Who will be in the team to face South Africa?

Santiago Phelan and Graham Henry

Argentina´ long awaited debut in The Rugby Championship is less than three weeks away. The teams intensive preperation in the USA and at home has see the players spend more time together than at tany other time outside of a World Cup. The squad features 34 players and having spent so much time together the team should be very well drilled ahead of the debut match against South Africa on August 18 in Cape Town. Exactly who will be in the starting lineup remains undefined and this should be a lot clearer after Argentina completes its two friendly matches against Stade Français. The first match will take place this coming Saturday at Velez Sarsfeld in Buenos Aires. The following Saturday will see the second match with the teams playing in Santa Fé. Santiago Phelan has one concern heading into the two match series with Juan Leguizamón having suffered a minor injury in training on Monday. The extent of the injury is yet to be concerned, however there are concerns that he may miss the Cape Town test match. 

15 Lucas González Amorosino

14 Martín Bustos Moyano

13 Horacio Agulla

12 Santiago Fernández

11 Juan Imhoff

10 Juan Martín Hernández

9 Nicolás Vergallo

8 Juan Fernández Lobbe

7 Juan Leguizamón

6 Tomás De La Vega

5 Patricio Albacete

4 Manuel Carizza

3 Juan Figallo

2 Agustín Creevy

1 Marcos Ayerza

16 Bruno Postiglioni

17 Rodrigo Roncero

18 Julio Farías Cabello

19 Leonardo Senatore

20 Tomás Cubelli

21 Marcelo Bosch

22 Martín Rodríguez Gurruchaga

Certainties

Possibilities

Curiously, Argentine site scrum asked five Argentine players past and present who they think should be the starting XV for The Rugby Championship and all agreed that Agustín Creevy, Patricio Albacete, Julio Farías Cabello, Juan Leguizamón, Juan Fernández Lobbe, Juan Figallo, Horacio Agulla and Juan Martín Hernández should start. None of them named Gonzalo Camacho despite him being Phelan´ prefered option for the right wing. Horacio Agulla was the favorite but he may well play at centre rather than wing given his form, size, experience and leadership. Camacho would appear the front runner for the 14 shirt with it going to either him or Martín Bustos Moyano who is the best goalkicker. There were also a noticable number of Los Pampas XV players nominated ahead of European professionals. 

Former three time World Cup back Manuel Contepomi who was the starting outside centre at Rugby World Cup 2007 named Santiago Fernández as the teams 13.  he also selected Martín Landajo at scrumhalf over the squads two European based players. He named the following XV:

1 Rodrigo Roncero, 2 Agustín Creevy, 3 Juan Figallo, 4 Patricio Albacete, 5 Manuel Carizza, 6 Julio Farías, 7 Juan Leguizamón, 8 Juan Fernández Lobbe, 9 Martín Landajo, 10 Juan Martín Hernández, 11 Juan Imhoff, 12 Martín Rodríguez, 13 Santiago Fernández 14 Horacio Agulla, 15 Lucas González Amorosino.

With Thanks: scrum

The Rugby Championship Players to Watch - Manuel Montero

Despite only having made his test debut this year and also only just arriving in the senior set up to be a part of Los Pampas XV, Manuel Montero is in the squad for The Rugby Championship. Known in Argentina as the Panther (la Pantera) Montero´ arrival in Los Pumas completes a quick rise after he debuted for the Argentine under 19 team in 2009. He played for the team for two years as well as playing for the Argentine under 20 team in 2010 and 2011. His performances for the age grade side were noticed and he was selected for the Argentine Rugby Sevens team in 2011. He played for his country in the IRB Junior World Championship two times with his form in the 2012 tournament in Italy seeing his future forever changed. Montero was a star performer, scoring tries, breaking the line and creating tries for his team mates. He was fast tracked into the PladAR set up and named in the Los Pampas XV squad for the Vodacom Cup as a 21 year old in 2012. 

