Argentina national rugby union team

The Argentina national rugby union team (Spanish: Selección nacional de rugby de Argentina) represents Argentina in men's international rugby union; it is organised by the Argentine Rugby Union (Spanish: Unión Argentina de Rugby). Nicknamed the Pumas (Los Pumas in Spanish), they play in sky blue and white jerseys. They are ranked 8th in the world by World Rugby, making them the highest-ranked nation in the Americas.

Argentina

Nickname(s)	Los Pumas (The Pumas)
Emblem	Jaguar
Union	Argentine Rugby Union
Head coach	Mario Ledesma
Captain	Pablo Matera
Most caps	Agustin Creevy (89)[1][2][3]
Top scorer	Nicolás Sánchez (748)[4][5][6]
Top try scorer	José María Núñez Piossek (30)
Home stadium	José Amalfitani
First colours Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current	8 (as of 15 November 2020)
Highest	3 (2008)
Lowest	12 (2014)
First international
Argentina 3–28 British Isles (Buenos Aires, Argentina; 12 June 1910)
Biggest win
Argentina 152–0 Paraguay (Mendoza, Argentina; 1 May 2002)
Biggest defeat
New Zealand 93–8 Argentina (Wellington, New Zealand; 21 June 1997)
World Cup
Appearances	9 (First in 1987)
Best result	Third place, 2007
Website	lospumas.com.ar

Argentina played its first international rugby match in 1910 against a touring British Isles team. Argentina has competed at every Rugby World Cup since the first tournament of 1987, and the country are considered the strongest team within the Americas, being undefeated against all but Canada, against whom they have suffered three losses.

The Pumas' impressive results since the 1999 World Cup have seen rugby's popularity in Argentina grow significantly. Argentina has achieved several upset victories, and are capable of regularly defeating Six Nations sides. In the 2007 Rugby World Cup Argentina were undefeated in their pool and reached the semi-finals for the first time; they were defeated by South Africa in the semi-finals, but followed up with a win over France to claim third place overall. By the end of the competition, the team had reached an all-time high of third in the 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.[7] Argentina officially joined The Rugby Championship on 23 November 2011.[8] 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 successful year for Argentine rugby, including their first ever win over South Africa in the Rugby Championship, and they reached another semi-final at the 2015 Rugby World Cup. In the 2016 Rugby Championship, the Pumas again defeated the Springboks. Although winless during the 2017 Rugby Championship, the Pumas achieved two wins in their 2018 campaign, defeating both South Africa and Australia. On November 14th 2020 the Pumas beat New Zealand 25-15 to record their first win over the All Blacks.

History

The first Argentina national team ever before playing the British Lions, 12 June 1910

The History of the Argentina national team starts with the first international played by an Argentine side v. the British Islands in 1910 when they toured on South America. Argentina gained recognition in 1965, when the team toured South Africa playing a series of friendly matches there. In that tour the national team was nicknamed Los Pumas, a name that became an identity mark for Argentina, remaining to present days.

Argentina has taken part in all the Rugby World Cups since the first edition in 1987, their best performance being the third place achieved in 2007. 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. The national side also plays the Rugby Championship since the 2012 edition, after joining the competition one year before.[10]

Colours, symbol and name

The team that played the first test v. the British Lions wearing the light blue and white jersey for the first time on 31 July 1927

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 wearing a striped light blue and white jersey. That request was accepted and Argentina wore the striped uniform for the first time in its history.[11]

The Jaguar, native of the northeastern Argentina was chosen as the symbol of the team in 1941

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.[12] 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 would wear its traditional uniform again when they play the 2012 Rugby Championship.[13]

In 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 Argentina 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.[11]

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 (to Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, and South 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).[14]

Uniform evolution

1910–27 [note 1]

1910–27 [note 1]

1927–2012

2012–15

2015–2016

2016–present

Notes:

1. Until 1927 Argentina wore blue and white jerseys, with no further clarification about when they worn one or another kit

