugby team to the other side of the Atlantic was to Rhodesia and South Africa in 1965. The team acquired the nickname "Pumas", from a local journalist after their first tour match, a defeat on 8 May by Rhodesia in Salisbury 17–12. The book "Be Pumas" recalls the Wackley Farmer of Rhodesia magazine commenting on the emblem embroidered on the tourists' jerseys was like a puma – rather than a jaguar. After defeats by Salisbury and Northern Transvaal, the first win came against Western Transvaal, another against South West Africa Country Districts and finally against the Southern Universities. The Pumas scored a landmark win of 11–6 against the Junior Springboks. They were welcomed home to Buenos Aires by a huge crowd; the tour had harvested 11 victories, one draw and four defeats over two months. A match was then organised against the French champions Section Paloise, although the match was remembered for the uproar and misconduct of both teams rather than the Argentine victory. Then Oxford & Cambridge arrived, a team that the Pumas had never beaten. The first match finished level at 19–19 and the second saw the University students triumph 9–3. 1965 ended with a match against Chile, which the Pumas won 23–11.

In 1966, the Gazelles arrived, a kind of a Junior Springboks B team. The visitors took two victories 9–3 and 20–15. In September 1967, Argentina played in Buenos Aires in the South American Championship with victories over Uruguay 38–6 and Chile 18–0. Wales arrived in Buenos Aires in 1968 and for the first time in their history the Pumas were able to triumph in a series, winning the first match 9–5 and drawing the second 9–9. The first great decade in Argentine rugby came to a close with the arrival of Scotland in 1969. The first match saw a big Argentine victory 20–3, but in the second game the visitors narrowly won 6–3.

1970s and 1980s

The forward line of 1970: García Yáñez, Handley and Foster

Through the 1970s, Argentina confirmed its steady rise towards top-tier status under the influence of its first truly world-class player, fly-half Hugo Porta. During their European tour in 1976, the Pumas came tantalizingly close to a historic victory at Cardiff Arms Park over Wales, then the dominant force in the Northern Hemisphere. Only a Phil Bennett penalty on a foul by Gabriel Travaglini at the death allowed the Welsh to escape with a 20–19 victory. Two years later Argentina returned for their 1978 European tour and held a virtually full-strength England XV to a 13–13 draw before losing 6–19 to Italy. From the late seventies to the early nineties, Argentina never lost the two matches of a series held in Buenos Aires, in a period that included victories against France, England, Australia and a 21–21 tie to the All Blacks, which is probably the most important result ever obtained by the Pumas, thanks to an outstanding performance by Hugo Porta who scored all of Argentina's points.

Late 20th century

By the time the first Rugby World Cup was held in Australia and New Zealand, in 1987, Argentines were confident their national team would at least make it to quarter-finals. However, an unexpected loss to Fiji prevented the team from clinching the first round. Argentina won their first ever World Cup game when they defeated Italy in Christchurch.

Over the following years, the retirement of many of Argentina's most experienced players, and the defection of many others to professional leagues (rugby union is still an amateur sport in Argentina and UAR's regulations of the time prevented any player who played professionally from playing for the national team) left Argentina with an inexperienced side. This led to disappointing performances in the 1991 and 1995 World Cups, although in the latter Argentina presented a powerful pack which was praised by the international media. Argentina's tighthead prop, Patricio Noriega and hooker, Federico Méndez, went to play in Australia and South Africa respectively after their performance. Noriega even played for the Wallabies.

In 1999, a more experienced and somewhat under-rated Argentina made it to the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time. They had finished second in their group to Wales, and went onto the quarter-final play-offs. After a vibrant 28–24 win against Ireland, they were eliminated by France, 28–47, in the quarter-final. Gonzalo Quesada was the highest overall points scorer in the tournament with 102.

The new millennium

Agustín Pichot stayed in Los Pumas from 1995-2007, having played four World Cups.

In April 2000, Marcelo Loffreda was appointed coach of Argentina. Argentina participated in the 2003 World Cup, but missed out on progressing to the quarter-finals due to a 15–16 loss to Ireland. Because of the fixture list, Argentina had to play four games in a fortnight, whereas Ireland played the same number of games in four weeks.