Before playing for Los Pampas XV, however his year began well as he was named in the High Performance program as one of ten fully paid professional players. He had been playing for the Argentine Sevens team but it was surprize to many given his inexperience. Such is the talent of la Pantera that he has already found himself in the test team as a 21 year old. Standing in at 1,93m and weighing 96KG Montero is a large winger for his age by global standards and is a giant by Argentine standards. He is also a fast player and has a good side step. The future is his for the taking. 

Montero made his debut in May in the South American Championship. He played in all three matches, starting the first two and scoring five tries in total including a hat-trick vs Brazil. He was awarded with a place in the Argentine squad for the three test home series against Italy and France. With Santiago Phelan selecting an experimental side, which excluded 24 European based professionals, Montero was given an opportunity of facing Six Nations sides. He came off the bench for Los Pumas against Italy and then went on to start in both tests against France. Argentina were not expected to win these tests due to the large number of missing players but some players played very well. Montero left the series having underlined himself as a player for the future and having left the fans at Córdoba extremely happy. With France leading 20-16 with four minutes remaining, Montero scored in the left corner to give the South Americans the win. 

His immediate future is not certain due to Argentina having a squad with a number of quality wingers. Horacio Agulla, Gonzalo Camacho and Juan Imhoff return from the World Cup to be joined by Martín Bustos Moyano. They are the leading winger options but there is also the possibility of either fullback Lucas González Amorosino or centre Rafael Carballo playing wing. The possibility also exists of Agulla playing centre and it would appear to be a strong one considering Montero has been called up to the squad. He looks certain to recieve some game time in the demanding schedule that is The Rugby Championship due to the high number of matches involved. Beyond 2012, however, Montero appears to be a certainty for Rugby World Cup 2015.

Montero at 2011 IRB Junior World Championship

Argentina vs Brazil 2012

Montero vs France, Córdoba 2012

Week 01: Juan Manuel Leguizamón

Week 02: Lucas González Amorosino

Week 03: Marcelo Bosch

Week 04: Agustín Creevy

Week 05: Juan Martín Hernández

Week 06: Martín Bustos Moyano
Week 07: Leonardo Senatore

Week 08: Rodrigo Roncero

Week 09: Gonzalo Camacho

Week 10: Patricio Albacete

Week 11: Horacio Agulla

Week 12: Juan Figallo

Week 13: Santiago Fernández

Week 14: Tomás Cubelli 

Week 15: Marcos Ayerza

Week 16: Manuel Carizza

Week 17: Nicolás Vergallo

Week 18: Juan José Imhoff

Week 19: Alvaro Galindo

Week 20: Maximilano Bustos

Week 21: Martín Rodríguez Gurruchaga

Week 22: Julio Farías Cabello

Week 23: Tomás De La Vega

Week 24: Juan Pablo Orlandi

Week 25: Nicolás Sánchez

Week 26: Manuel Montero

Week 27: Tomás Vallejos

Canada v Uruguay 2010

DTH van der Merwe

The Churchill Cup is a thing of the past and there is little chance that it be be reborn due to the two North American unions´ desire to have a calendar which enables both to host one six nations side every June in addition to one tier two side. The tournament´ purpose was the bridge the gap between that of club rugby in Canada and the United States of America and test level rugby. It saw teams such as the England Saxons, (England A), France A and Ireland A compete against the North American test sides. It also saw other Tier 2 and even Tier 3 sides invited to participate. Uruguay was such an example as Los Teros played in the 2010 tournament which served as preperation for Rugby World Cup qualification matches. 

Los Teros sent an experimental side with the intention of trying to find the right balance so that it could give itself a greater chance of qualifying for New Zealand 2011. The squad, nonetheless, had some experienced players but it was far from full strength. Notably there was no Rodrigo Capó Ortega. Canada also fielded a young side but the team had already secured its place at Rugby World Cup 2011 and had the luxury of using the tournament to continue the process of confirming who would and who would not feature in the World Cup in New Zealand. 