Kit suppliers

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

Home grounds

Sociedad Sportiva Argentina (above) was the first venue for Argentina in 1910. José Amalfitani Stadium (bottom), one of the current venues when the team plays in Buenos Aires

The Pumas use a variety of stadiums when playing at home. One of the most frequently used for tests is José Amalfitani Stadium, home of Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield and sited in Buenos Aires. When Great Britain made their first tour to Argentina in 1910, the national team played them at Sociedad Sportiva Argentina of Palermo. That test was also notable for being the first Argentina match ever.[15][16]

When the British combined returned to Argentina in 1927, the national side started to use GEBA and Buenos Aires Cricket Club as their home venues. GEBA was a frequent venue during the next decades, but hosted only three matches after the 1960s, as the Pumas started using larger stadiums; the Pumas' last match at GEBA was in 1993.[17] On the other side, the Buenos Aires Cricket was also used for a large number of matches until 1948 when it was destroyed by fire.[18][19]

In 1997 BACRC inaugurated the first purpose-built rugby union stadium in Argentina, erected in Los Polvorines, Greater Buenos Aires. A total of nine international games were played there by the national team until 2005 when it was sold.[20]

Los Pumas played in Ferro Carril Oeste stadium during the 1970s and 1980s, where Argentina played Ireland, New Zealand, France and Australia among others.[21][22]

During the mid year tests in 2007, as well as Vélez Sársfield, Argentina played games at venues including Brigadier Estanislao López in Santa Fe, Malvinas Argentinas in Mendoza, and 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.

Other venues that hosted Argentina rugby team were Estadio del Bicentenario in San Juan –––(where the team played tests v England and Wales (in 2017–18),[23] Estanislao López in Santa Fe (2017), Centenario in Resistencia, Chaco (2014), Monumental José Fierro in Tucumán (2012, 2014), Mario Kempes in Córdoba (2012), Est. José M. Minella in Mar del Plata (2008).

Records

Overall

Argentina have won 228 of their 452 Test matches, a win record of 50.44%. 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.[24] Defeating number three France, the second 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 41 against Uruguay, 38 against Chile, 17 against Paraguay and 13 against Brazil.

On 14th November 2020, they registered their first win against New Zealand.

Below is table of the representative rugby matches played by an Argentina national XV at test level up until 5 December 2020.[25]

Men's World Rugby Rankings
Top 20 rankings as of 13 January 2021[26]
Rank	Change*	Team	Points
1		South Africa	094.20
2		England	089.49
3		New Zealand	088.95
4		France	085.30
5		Ireland	084.65
6		Australia	083.08
7		Scotland	080.82
8		Argentina	080.31
9		Wales	079.36
10		Japan	079.29
11		Fiji	076.87
12		Georgia	072.18
13		Tonga	071.44
14		Italy	070.88
15		Samoa	070.72
16		United States	068.10
17		Spain	067.51
18		Uruguay	067.02
19		Romania	065.33
20		Portugal	062.12
21		Russia	061.96
22		Hong Kong	061.23
23		Canada	061.11
24		Namibia	061.04
25		Netherlands	060.09
26		Brazil	058.19
27		Belgium	057.17
28		Switzerland	054.12
29		Chile	053.81
30		Germany	053.13
*Change from the previous week
{{{2}}}'s historical rankings
See or edit raw graph data.
Source: World Rugby - Graph updated to 16 November 2020[26]