In 2004 Argentina showed good form, splitting a midyear two-test home series with Wales. Los Pumas handed defending Six Nations champion France a 24–14 loss in November 2004 at Marseille, before losing 21–19 to Ireland on a last-minute drop goal. After returning to Argentina, the Pumas lost 39–7 to the visiting Springboks; however, the Pumas were without 10 regular starters who had returned to their club teams in Europe.

The Pumas during their November 2006 win over England at Twickenham.

Perhaps one of the Pumas' best matches of the decade came on 23 May 2005, when they played the British and Irish Lions in Cardiff before the Lions' tour to New Zealand. The Pumas chose a side of second- and third-choice players as 25 players were unavailable due to club commitments. An inspired Pumas performance, combined with lacklustre play by a mostly second-choice Lions side, put Argentina on the verge of a great upset until a Jonny Wilkinson penalty at the death salvaged a 25–25 draw and the Lions avoided a humiliating defeat. When the Springboks returned to Argentina in November of that year at Vélez Sársfield, they faced a much stronger Pumas side, with most of their European-based players present. The Pumas took a 20–16 lead into the half-time break, before fading the second half and losing 34–23. The following week, the Pumas defeated Scotland 23–19 Murrayfield for the Pumas fifth consecutive win over Scotland since 1990.

In the 2006 mid-year tests, Argentina swept Wales in a two-test tour for their first test series win over Wales. Argentina won the first test 27–25, in the first Argentina test in Patagonia. The second test at Vélez Sársfield saw the Pumas win 45–27, Argentina's largest win ever over Wales. Los Pumas next hosted the All Blacks at Vélez Sársfield. The All Blacks survived a Pumas assault in the final minutes to hang on to win 25–19 and to deny Argentina a huge upset. Argentina then defeated Chile 60–13 in Santiago and defeated Uruguay 26–0 at home to qualify for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. The 2006 end-of-year Tests began with a bang for Los Pumas, as they handed England a 25–18 defeat at Twickenham, resulting in the fans booing the England team off the pitch.^[12] Further success followed for the Pumas, defeating Italy in Rome, and coming within one point of beating France in Paris.

The Sunday Times of London reported in February 2007 that the IRB was brokering a deal with SANZAR, the body that organises the Tri Nations, to admit Los Pumas to the competition. However, The Sunday Times indicated that one of the biggest stumbling blocks was the UAR's commitment to amateurism.^[13] By August of that year, it became clear that the competition would not be expanded until the key SANZAR media contract with News Corporation expired in 2010. An IRB spokesman noted the contract, Southern Hemisphere fixture congestion, and the lack of a professional structure in Argentina as reasons that Los Pumas could not be admitted any sooner.^[14]

2007 World Cup semifinal

Ignacio Corleto, on his way to score a try against France at the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

Los Pumas began their final preparation for the 2007 Rugby World Cup with a summer two-test series against visiting Ireland, with a 22–20 win at Santa Fe,^[15]^[16] and a 16–0 win at Vélez Sársfield.^[17] Los Pumas then completed a clean sweep of their mid-year tests with a 24–6 win over Italy in Mendoza. They split their final warmup tests, defeating Chile 70–14 at CASI in Buenos Aires, before losing to Wales 20–27 at Millennium Stadium.

At the World Cup, Los Pumas were drawn into the so-called pool of death, featuring two other teams ranked in the top six in the IRB rankings—Ireland and the hosts France. On top of this, they opened the World Cup at Stade de France against the French, marking the third consecutive World Cup in which they played against the host nation in the World Cup opener. The Pumas took a 17–9 lead into the half, and held on for a surprising 17–12 win.^[18] The Pumas subsequently beat Georgia 33–3 at the Stade de Gerland, Lyon. Argentina then beat Namibia 63–3 in Marseille, the biggest winning margin in Argentine World Cup history.^{[citation needed]} They then secured a 30–15 victory against Ireland, which ensured that Argentina topped the group.

Argentina against Ireland during the 2007 Rugby World Cup held in France. Los Pumas won the match for a score 30-15.