There was only one player appearing on the international stage for the first time, Ryan Hamilton. He was on the bench as the reserve hooker. Canada fielded the same backrow that would go on to impress at the World Cup. It was a game of two halves. The first half was tight and low scoring with the North Americans taking an eight point lead into half time. The 14-6 lead did not last long however as Canada impressed in going on to a 48-6 victory. In total Canada scored six tries to zero with Matt Evans, Justin Mensah-Coker, Chauncey O´Toole, Luke Tait all scoring while DTH van der Merwe Scored a double. 


The match was played at Infinity Park in Glendale, Colorado.

Hugo Porta dropgoals vs New Zealand 1979

Some people like to say that Argentine players are good kickers beacuse of the profile of soccer in the country. Whether it is true or not it is undeniable that one of the greatest ever kickers in rugby history is Hugo Porta. He contributed in a massive way to Argentine rugby and was the country´ first player to be inducted in to the IRB Hall of Fame. His international career span nineteen years and saw him defeat teams including Australia, France, South Africa and draw against New Zealand. Porta´ goalkicking abilities made his such a crucial player as any time Argentina were inside an opponents half Porta could be trusted to inflict pain on the opposition with a kick. Teams had to be on the constant alert as he was also very talented with dropkicks.

The art of drop kicking has in recent times been criticized for being negative play with Jonny Wilkinson often being the target. Some have called for a change in the points scoring system to make drop goals worth less than three points. Justifications for the desire to make changes go so far as to say that it is not fair and is also an ugly way to win a match. Porta was able to land dropgoals from virtually anywhere. From just a short glance he would be able to sight his target. Such was the example of his two drop goals against New Zealand in Dunedin in 1979. It was actually the first time New Zealand had ever hosted Argentina. The All Blacks won the match 18-9 with Porta kicking two amazing dropgoals. The first was off his left boot and was a quick reaction after Argentina had stolen an All Black lineout. The second was also a quick reaction, this time from his right boot after he only had a very quick glance at the posts. 

Porta landed kicks from halfway and did what Jonny Wilkinson made himself famous for - dropkicking goals off both feet and doing so with little time or space. When Wilkinson became the world record holder for dropgoals  in test rugby he broke Porta´ then world record of 28. Truely a rugby legend, Porta paved the way for the future of Los Pumas as his career inspired many future stars. Without Porta would there have been a Hernández or a Wilkinson?

South Africa vs Uruguay, Rugby World Cup 1999

Uruguay´ debut Rugby World Cup appearance in 1999 was successful. The team did not qualify for the knock-out stages of the tournament but it did win a match. Uruguay´ first ever match featured two debutants with Los Teros facing Spain in Galadshiels and winning 27-15. The team then faced the Pool´s host nation, Scotland in Edinburgh and were defeated 43-12. Having played two matches for one win and a loss, Uruguay´ third and final match at Rugby World Cup 1999 was against the reigning World Champions, South Africa. The Springboks were undefeated in the pool and needed a win or a draw to advance to the Quarter Finals. 

The South Americans were unable to score a try but the side did very well in defence compared to a number of other sides in the same tournament. In Pool B Italy had lost 101-03 against New Zealand and Tonga had lost 101-10 against England. Canada had defeated Namibia 72-11 in Pool C and Wales had beaten Japan 64-15 in Pool D. These results were similar to what was expected of South Africa against Uruguay. The Africans indeed won the match but the 39-3 score was a reflection of a good performance from Los Teros. 

The match was played at Hampden Park in Glasgow. It was the only match of the tournament to be lpayed at the venue. The Springboks scored five tries to zero with Uruguay´ points coming from a penalty goal kicked by Diego Aguirre of Carrasco Polo Club in Montevideo. He went on to play in France for Union Sportive Tours rugby in the Fédérale 1 in 2004-2005. He was Uruguay´ leading points scorer with 19 points at Rugby World Cup 1999. He went on to captain Uruguay in Australia 2003. 