Opponent	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win %	For	Aga	Diff
Australia	34	6	25	3	17.64%	566	935	-369
Brazil	13	13	0	0	100.00%	1054	47	+1007
British and Irish Lions	7	0	6	1	0.00%	31	236	-205
Canada	8	6	2	0	75.00%	262	137	+125
Chile	36	36	0	0	100.00%	1627	237	+1390
England	24	4	19	1	16.67%	373	648	-275
England XV	1	0	0	1	0.00%	13	13	+0
Fiji	4	3	1	0	75.00%	130	96	+34
France	52	14	37	1	26.92%	818	1266	-448
Georgia	5	5	0	0	100.00%	186	66	+120
Ireland	18	6	12	0	33.33%	362	407	-45
Ireland XV	5	2	2	1	40.00%	25	36	-11
Italy	22	16	5	1	72.72%	557	383	+174
Japan	6	5	1	0	83.33%	259	159	+100
Junior Springboks	5	1	4	0	20.00%	26	166	-140
Namibia	3	3	0	0	100.00%	194	36	+158
New Zealand	31	1	29	1	3.22%	447	1203	-756
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	18	9	9	0	50.00%	308	386	-78
Scotland XV	3	1	2	0	33.33%	34	21	+13
South Africa	30	3	26	1	10.00%	594	1058	-464
South Africa Gazelles	6	2	4	0	33.33%	60	71	-11
Spain	4	4	0	0	100.00%	149	75	+74
Tonga	2	2	0	0	100.00%	73	28	+45
United States	9	9	0	0	100.00%	294	136	+158
Uruguay	39	39	0	0	100.00%	1669	396	+1273
Venezuela	1	1	0	0	100.00%	147	7	+140
Wales	18	5	13	0	27.78%	392	505	-113
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	452	228	211	13	50.44%	12666	9326	+3340

Rugby World Cup

Rugby World Cup										Qualification
Year	Round	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	Squad		Pos	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA
1987	Pool Stage	3	1	0	2	49	90	Squad		Invited
1991	Pool Stage	3	0	0	3	38	83	Squad		2nd	4	2	0	2	57	46
1995	Pool Stage	3	0	0	3	69	87	Squad		P/O	5	5	0	0	184	53
1999	Quarter-finals	5	3	0	2	137	122	Squad		1st	3	3	0	0	161	52
2003	Pool Stage	4	2	0	2	140	57	Squad		Automatically qualified
2007	Third Place	7	6	0	1	209	93	Squad		1st	2	2	0	0	86	13
2011	Quarter-finals	5	3	0	2	100	73	Squad		Automatically qualified
2015	Fourth Place	7	4	0	3	250	143	Squad		Automatically qualified
2019	Pool Stage	4	2	0	2	106	91	Squad		Automatically qualified
2023										Automatically qualified
Total	Third Place	41	21	0	20	1098	839				14	12	0	2	488
Champions    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place Home venue

The Rugby Championship

Rugby Championship (2012–present)
Nation	Games				Points			Bonus points	Table points	Titles won
	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD
New Zealand	42	36	2	4	1423	751	+672	26	174	6
South Africa	42	19	4	19	1048	974	+74	19	103	1
Australia	42	19	3	20	952	1088	−136	9	91	1
Argentina	42	5	1	36	766	1376	−610	11	33	0
Updated: 5 December 2020 Source:  lassen.co.nz – TRC, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa Bonus points given by T – 4W − 2D, for T table points, W games won and D games drawn.

All-time Tri Nations and Rugby Championship Table (1996–present)
Nation	Games				Points			Bonus points	Table points	Titles won
	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD
New Zealand	118	88	2	28	3477	2200	+1277	61	417	17
Australia	118	49	6	63	2543	2905	−362	43	249	4
South Africa	114	47	5	62	2528	2805	−277	43	229	4
Argentina	46	6	3	37	822	1460	−638	11	41	0
Updated: 5 December 2020 Bonus points given by T – 4W − 2D, for T table points, W games won and D games drawn.