Argentina then defeated Scotland 19–13 in the quarter-final at the Stade de France. The Pumas' improbable run towards the Webb Ellis trophy ended in a comprehensive 37–13 defeat by the Springboks in the semi-final at Stade de France. However, the Pumas recovered to beat France for the second time in the 2007 Rugby World Cup, a 34–10 win in the 3rd/4th place playoff. The 3rd place showing for the Pumas in the 2007 Rugby World Cup was Argentina's best ever result in Rugby World Cup history. Argentina's performance marked the first time that a team from outside the Six Nations or Tri Nations competition reached the semifinals of the Rugby World Cup,^{[citation needed]} and gave renewed momentum propelling Argentina towards joining one of those competitions.

During their World Cup run, the normally football-crazed Argentines embraced the Pumas so much that El Superclásico, the Buenos Aires football derby between Boca Juniors and River Plate, was rescheduled so that it would not conflict with the Pumas' quarter-final match.^[19] As the only major Spanish language country in the 2007 Rugby World Cup, the Pumas also had considerable support from rugby fans in Spain, Uruguay, and other Latin American countries during their impressive five-game winning streak.^{[citation needed]}

After the 2007 World Cup

In November 2007, in the wake of Argentina's World Cup run, the future status of Los Pumas was a key topic of discussion at an IRB conference on the future worldwide growth of the sport. The decisions made at the conference regarding Argentina were:^[20]

The Pumas will play more annual tests, increasing from the previous six tests per year to nine by 2010. The team would play four tests in the June test window, three in November, and two during the Six Nations window in February and March.
Between 2008 and 2010, Argentina would develop a domestic professional structure, with the goal of having the majority of Argentine professionals playing at home. Sometime around 2012, Los Pumas will then be "fully integrated into the Southern top-flight Rugby playing structure" (read "Tri Nations").

On March 13, 2008, Santiago Phelan was named as the coach of the Argentine rugby union team, filling the vacancy left by Marcelo Loffreda.^[21] On 7 June 2008, the Pumas beat Scotland 21–15 in Rosario, Argentina, thus maintaining their position as the third highest ranked team in the IRB rankings.

In June 2009 the British media reported that Argentina were lobbying for the 2013 British and Irish Lions Tour to Australia to incorporate provincial games and test matches in Argentina,^[22] but nothing came of this proposal.

Argentina failed to get a test series victory under Phelan, with a draw against Scotland in 2008 and England in 2009, before losing 2–0 to Scotland in 2010.

2011 Rugby World Cup

Los Pumas against England during the RWC 2011 in New Zealand.

World Cup preparations for Los Pumas began with a drawn 1–1 series against the French Barbarians, a 78–15 win against a South American Invitational XV, and a 21–15 victory against the Aviva Premiership club Worcester Warriors. In their only international test warm-up match, Los Pumas lost 28–13 to Wales in Cardiff.

Los Pumas kicked off their 2011 World Cup with a 13–9 loss against England, a match which they led for over 60 minutes. They next beat Romania 43–8. The following match against Scotland decided which team would reach the quarterfinals. A late try by replacement fullback Lucas González Amorosino and a successful conversion meant Los Pumas won 13–12. Argentina finished the pool stage by winning 25–9 against Georgia.

Argentina's final match of the tournament was the quarterfinal against eventual champions All Blacks. In a surprisingly close first half, Argentina led 7–6 after 30 minutes following a try by Julio Farias Cabello. As the game went on, the All Blacks began to dominate, leading to a final score of 33–10.

While not as glamorous as the 2007 tournament for the Pumas, their campaign was considered relatively successful as they qualified for the quarterfinals from a pool that featured England and Scotland, and put up a valiant quarterfinal display against the All Blacks. It marked the first time that Argentina qualified for the quarterfinals in two consecutive World Cup tournaments.

Felipe Contepomi, captain of Los Pumas during the RWC 2011

2012: The Rugby Championship

In 2012, Argentina again drew a test series against France.

2012 saw a major breakthrough for the Pumas, as they joined The Rugby Championship (formerly known as the Tri Nations) against New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. This was the first time Argentina participated in an annual Tier 1 international competition.

Argentina played its first match of the 2012 Rugby Championship against South Africa in Cape Town on 18 August 2012, losing 27–6. Argentina quickly recovered one week later in Mendoza to achieve a 16–16 score against South Africa, its first draw in history against the Springboks. Argentina acquitted themselves well against Australia, losing 19–23 and then 19–25 to earn a losing bonus point in each match. Argentina also played respectably against the All Blacks in New Zealand, with Argentina keeping the score 5–6 at the half before losing 5–21. Despite ending bottom of the table with just 4 points and no wins in their inaugural season, Argentina proved hard to beat when home.