The Rugby Championship Players to Watch - Nicolás Sánchez

One of the lesser known players in the thirty-four man squad for The Rugby Championship is 23 year old flyhalf Federico Nicolás Sánchez. He comes from the rugby heartland province of Tucumán and despite not being a household name he is an accomplished player who plays as a professional in the French Top 14. Sánchez plays for Bordeaux-Begles, his first professional team. He signed for the South-western French side after having played a significant part in Los Pampas XV´ 2011 Vodacom Cup campaign which the Argentina won. Sánchez was initially signed on a one year contract with the club but in Feburary he signed a contract extention for two more years. The new contract was interesting was the club was eager to hang on to him despite his injury which severely limited his game time for the club in thje 2011-2012 season. In January he fractured his fibula playing in an Amlin Challenge Cup match against Bayonne. It was a season ending injury as despite recoving for the final rounds of the Top 14 season he did not play again. 

Sánchez´ inclusion in the Pumas squad raised a few eye-brows as he was selected ahead of Ignacio Mieres who was one of Argentina´ best performers in the 2011-2012 European club season.  Mieres´ form saw him earn a test call up for the June internationals and he featured in the first two matches, starting both at flyhalf with Argentina defeating Italy and France. He played well but was picked to allow the other European based inside backs time to rest in preperation for the Rugby Championship. As good as a season that he had, Mieres was, nevertheless, overlooked due to his position. He is a flyhalf specialist, a position that Argentina presently have a lot of depth in. Sánchez, like Mieres, is a flyhalf but in contrast to the Exeter Chiefs playmaker Sánchez is also an inside centre. This, ultimately, explains his selection as Sánchez is in the squad to provide options for both 10 and 12. Despite Felipe Contepomi not participating in The Rugby Championship Los Pumas still have four flyhalves in the squad - Marcelo Bosch, Santiago Fernández, Juan Martín Hernández and Nicolás Sánchez. All four , like Contepomi, play in France and all have been used in different positions for Argentina. Bosch was Argentina´ World Cup 13 after Gonzalo Tiesi was ruled out of the World Cup during the opening match vs England. Fernández played at both 10 and 12 in the tournament and Hernández was Los Pumas´ 15 from 2004-2006 before moving fulltime to 10 in 2007.  Sánchez has one thing that none of these players have - a reliable boot. He is probably Argentina´s second best goalkicker after Martín Bustos Moyano. 

Sánchez made his international debut in 2010 against Uruguay in Santiago del Chile as a replacement. The match was part of the South American Championship involving Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. He was named to start for the first time in the match against Chile and he played at inside centre, scoring a try. He formed a 10-12 combination with Mieres who played flyhalf against both Uruguay and Chile. The two players were fringe Pumas players with both in contention for a place at Rugby World Cup 2011 depending on how they played in the remainder of 2010 and in 2011. Sánchez was the one selected following a vacant spot becoming avaliable due to the season ending injury of Juan Martín Hernández. He earned his call up following an impressive campaign with Los Pampas XV in South Africa´ Vodacom Cup. Sánchez was the teams first choice flyhalf and played a major role in the sides championship winning season which saw the team go undefeated. Sánchez was a product of the PladAR system which assisted his development significantly. His selection for Rugby World Cup 2011 saw him play in one of the five matches. He was a second half replacement against Romania in the teams second match. 