Wins against Tier 1 nations

Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue	Status
27 October 1979	Argentina	24–13	Australia	Estadio Arquitecto Ricardo Etcheverry, Buenos Aires	Test Match
31 July 1983	Australia	3–18	Argentina	Ballymore, Brisbane	1983 Tour
22 June 1985	Argentina	24–16	France	Estadio Arquitecto Ricardo Etcheverry, Buenos Aires	Test Match
31 May 1986	Argentina	15–13	France	Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires	Test Match
28 May 1987	Argentina	25–16	Italy	Lancaster Park, Christchurch	1987 Rugby World Cup
7 November 1987	Argentina	27–19	Australia	Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires	Test Match
18 June 1988	Argentina	18–15	France	Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires	Test Match
24 June 1989	Argentina	21–16	Italy	Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires	Test Match
4 August 1990	Argentina	15–13	England	Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires	Test Match
14 November 1992	France	20–24	Argentina	Stade Marcel Saupin, Nantes	1992 Tour
4 June 1994	Argentina	16–15	Scotland	Estadio Arquitecto Ricardo Etcheverry, Buenos Aires	1994 Scottish Series
11 June 1994	Argentina	19–17	Scotland	Estadio Arquitecto Ricardo Etcheverry, Buenos Aires
17 October 1995	Argentina	26–6	Italy	Estadio Monumental José Fierro, Tucumán	Test Match
7 June 1997	Argentina	33–13	England	Estadio Arquitecto Ricardo Etcheverry, Buenos Aires	Test Match
8 November 1997	Argentina	18–16	Australia	Estadio Arquitecto Ricardo Etcheverry, Buenos Aires	Test Match
21 August 1999	Scotland	22–31	Argentina	Murrayfield, Edinburgh	1999 Rugby World Cup warm-up
20 October 1999	Argentina	28–24	Ireland	Stade Bollaert-Delelis, Lens	1999 Rugby World Cup
3 June 2000	Argentina	34–23	Ireland	Estadio Arquitecto Ricardo Etcheverry, Buenos Aires	Test Match
14 July 2001	Argentina	38–17	Italy	Estadio Arquitecto Ricardo Etcheverry, Buenos Aires	Test Match
10 November 2001	Wales	16–30	Argentina	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff	2001 Tour
18 November 2001	Scotland	16–25	Argentina	Murrayfield, Edinburgh
15 June 2002	Argentina	28–27	France	Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires	Test Match
16 November 2002	Italy	6–38	Argentina	Stadio Flaminio, Rome	2002 Tour
14 June 2003	Argentina	10–6	France	Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires	2003 French Series
20 June 2003	Argentina	33–32	France	Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires
12 June 2004	Argentina	50–44	Wales	Estadio Monumental José Fierro, Tucumán	Test Match
20 November 2004	France	14–24	Argentina	Stade Vélodrome, Marseille	2004 Tour
11 June 2005	Argentina	35–21	Italy	Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena, Salta	Test Match
12 November 2005	Scotland	19–23	Argentina	Murrayfield, Edinburgh	2005 Tour
19 November 2005	Italy	22–39	Argentina	Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa
11 June 2006	Argentina	27–25	Wales	Estadio Raúl Conti, Puerto Madryn	2006 Welsh Series
17 June 2006	Argentina	45–27	Wales	Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires
11 November 2006	England	18–25	Argentina	Twickenham, London	2006 Tour
18 November 2006	Italy	16–23	Argentina	Stadio Flaminio, Rome
26 May 2007	Argentina	22–20	Ireland	Estadio Brigadier General Estanislao López, Santa Fe	2007 Irish Series
2 June 2007	Argentina	16–0	Ireland	Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires
9 June 2007	Argentina	24–6	Italy	Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza	Test Match
7 September 2007	France	12–17	Argentina	Stade de France, Paris	2007 Rugby World Cup
30 September 2007	Ireland	15–30	Argentina	Parc des Princes, Paris
7 October 2007	Argentina	19–13	Scotland	Stade de France, Paris
19 October 2007	France	10–34	Argentina	Parc des Princes, Paris
7 June 2008	Argentina	21–15	Scotland	Estadio Gigante de Arroyito, Rosario	Test Match
15 November 2008	Italy	14–22	Argentina	Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino, Turin	2008 Tour
13 June 2009	Argentina	24-22	England	Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena, Salta	Test Match
28 November 2009	Scotland	6–9	Argentina	Murrayfield, Edinburgh	2009 Tour
26 June 2010	Argentina	41–13	France	Estadio José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires	Test Match
13 November 2010	Italy	16–22	Argentina	Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi, Verona	2010 Tour
25 September 2011	Argentina	13–12	Scotland	Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington	2011 Rugby World Cup
9 June 2012	Argentina	37–22	Italy	Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario, San Juan	Test Match
16 June 2012	Argentina	23–20	France	Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, Córdoba	Test Match
10 November 2012	Wales	12–26	Argentina	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff	2012 Tour
23 November 2013	Italy	14–19	Argentina	Stadio Olimpico, Rome	2013 Tour
4 October 2014	Argentina	27–19	Australia	Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza	2014 Rugby Championship
15 November 2014	Italy	18–20	Argentina	Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa	2014 Tour
22 November 2014	France	13–18	Argentina	Stade de France, Paris
8 August 2015	South Africa	25–37	Argentina	Kings Park Stadium, Durban	2015 Rugby Championship
18 October 2015	Ireland	20–43	Argentina	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff	2015 Rugby World Cup
11 June 2016	Argentina	30–24	Italy	Estadio Brigadier General Estanislao López, Santa Fe	Test Match
19 June 2016	Argentina	30–19	France	Estadio Monumental José Fierro, Tucumán	Test Match
27 August 2016	Argentina	26–24	South Africa	Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena, Salta	2016 Rugby Championship
18 November 2017	Italy	15–31	Argentina	Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence	2017 Tour
25 August 2018	Argentina	32–19	South Africa	Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza	2018 Rugby Championship
15 September 2018	Australia	19–23	Argentina	Robina Stadium, Gold Coast
14 November 2020	New Zealand	15–25	Argentina	Bankwest Stadium, Sydney	2020 Tri Nations Series