In the November 2012 test series, Argentina beat Wales at the Millennium Stadium, and lost against France and Ireland also on the road. In June 2013, the team lost both matches against England in Argentina, and beat tier 2 squad Georgia.

Argentina lost 2–0 to England in 2013 including a record 32–3 defeat in the opening test, the biggest losing margin Argentina has had against England on home soil. Argentina achieved the occasional "upset", including a 9–6 win over Scotland at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh and a 26–12 win over Wales, who at the time where the Six Nations Grand Slam Champions, at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

In 2013, Argentina began their second tournament with a record breaking 73–13 defeat by South Africa, which was South Africa's biggest winning margin over Argentina.^[23] In the reverse fixture at home in round 2, Argentina proved to be a formidable team, but lost narrowlly to South Africa 17–22.

In round 3 they played New Zealand who was victorious in the match 28–13. In Round 4, they lost to Australia in Perth 14–13. In the corresponding home fixture, Argentina lost 54–17 to Australia, a record losing margin against Australia at home.^[24] It was the second year in a row with Argentina finishing bottom of the table at the Rugby Championship, this time losing all matches.

On October 21, 2013, Phelan stepped down from his post as Los Pumas head coach, one year early from the end of his contract.^[25] Over the 45 matches that he coached in his 5-year tenure, he earned 13 wins, 31 defeats and 1 draw.

Daniel Hourcade was hired as new Pumas head coach in October 2013. In November 2013, the Pumas were beaten by England and Wales in Twickenham and Cardiff, and later won against Italy in Rome. In the 2014 mid-year rugby union internationals, Argentina lost their games against Ireland and Scotland.

On 5 October 2014, Los Pumas achieved their first ever win in the Rugby Championship, defeating Australia 21–17 at the Estadio Malvinas Argentinas in Mendoza, their first win over Australia in 17 years. Despite that win, Argentina finished in last place in the Rugby Championship for the third consecutive year.

In the 2014 European end-of-year tests, Argentina lost to Scotland, and beat Italy and France,

In the 2015 Rugby Championship, beat South Africa for the first time 37-25.

2015 Rugby World Cup

Los Pumas against the All Blacks, in the Wembley Stadium during the RWC 2015.

Argentina followed their growing competitiveness in the Rugby Championship with a strong showing in the 2015 World Cup, reaching the semi-finals for the second time. Argentina opened the tournament with a close fought match against favourites New Zealand, leading 13-12 at half time before eventually conceding two second half tries to lose 26-16. They followed this with a string of convincing wins against Georgia, Tonga and Namibia to qualify for the quarterfinals. A feature of Argentina's rugby in the 2015 World Cup was their free-flowing, entertaining and attacking style of play which resulted in them scoring 22 tries in pool play.

In the quarter final against Ireland, Argentina scored two tries in the opening 10 minutes to jump out to an early 17-0 lead. Ireland regrouped and scored two tries of their own either side of half time to narrow the gap to 20-17 early in the second half. However, Argentina rallied in the late stages of the match, running in late tries by Juan Imhoff and Joaquín Tuculet to eventually finish with a convincing 43-20 win. As a result, they advanced to their second semi-final against Australia.

The situation was reversed in the semi-final, when Argentina conceded 2 tries in the opening 10 minutes as Australia gained a 19-6 lead after 30 minutes. Argentina dominated the territory and possession of the remainder of the match, gaining a number of penalties at the scrum to gradually reduce Australia's lead. The match was finely balanced with Australia leading 22-15 after 70 minutes, when Australian winger Drew Mitchell produced a match winning run, beating 4 Argentian tacklers before passing to Adam Ashley-Cooper to score the winning try. The match finished with Australia winning a fast-paced and entertaining clash 29-15.

Colours, symbol and name

The Jaguar, native of the northeastern Argentina was chosen as the symbol of the team.