Sánchez at flyhalf in 2011 Vodacom Cup Final

Week 01: Juan Manuel Leguizamón

Week 02: Lucas González Amorosino

Week 03: Marcelo Bosch

Week 04: Agustín Creevy

Week 05: Juan Martín Hernández

Week 06: Martín Bustos Moyano
Week 07: Leonardo Senatore

Week 08: Rodrigo Roncero

Week 09: Gonzalo Camacho

Week 10: Patricio Albacete

Week 11: Horacio Agulla

Week 12: Juan Figallo

Week 13: Santiago Fernández

Week 14: Tomás Cubelli 

Week 15: Marcos Ayerza

Week 16: Manuel Carizza

Week 17: Nicolás Vergallo

Week 18: Juan José Imhoff

Week 19: Alvaro Galindo

Week 20: Maximilano Bustos

Week 21: Martín Rodríguez Gurruchaga

Week 22: Julio Farías Cabello

Week 23: Tomás De La Vega

Week 24: Juan Pablo Orlandi

Week 25: Nicolás Sánchez

Week 26: Manuel Montero

Manuel Montero added to Pumas squad

Getty Images

Argentina´ squad has increased from thirty-three to thirty four players with the addition of 20 year old Los Pampas XV winger Manuel Montero. He becomes officially the sixth winger in the squad joining five European based players who all had solid seasons in England and France. Montero looms as a future star for Argentina having come through the ranks and playing in the IRB Junior World Championship. He made his international debut this year against Uruguay and has played in all six of Argentina´ test matches so far this season, scoring six tries - five in the South American Championship and one against France in Córdoba. His try against France secured a win for Los Pumas with France having been leading with the match into its final minutes. 

The inclusion of the young winger is a further indication of the chances that Santiago Phelan will be moving players from the wing to play centre and fullback. Lucas González Amorosino played the entire season for Montpellier at fullback and is all but certain to start in the position for Los Pumas in The Rugby Championship. Horacio Agulla started for Leicester on the right wing but was used on occassion at outside centre. With Argentina looking to play a more attacking brand of rugby the wing positions are likely to be filled by Juan Imhoff who had an outstanding debut season for Racing Métro and either Gonzalo Camacho or Martín Bustos Moyano. Camacho won the award for Game Changer of the season in the Aviva Premiership while Bustos Moyano had a solid second season in France and is Argentina´ best goalkicker. 

Rafael Carballo is the squads remaining winger with the player also capable of playing in the centres. Like Agulla he was utilized in the midfield by Bordeaux-Begles at times this past season. Argentina´ squad is lacking specialist centres with Gonzalo Tiesi only just having returned to the field this past Saturday. It leaves Phelan with the choice of continuning to play Marcelo Bosch in the 13 shirt and utilizing either Santiago Fernández or Martín Rodríguez at 12. Or, moving Agulla to outside centre to partner one of these three. It would seem to be the likely scenario for Los Pumas´ debut match in The Rugby Championship against South Africa on August 18 in Cape Town. This would explain the inclusion of Montero who brings the total of likely wingers in the squad to four as he joins Bustos Moyano, Camacho and Imhoff. 

Los Pumas Squad

1	Horacio Agulla	Bath	England
2	Patricio Albacete	Stade Toulousian	France
3	Marcos Ayerza	Leicester Tigers	England
4	Marcelo Bosch	Biarritz	France
5	Martín Bustos Moyano	Montpellier	France
6	Maximilano Bustos	Montpellier	France
7	Gonzalo Camacho	Exeter Chiefs	England
8	Rafael Carballo	Bordeaux Begles	France
9	Manuel Carizza	Biarritz	France
10	Agustín Creevy	Montpellier	France
11	Tomas Cubelli	Los Pampas XV	Argentina
12	Tomas De La Vega	Los Pampas XV	Argentina
13	Julio Farías Cabello	Los Pampas XV	Argentina
14	Juan Fernández Lobbe	Toulon	France
15	Santiago Fernández	Montpellier	France
16	Juan Figallo	Montpellier	France
17	Agustín Figuerola	Brive	France
18	Alvaro Galindo	Racing Métro	France
19	Lucas González Amorosino	Montpellier	France
20	Eusebio Guiñazú	Biarritz	France
21	Juan Martín Hernández	Racing Métro	France
22	Juan Imhoff	Racing Métro	France
23	Martín Landajo	Los Pampas XV	Argentina
24	Juan Leguizamón	Lyon	France
25	Tomás Leonardi	Los Pampas XV	Argentina
26 27	Manuel Montero Juan Pablo Orlandi	Los Pampas XV Racing Métro	Argentina France
28	Bruno Postiglioni	Los Pampas XV	Argentina
29	Martin Rodríguez	Stade Français	France
30	Rodrigo Roncero	Unattached
31	Nicolás Sánchez	Bordeaux Begles	France
32	Leonardo Senatore	Los Pampas XV	Argentina
33	Tomás Vallejos	Harlequins	England
34	Nicolás Vergallo	Stade Toulousian	France