Team	Home Win	Away Win	Neutral Win
Australia	4	2	0
England	3	1	0
France	9	5	0
Ireland	3	0	3
Italy	7	8	1
New Zealand	0	0	1
Scotland	3	4	2
South Africa	2	1	0
Wales	3	2	0
Total	34	23	7

Players

Current squad

On October 2, 2020 Argentina named a 45-man roster for the Rugby Championship.[27]

Head Coach: Mario Ledesma

• Caps Updated: 22 December 2020
• Clubs Updated: 03 February 2021

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

Player	Position	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club/province
Facundo Bosch	Hooker	8 August 1991	2	La Rochelle
José Luis González	Hooker	11 September 1997	0	Stade Montois
Julián Montoya	Hooker	29 October 1993	62	Leicester Tigers
Santiago Socino	Hooker	7 May 1992	4	Gloucester
Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro	Prop	11 June 1989	62	Bristol Bears
Santiago Medrano	Prop	6 May 1996	22	Western Force
Mayco Vivas	Prop	2 June 1998	12	Jaguares
Federico Wegrzyn	Prop	8 January 1998	0	Jaguares
Ignacio Calles	Prop	10 October 1994	0	Pau
Francisco Gómez Kodela	Prop	7 July 1985	14	Lyon
Lucio Sordoni	Prop	23 July 1998	3	Melbourne Rebels
Juan Pablo Zeiss	Prop	2 August 1989	7	Jaguares
Matías Alemanno	Lock	5 December 1991	65	Gloucester
Ignacio Calas	Lock	18 March 1996	0	Melbourne Rebels
Rodrigo Fernández Criado	Lock	18 March 1998	0	Jaguares
Lucas Paulos	Lock	9 January 1998	2	Brive
Guido Petti	Lock	17 November 1994	56	Bordeaux Bègles
Rodrigo Bruni	Back row	3 September 1993	7	Vannes
Juan Martín González	Back row	14 November 2000	0	Jaguares
Francisco Gorrissen	Back row	30 August 1994	1	Jaguares
Santiago Grondona	Back row	25 July 1998	4	Newcastle Falcons
Facundo Isa	Back row	21 September 1993	30	Toulon
Marcos Kremer	Back row	30 July 1997	32	Stade Français
Tomás Lezana	Back row	16 February 1994	39	Western Force
Pablo Matera (c)	Back row	18 July 1993	69	Stade Français
Joaquín Oviedo	Back row	17 July 2001	0	Jaguares
Gonzalo Bertranou	Scrum-half	31 December 1993	29	Jaguares
Tomás Cubelli	Scrum-half	12 June 1989	76	Western Force
Felipe Ezcurra	Scrum-half	15 May 1993	11	Jaguares
Tomás Albornoz	Fly-half	17 September 1997	0	Jagaures
Domingo Miotti	Fly-half	22 May 1996	1	Western Force
Nicolás Sánchez	Fly-half	26 October 1988	84	Stade Français
Santiago Chocobares	Centre	31 March 1999	3	Jaguares
Lucio Cinti	Centre	23 February 2000	0	Argentina Sevens
Jerónimo de la Fuente	Centre	24 February 1991	56	Perpignan
Juan Cruz Mallia	Centre	11 September 1996	6	Toulouse
Lucas Mensa	Centre	24 May 1996	3	Valence Romans
Matías Moroni	Centre	29 March 1991	47	Leicester Tigers
Matías Orlando	Centre	14 November 1991	47	Newcastle Falcons
Sebastián Cancelliere	Wing	17 September 1993	5	Jaguares
Santiago Cordero	Wing	6 December 1993	38	Bordeaux Bègles
Bautista Delguy	Wing	22 April 1997	17	Bordeaux Bègles
Juan Imhoff	Wing	11 May 1988	35	Racing 92
Ramiro Moyano	Wing	28 May 1990	36	Toulon
Emiliano Boffelli	Fullback	16 January 1995	31	Racing 92
Santiago Carreras	Fullback	30 March 1998	9	Gloucester