Argentina alternated blue and white jerseys during its first international matches in 1910. In 1927 Mr. Abelardo Gutiérrez of Gimnasia y Esgrima de Buenos Aires proposed that Argentina should play against British Lions in a striped white and light blue jersey. That request was accepted and Argentina wore the striped uniform for the first time in its history.^[26]

Los Pumas play in a shirt in the country's flag (and sporting) colours of light blue and white, white shorts, and socks in light blue and white. In 2011, the UAR signed a deal with Nike which became the exclusive kit provider for all its national senior and youth teams, including Pampas XV.^[27] The first uniform designed by the American company left the traditional horizontal-striped jersey behind, featuring a single light blue with white shoulders jersey, although it was announced that Los Pumas will wear its traditional uniform again when they play the 2012 Rugby Championship.^[28]

On September 1941, Abelardo Gutiérrez (who had proposed the use of a white and blue jersey for the team 14 years prior) suggested a badge with the figure of a lion. The color of the crest was blue (due to Buenos Aires Cricket Club, where the first rugby match in Argentine had been played). The animal was later replaced by a native to Argentine species, so the jaguar was chosen due to his "agility and courage", according to their words.^[26]

The Pumas nickname is the result of an error made by Carl Kohler, a journalist for the then Die Transvaler newspaper in South Africa, while following the team during their first overseas tour ever – to Southern Africa in 1965. He tried to devise a catchy nickname for the team similar to existing international team nicknames such as All Blacks, Springboks, and Wallabies. He asked Isak van Heerden, the then coach of the Natal Rugby team who was asked by the SARB to assist with the tour, for ideas. They saw a picture of a type of lion with spots on the UAR crest. Kohler was aware that the Americas had jaguars and pumas, and as he was under pressure to submit his article, made a guess and called them the Pumas, instead of the actual jaguar. The mistake stuck, and was eventually adopted by the Argentines themselves (although the UAR crest still depicts a jaguar).^[29]

Uniform evolution

1910–27 ¹

1927–present

2012–15

Notes:

¹ The team alternated white and blue jerseys during that period.

Kit suppliers

Period	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
1978 – 1998	Adidas	No shirt sponsor
1999 – 2000	Adidas	VISA
2000 – 2003	Topper
2004 – 2011	Adidas
2012 – present	Nike, Inc

Home grounds

Estadio Ciudad de La Plata, the stadium has also hosted a number of rugby matches between Argentina and the New Zealand All Blacks as part of the Rugby Championship, which Argentina joined in 2012.

The Pumas use a variety of stadiums when playing at home. One of the most frequently used for Tests is Vélez Sársfield in Buenos Aires. When Great Britain first came to Argentina in the tour of 1910, the first Argentina Test was played in Buenos Aires. During the mid year Tests in 2007, as well as Vélez Sársfield, Argentina played games at venues including Estadio B.G. Estanislao López in Santa Fe, Estadio Malvinas Argentinas in Mendoza, and Estadio Gigante de Arroyito, in Rosario. Argentina have also used the River Plate Stadium in the past, and in 2006 hosted Wales at Estadio Raúl Conti in Puerto Madryn.

Record

Overall

Argentina have won 219 of their 404 Test matches, a win record of 54.21%. When the world rankings were introduced by the IRB in October 2003, Argentina were ranked seventh. They fell to eighth in the rankings in June 2004, before rising back to seventh by November that year. They fell back to eighth in February 2005, and stayed there until falling to their lowest ranking of ninth in February 2006. Since then, Argentina rose to eighth in July 2006, then sixth in November of that year. They had a one-week fall to seventh, then one week later rose to fifth to start the World Cup 2007.

Los Pumas twice surpassed their highest ranking at the 2007 Rugby World Cup.^[30] Defeating number three France, the first opening game loss for a World Cup hosting nation, moved them into fourth place, their highest position since the IRB World Rankings were established. They lost to eventual champions South Africa in the semi-final but beat France yet again in the bronze medal round to set another highest ranking, third, behind South Africa and New Zealand.

Argentina has won every match against South American national teams, including 31 against Uruguay, 28 against Chile, 16 against Paraguay and 11 against Brazil. In contrast, they have never beaten New Zealand, having scored a draw against them.

