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Los Pumas are to play in the 2020 South American Championship before traveling to New Zealand to complete in the Rugby Championship. Rosario3 report that the South American competition will be played in Uruguay over fifteen days in September. Argentina will play matches against Brazil, Chile and Uruguay.
The competition will be Argentina’s opportunity of receiving match practice. Los Jaguares last Super Rugby match was on March 07. Since then there has been player movement, or an exodus, of players to foreign clubs.
The Americas Rugby Championship will be preparation for the grueling Rugby Championship. For players based in Argentina it will be their warm-up, while those based abroad will join the roster in New Zealand.
The inactive Jaguares and Ceibos played on Mario Ledesma’s roster will thus be able to prepare for the Rugby Championship in Uruguay and, in doing so, press their claims for spots in the match-day 23.
Speaking about the possibility of Uruguay hosting Los Pumas and the tournament, Sudamérica Rugby president Sebastián Piñeyrúa said:
“Uruguay is the South American country with the most consolidated control of COVID-19. We are in a more favorable situation and can organize a tournament to activate the region’s rugby. We are trying to establish a competition involving Uruguay, Chile, Brazil and Argentina, with a competition that lasts fifteen days provides the possibility for each team to play three matches.”
Rosario3 notes that the planning is at an advanced stage. Moreover, some of the competing teams may also play warm-up matches ahead of the South American tournament itself. In the case of Argentina the tournament would be the only possibility of match-time prior to departing South America to compete in the Rugby Championship against Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
Americas Rugby News recently posted an article arguing that Los Pumas need a 2020 warm-up match against Uruguay. It can be accessed by Clicking here.
As noted in the ARN article Ledesma and his staff would be able to field a side featuring domestic players, namely Jaguares and Ceibos. Argentina’s European-based names would not be considered. This represents an opportunity to resemble Argentina’s RWC 2019 matches against Tonga and the USA.
Ledesma changed nine starting players from the game against England for the game against the Eagles. 39 of the 60 players on Ledesma’s long-list are based in Argentina.