Coaches

Coaches:[28]

• 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.
• 1960: Saturnino Racimo.
• 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[29]
• 2013–18: Daniel Hourcade
• 2018–:Mario Ledesma

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.[29] 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.[30]

Player records (career)

Most matches

Agustín Creevy is the player with most matches (89)

#	Player	Pos	Years	Mat	Start	Sub	Won	Lost	Draw	%
1	Agustín Creevy	Hooker	2005-	89	59	30	26	63	0	29.21
2	Felipe Contepomi	Centre	1998-2013	87	75	12	42	45	0	48.27
	Juan Manuel Leguizamon	Flanker	2005-2019	87	64	23	34	53	0	39.08
4	Lisandro Arbizu	Centre	1990-2005	86	83	3	41	44	1	48.25
	Rolando Martín	Flanker	1994-2003	86	77	9	44	41	1	51.74
6	Martin Landajo	Scrum-half	2008-	84	58	26	27	56	1	32.73
	Mario Ledesma	Hooker	1996-2011	84	67	17	42	41	1	50.59
	Nicolás Sánchez	Fly-half	2010-	84	77	7	23	58	2	28.91
9	Pedro Sporleder	Lock	1990-2003	78	72	6	41	36	1	53.20
10	Tomas Cubelli	Scrum-half	2010-	76	32	44	27	49	0	35.52

Last updated: Australia vs Argentina, 5 December 2020. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

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	2001-2008	28	26	2	145	29
2	Diego Cuesta Silva	Centre	1983-1995	63	63	0	125	28
3	Gustavo Jorge	Wing	1989-1994	23	22	1	111	24
4	Rolando Martín	Flanker	1994-2003	86	77	9	90	18
	Facundo Soler	Wing	1996-2002	25	23	2	90	18
	Joaquin Tuculet	Fullback	2012-	56	51	5	90	18
7	Hernán Senillosa	Wing	2002-2007	33	22	11	128	17
8	Lisandro Arbizu	Centre	1990-2005	86	83	3	188	16
	Felipe Contepomi	Centre	1998-2013	87	75	12	651	16
	Juan Imhoff	Wing	2009-	35	26	9	80	16
	Manuel Montero	Wing	2012-	27	22	5	80	16

Last updated: Australia vs Argentina, 5 December 2020. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Most points

Nicolás Sánchez, all-time top scorer for Argentina (773)[31][32]