Below is table of the representative rugby matches played by an Argentina national XV at test level up until 30 October 2015.^[31]

World Rugby Rankings v t e
Top 30 rankings as of 30 May 2016^[32]
Rank	Change*	Team	Points
1		New Zealand	96.10
2		Australia	89.33
3		South Africa	87.66
4		England	84.60
5	1	Argentina	82.59
6	1	Wales	82.49
7		Ireland	80.33
8		France	78.36
9		Scotland	78.32
10		Japan	77.05
11		Fiji	76.96
12		Georgia	72.62
13		Tonga	71.60
14		Italy	70.78
15		Samoa	70.36
16		Romania	67.52
17		United States	65.68
18		Canada	64.27
19		Russia	63.56
20		Uruguay	63.23
21		Namibia	61.75
22		Spain	60.87
23		Hong Kong	58.43
24		Belgium	57.94
25		Germany	57.71
26		Ukraine	56.95
27		Kenya	55.89
28		Chile	55.89
29		South Korea	55.45
30		Portugal	54.29
*Change from the previous week
Argentina's Historical Rankings

Source: World Rugby - Graph updated to 1 November 2015^[32]

Opponent	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win %	For	Aga	Diff
Australia	25	5	19	1	20.00%	387	673	-286
Brazil	13	13	0	0	100.00%	1054	47	+1007
British and Irish Lions	6	0	6	0	0.00%	6	211	-205
Canada	8	6	2	0	75.00%	262	137	+125
Chile	37	37	0	0	100.00%	1716	243	+1473
England	19	4	14	1	21.05%	282	488	-206
England XV	1	0	0	1	0.00%	13	13	+0
Fiji	4	3	1	0	75.00%	130	96	+34
France	48	13	34	1	27.08%	754	1169	-415
Georgia	4	4	0	0	100.00%	141	37	+104
Ireland	16	6	10	0	37.50%	330	351	-21
Ireland XV	5	2	2	1	40.00%	25	36	-11
Italy	20	14	5	1	70.00%	496	344	+152
Japan	5	4	1	0	80.00%	205	139	+66
Junior Springboks	5	1	4	0	20.00%	26	166	-90
Namibia	3	3	0	0	100.00%	194	36	+158
New Zealand	22	0	21	1	0.00%	294	881	-587
New Zealand XV	4	0	4	0	0.00%	30	80	-50
Oxford and Cambridge	8	2	5	1	25.00%	48	126	-78
Paraguay	17	17	0	0	100.00%	1382	65	+1317
Peru	1	1	0	0	100.00%	44	0	+44
Romania	8	8	0	0	100.00%	317	97	+220
Samoa	4	1	3	0	25%	82	111	-29
Scotland	15	9	6	0	60.00%	268	309	-41
Scotland XV	3	1	2	0	33.33%	34	21	+13
South Africa	22	1	20	1	4.55%	423	803	-380
South Africa Gazelles	6	2	4	0	33.33%	60	71	-11
Spain	4	4	0	0	100.00%	149	75	+74
Tonga	1	1	0	0	100.00%	45	16	+29
United States	8	8	0	0	100.00%	247	119	+128
Uruguay	40	40	0	0	100.00%	1702	405	+1297
Venezuela	1	1	0	0	100.00%	147	7	+140
Wales	15	5	10	0	33.33%	350	428	-78
Wales XV	3	1	1	1	33.33%	37	34	+3
World XV	2	2	0	0	100.00%	64	42	+22
Zimbabwe	1	0	1	0	0.00%	12	17	-5
Total	404	219	175	10	54.21%	11752	7843	+3909

Rugby World Cup

Year	Round	Position	Played	Won	Drew	Lost	Pts For	Against
1987 (16)	Pool Stage	13th	3	1	0	2	49	90
1991 (16)	Pool Stage	14th	3	0	0	3	38	83
1995 (16)	Pool Stage	13th	3	0	0	3	69	87
1999 (20)	Quarter Final	8th	5	3	0	2	137	122
2003 (20)	Pool Stage	9th	4	2	0	2	140	57
2007 (20)	Third place	3rd	7	6	0	1	209	93
2011 (20)	Quarter Final	8th	5	3	0	2	100	73
2015 (20)	Fourth place	4th	7	4	0	3	250	143
2019 (20)
Total	–	–	37	19	–	18	992	748

The Rugby Championship

Rugby Championship (2012 – )
Nation	Games				Points			Bonus points	Table points	Championships
Nation	played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff	Bonus points	Table points	Championships
New Zealand	21	18	1	2	628	337	+291	11	85	3
Australia	21	10	1	10	434	515	−81	3	45	1
South Africa	21	10	1	10	522	424	+98	10	52	0
Argentina	21	2	1	18	337	645	−308	8	18	0

Updated: 8 August 2015
Source: espnscrum.com

Players

Current squad

Argentina 25-players squad for the 21 November match against the Barbarians at Twickenham.^[33]

On 12 November, Agustín Creevy, Juan Martín Hernández and Joaquín Tuculet were withdrawn from the squad due to injury, with Gabriel Ascárate and Santiago Iglesias Valdez being called up as replacements for Creevy and Hernández.^[34]

Head Coach: Daniel Hourcade

Caps Updated: 6 November 2015

Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.

Player	Position	Date of Birth (Age)	Caps	Club/province
Santiago Iglesias Valdez	Hooker	(1993-05-26) 26 May 1993 (age 31)	11	Jaguares
Julián Montoya	Hooker	(1993-10-29) 29 October 1993 (age 31)	16	Jaguares
Santiago García Botta	Prop	(1992-06-19) 19 June 1992 (age 32)	6	Jaguares
Ramiro Herrera	Prop	(1989-02-14) 14 February 1989 (age 35)	20	Jaguares
Lucas Noguera Paz	Prop	(1993-05-10) 10 May 1993 (age 31)	23	Jaguares
Juan Pablo Orlandi	Prop	(1983-06-20) 20 June 1983 (age 41)	17	Pau
Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro	Prop	(1989-11-06) 6 November 1989 (age 34)	22	Jaguares
Matías Alemanno	Lock	(1991-12-05) 5 December 1991 (age 32)	20	Jaguares
Guido Petti Pagadizábal	Lock	(1994-11-17) 17 November 1994 (age 29)	12	Jaguares
Tomás Lezana	Flanker	(1994-02-16) 16 February 1994 (age 30)	5	Jaguares
Pablo Matera	Flanker	(1993-07-18) 18 July 1993 (age 31)	22	Jaguares
Javier Ortega Desio	Flanker	(1990-06-14) 14 June 1990 (age 34)	19	Jaguares
Facundo Isa	Number 8	(1993-09-21) 21 September 1993 (age 31)	13	Jaguares
Leonardo Senatore	Number 8	(1984-05-13) 13 May 1984 (age 40)	36	Jaguares
Felipe Ezcurra	Scrum-half	(1993-04-15) 15 April 1993 (age 31)	2	Hindú
Martín Landajo (c)	Scrum-half	(1988-06-14) 14 June 1988 (age 36)	53	Jaguares
Santiago González Iglesias	Fly-half	(1988-06-16) 16 June 1988 (age 36)	21	Jaguares
Nicolás Sánchez	Fly-half	(1988-10-26) 26 October 1988 (age 36)	39	Jaguares
Gabriel Ascárate	Centre	(1987-10-20) 20 October 1987 (age 37)	16	Jaguares
Emiliano Boffelli	Centre	(1995-01-16) 16 January 1995 (age 29)	0	Jaguares
Jerónimo de la Fuente	Centre	(1991-02-24) 24 February 1991 (age 33)	19	Jaguares
Santiago Cordero	Wing	(1993-12-06) 6 December 1993 (age 30)	18	Jaguares
Matías Moroni	Wing	(1991-03-29) 29 March 1991 (age 33)	8	Jaguares
Ramiro Moyano	Fullback	(1990-05-28) 28 May 1990 (age 34)	6	Jaguares

Coaches

Coaches:^[35]