#	Player	Pos	Span	Mat	Start	Sub	Pts	Tries	Conv	Pens	Drop
1	Nicolás Sánchez [31]	Fly-half	2010-	84	77	7	788	13	108	157	12
2	Felipe Contepomi	Centre	1998–2013	87	75	12	651	16	74	139	2
3	Hugo Porta	Fly-half	1971–1990	58	58	0	590	11	84	101	26
4	Gonzalo Quesada	Fly-half	1996–2003	38	30	8	486	4	68	103	7
5	Santiago Mesón	Fullback	1987–1997	34	32	2	365	8	68	63	1
6	Federico Todeschini	Fly-half	1998–2008	21	16	5	256	4	37	54	0
7	Lisandro Arbizu	Centre	1990–2005	86	83	3	188	17	14	14	11
8	Juan Martín Hernández	Fly-half	2003–2017	74	66	8	176	8	20	23	9
9	Juan Fernández Miranda	Fly-half	1997–2007	29	17	12	158	5	41	12	5
10	José Núñez Piossek	Wing	2001–2008	28	26	2	145	29	0	0	0

Last updated: Australia vs Argentina, 5 December 2020. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Most matches as captain

#	Player	Pos	Span	Mat	Won	Lost	Draw	%	Pts	Tries
1	Agustín Creevy	Hooker	2014-2018	51	14	37	0	27.45	15	3
2	Lisandro Arbizu	Centre	1992–2003	48	28	20	0	58.33	87	10
3	Hugo Porta	Fly-half	1977–1990	38	15	18	5	46.05	435	2
4	Agustín Pichot	Scrum-half	2000–2007	30	18	12	0	60.00	5	1
5	Felipe Contepomi	Centre	2007–2013	25	10	15	0	40.00	232	5
6	Juan M. Fernández Lobbe	Number 8	2008–2014	20	4	15	1	22.50	10	2
	Pedro Sporleder	Lock	1996–1999	20	9	10	1	47.50	20	4
8	Héctor Silva	Flanker	1967–1971	15	12	2	1	83.33	12	4
9	Pablo Matera	Flanker	2018-	14	3	10	1	25.00	5	1
	Sebastián Salvat	Centre	1995	13	7	6	0	53.84	35	7

Last updated: Australia vs Argentina, 5 December 2020. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Player records (match)

Most points in a match

#	Player	Pos	Pts	Tries	Conv	Pens	Drop	Opposition	Venue	Date
1.	Eduardo Morgan	Wing	50	6	13	0	0	Paraguay	São Paulo	14/10/1973
2.	José Núñez Piossek	Wing	45	9	0	0	0	Paraguay	Montevideo	27/04/2003
3.	Gustavo Jorge	Wing	40	8	0	0	0	Brazil	São Paulo	02/10/1993
4.	Martín Sansot	Fullback	36	3	6	4	0	Brazil	Tucumán	13/07/1996
5.	José Cilley	Fly-half	32	0	16	0	0	Paraguay	Mendoza	01/05/2002
6.	Eduardo Morgan	Wing	31	3	5	3	0	Uruguay	São Paulo	16/10/1973
	Eduardo de Forteza	Fly-half	31	0	11	3	0	Paraguay	Asunción	25/09/1975
	José Luna	Wing	31	1	4	6	0	Romania	Buenos Aires	14/10/1995
	Felipe Contepomi	Fly-half	31	2	3	5	0	France	Buenos Aires	26/06/2010
10.	4 players on 30 points

Last updated: Australia vs Argentina, 5 December 2020. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Most tries in a match

#	Player	Pos	Pts	Tries	Conv	Pens	Drop	Opposition	Venue	Date
1.	José Núñez Piossek	Wing	45	9	0	0	0	Paraguay	Montevideo	27/04/2003
2.	Gustavo Jorge	Wing	40	8	0	0	0	Brazil	São Paulo	02/10/1993
3.	Uriel O'Farrell	Wing	21	7	0	0	0	Uruguay	Buenos Aires	09/09/1951
4.	Uriel O'Farrell	Wing	18	6	0	0	0	Brazil	Buenos Aires	13/09/1951
	Eduardo Morgan	Wing	50	6	13	0	0	Paraguay	São Paulo	14/10/1973
	Gustavo Jorge	Wing	24	6	0	0	0	Brazil	Montevideo	08/10/1989
	Facundo Barrea	Wing	30	6	0	0	0	Brazil	Santiago	23/05/2012
5	5 players on 5 tries