1932: Edmundo Cundo Stanfield
1936: Luis Cilley, Edmundo Stanfield and C. Huntley Robertson.
1954: Juan C. Wells.
1956: Dermot Cavanagh and Horacio Savino.
1959: Jorge Merelle.
1960: Robert Galarga.
1965: Izaak Van Heerden, Alberto Camardón and Ángel Guastella.
1965–66: Alberto Camardón and Ángel Guastella.
1967–70: Alberto Camardón, Ángel Guastella and Jorge Merelle.
1971: Ángel Guastella and Eduardo Poggi.
1972–73: Ángel Guastella, Eduardo Poggi and Oscar Martínez Basante.
1974: Carlos Villegas, Emilio Perasso and Jorge Merelle.
1975: Eduardo Poggi and Eduardo Scahrenberg.
1976–77: Carlos Villegas and Emilio Perasso.
1978: Ángel Guastella, Aitor Otaño and José L. Imhoff.
1979–80: Luis Gradín and Aitor Otaño.
1981–83: Rodolfo O'Reilly.
1984: Héctor Silva and Aitor Otaño.
1985–86: Héctor Silva, Aitor Otaño and Ángel Guastella.
1987: Héctor Silva and Ángel Guastella.
1988–90: Rodolfo O'Reilly and Raúl Sanz.
1990–91: Luis Gradín and Guillermo Lamarca.
1992: Luis Gradín and John Hart.
1993–94: Héctor Méndez and José J. Fernández.
1995: Alejandro Petra and Ricardo Paganini.
1995: Alejandro Petra and Emilio Perasso.
1996: José Luis Imhoff, José J. Fernández, Héctor Méndez and Alex Wyllie.
1997: José Luis Imhoff, Héctor Méndez and Alex Wyllie.
1998: José Luis Imhoff and Alex Wyllie.
1999: José Luis Imhoff and Alex Wyllie, next Héctor Méndez and Wyllie, next Wyllie alone.
2000–2007 : Marcelo Loffreda and Daniel Baetti.
2008–13: Santiago Phelan and Fabián Turnes^[36]
2013–: Daniel Hourcade

After Marcelo Loffreda left following the 2007 Rugby World Cup, the UAR spent nearly five months searching for a successor until opting for a two-coach setup, with former Pumas Santiago Phelan and Fabián Turnes taking over.^[36] On 22 October 2013, Phelan resigned from his post, ending a five-year spell in charge 2 week before Argentina goes on tour as part of the 2013 end-of-year rugby union tests. On 23 October 2013, Argentina Jaguars and Pampas XV head coach Daniel Hourcade was named the new Head Coach and his current contract will run through until the 2015 Rugby World Cup.^[37]

Individual all-time records

Most matches

#	Player	Pos	Years	Mat	Start	Sub	Won	Lost	Draw	%
1	Felipe Contepomi	Centre	1998–2013	87	75	12	42	45	0	48.27
2	Lisandro Arbizu	Centre	1990–2005	86	83	3	41	44	1	48.25
2	Rolando Martín	Flanker	1994–2003	86	77	9	44	41	1	51.74
4	Mario Ledesma	Hooker	1996–2011	84	67	17	42	41	1	50.59
5	Pedro Sporleder	Lock	1990–2003	78	72	6	41	36	1	53.20
6	Federico Méndez	Hooker	1990–2004	73	67	6	33	40	0	45.20
7	Agustín Pichot	Scrum-half	1995–2007	71	69	2	34	36	1	48.59
7	Juan M. Fernández Lobbe	Flanker	2004–	71	69	2	30	40	1	42.95
9	Marcos Ayerza	Prop	2005–	66	43	23	29	36	1	43.57
10	3 players on 65 matches

Last updated: Sudafrica vs Argentina, 31 October 2015. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[38]

Most tries

Juan Imhoff is the player who scored more tries in the history of Rugby World Cup for Argentina (7).

#	Player	Pos	Span	Mat	Start	Sub	Pts	Tries
1	José Núñez Piossek	Wing	2001–08	28	26	2	145	29
2	Diego Cuesta Silva	Centre	1983–95	63	63	0	125	28
3	Gustavo Jorge	Wing	1989–94	23	22	1	111	24
4	Rolando Martín	Flanker	1994–2003	86	77	9	90	18
4	Facundo Soler	Wing	1996–2002	25	23	2	90	18
6	Lisandro Arbizu	Centre	1990–2005	86	83	3	188	17
6	Hernán Senillosa	Wing	2002–07	33	22	11	128	17
8	Felipe Contepomi	Centre	1998–2013	87	75	12	651	16
8	Juan Imhoff	Wing	2009-	35	25	10	80	16
10	8 players on 14 tries

Last updated: Sudafrica vs Argentina, 31 October 2015. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[38]