Last updated: Australia vs Argentina, 5 December 2020. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

See also

• Argentina national rugby sevens team
• Argentina U-20
• Argentina XV
• Puma Trophy
• South American Jaguars
• South American Rugby Championship
• Churchill Cup
• English Argentine

References

1. "Felipe Contepomi será el Puma récord en Rosario". CanchaLlena.com. 1 October 2013.
2. "La despedida de un símbolo". Clarin.com. 6 October 2013.
3. ""Contepomi to set record, Pumas chase historic win" at UltimateRugby.com". Archived from the original on 7 April 2014.
4. "Contepomi ya sabe lo que significa ser Puma récord". Clarin.com. 29 September 2013.
5. "Contepomi superó a Porta y es el goleador récord", Clarín, 9 June 2012
6. "Contepomi, goleador histórico Puma", ESPN, 9 June 2012
7. "Six Nations would be magnificent seven with us, pleads Pichot", Western Mail, 19 June 2006.
8. Deges, Frankie. "Argentina is now part of Rugby Championship". Buenos Aires Herald. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
9. "Wallabies defeated 21–17 by Argentina". The Australian. 4 October 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
10. Argentina is now part of Rugby Championship by Frankie Deges, The Buenos Aires Herald, 23 November 2011
11. "La pasión cumple 100 años", La Nación, 10 April 1999
12. "El pase del verano: Los Pumas dejan Adidas para vestirse con Nike", El Cronista, 27 November 2011
13. "Nike presenta su camiseta de Los Pumas", Prematch website
14. Davies, Sean (26 July 2007). "Puma power: Argentinian rugby". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 8 October 2007.
15. "Lions": Los viajes olvidados by Ricardo Sabanes, 16 May 2017
16. "El centenario del debut", Clarín, 13 June 2010
17. "Argentina at ground: GEBA", ESPN Scrum.com
18. "El club de rugby más antiguo de la Argentina" at Rugbytime.com Archived 12 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine, 19 September 2008
19. "Buenos Aires Cricket & Rugby Club" at Centro de Documentación, Investigación y Referencia Histórica-Deportiva, June 2009
20. "Adiós a un escenario de triunfos históricos", Clarín, 4 December 2005
21. "El historial de los Pumas contra los grandes: los All Blacks, el único al que no le pudieron ganar", Cancha Llena, 8 August 2015
22. "El historial de Los Pumas ante Australia, la tercera potencia", Infobae, 18 October 2015
23. "ARGENTINA TESTS ANNOUNCED - JUNE 2018". 30 January 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
24. Ranking archives can be found at the IRB website; www.irb.com
25. Argentina statistics Archived 13 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine
26. "Men's World Rankings". World Rugby. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
27. "Argentina innovate with notable Rugby Championship roster". Americas Rugby News. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
28. (in Spanish) UAR. Entrenadores de Los Pumas de todos los Tiempos Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
29. Iribarren, Ezequiel (21 February 2008). "Le buscaron pareja" (in Spanish). Clarín. Archived from the original on 28 February 2008. Retrieved 22 February 2008.
30. "Daniel Hourcade, nuevo Head Coach de Los Pumas". Archived from the original on 1 November 2013.
31. Player profile on ESPN
32. Histórico: Todos Pumas on Olé, 14 Nov 2020

External links

• Official website
• Los Pumas at Planet Rugby (news about Argentine rugby)
• Rugby Fun (news, statistics and results)
• Los Pumas at Rugby Time (news, statistics and results)
• Los Pumas at El Rugbier (news, statistics and results)
• "Argentina's time in the sun", BBC Sport, 24 Jan 2001
• "Puma power: Argentinian rugby", BBC Sport, 24 Apr 2006