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Mario Ledesma’s First Act Should be captaincy. As Head Coach of Los Jaguares Mario Ledesma’s first act should be naming a new Jaguares Captain. He ought to use Forward Thinking to identify and name a new leader.
This is not to say that Agustín Creevy is a bad leader. To the contrary it is about preparing for the future and balancing responsibilities of the present.
Super Rugby and National Captains
Australia’s captain is Michael Hooper. He got the role after leading the Waratahs in Super Rugby. Hooper replaced Stephen Moore who had captained Australia from 2014 after previously captaining the Brumbies.
Current New Zealand captain Kieran Read was the Crusaders’ leader with teammate Richie McCaw being New Zealand’s captain. Today Read has McCaw’s role and Sam Whitelock is now the Crusaders skipper.
Eben Etzebeth is South Africa’s captain. He replaced Warren Whiteley due to injury. Whiteley became captain this year after having led the Lions since 2014. In 2016 South Africa was led by Adriaan Strauss a player to previously have captained both the Cheetahs and Bulls in Super Rugby.
It is time for Argentina to follow the above. Creevy can be like Read with another becoming Whitelock. Ledesma is not placed with a lack of options. Instead there are a list of names worth considering to be the franchise’s captain.
Cubelli
Tomás Cubelli and Martín Landajo are dual vice-captains for Argentina. If one of them can be, in Mario Ledesma’s eyes, the regular starter then he could be the captain. Of the two the most likely to be used more frequently is Cubelli.
Cubelli has experience playing in Australia which combined with his playing abilities and command of the English language make him a strong candidate.
The likelihood of this though is not great as Cubelli will not play again until 2018. A caretaker captain will not be considered. It will be similar to Yannick Jauzion who, for all money, was to be France’s captain in 2008 only to break his hand before the Six Nations leading to Thierry Dusautoir getting the role.
Landajo
With prior experience leading Los Pumas, including against Namibia in Rugby World Cup 2015, Martín Landajo is a strong contender. Yet handing him the role would be complicated due to Cubelli arguably being the player, when fit, to start on more occasions.
Assistant coach Nicolás Fernández Miranda is a former Pumas scrum-half. He recently spoke to ESPN Argentina about the scrum-half options and named Cubelli as his preferred starter to Landajo. Cubelli’s combative play was noted.
Sánchez
Nicolás Sánchez captained Argentina against South Africa in Rugby World Cup 2015. He is also a veteran and has his place in the starting line-up secured. Los Jaguares do not have a player who can realistically strip Sánchez of the 10 shirt.
On the flip side there are questions of Sánchez’ English skills. Would it be wise to have a leader who does not have a strong command of the language used by all officials for all Super Rugby games? Furthermore when a French referee takes charge of a Pumas match it is common to see Sánchez speaking in French.
Sánchez is also a player to have been criticized on social media by opposition fans. His questioning of the referee, rising his hands to influence decisions and ‘soccer diving’ have all been raised. Captaincy requires having a cool head.
Leguizamón
When Daniel Hourcade replaced Santiago Phelan he knew straight away he would be changing the leadership. Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe was Pumas captain and injured at the time. But the motivation behind change was infighting in which Fernández Lobbe had been on the side of Phelan while Patricio Albacete, Eusebio Guiñazú and Julio Farías Cabello were cases in point of the contrary.
Hourcade would name Creevy as his captain in early 2014 but for the November 2013 Internationals Creevy was injured. The solution which Hourcade came up with was to hand senior player, Juan Manuel Leguizamón with the captaincy.
Could Leguizamón lead Los Jaguares? While his English is excellent the answer is realistically no. His new contract is for 2018 only. Moreover a place in the starting line-up is far from being certain. Of additional interest is which position would he play – flanker or No 8? An argument can be made either way. It brings back memories of André Vos captaining South Africa.
Petti
The player who, to me, stands out as having the required attributes mentioned above is Guido Petti. He is young but is very experienced. At 19 he was starting for Argentina in 2014. He is also guaranteed of having a starting place in the second-row. The question is not if Petti will start but who will join him? With Matías Alemanno, Marcos Kremer and Tomás Lavanini there is real depth.
Petti is a player who does his job well. He is excellent in both the set-piece and general play. He also defends very well. His game is all-rounded with him being in the mold of Carlos Ignacio Fernández Lobbe, a former legend for Los Pumas and in the Aviva Premiership.. People quickly overlook that at 1.94m he is small for his position. That is just a reflection of how talented of an athlete he really is.
He is also a player with a cool head. This very point is something that Ledesma is likely to consider near the top of the list when looking for a skipper. In my opinion he is the man for the job.
Matera
Petti’s candidacy is excellent. If there is needed to be another to consider it is not the others listed above. Instead it is Pablo Matera. He was Argentina’s best player in the Rugby Championship and among the best in Super Rugby too. Unlike Leguizamón his place is secure in the starting lineup for both franchise and country.
Matera is a no-nonsense player who does his job superbly. He is Argentina’s leading ball-carrier, a line-out option, fetcher and hard-bitting tackler. Like Petti he has a great discipline record. Moreover he has a cool head on his shoulders to go with being an outstanding rugby player.
Matera has prior experience playing for the Leicester Tigers. Petti does not though Toulon were chasing him only for him to remain at Los Jaguares.
With questions over who to play at scrum-half Matera stands out as a strong candidate for vice-captain. Indeed Gonzalo Bertranou, Felipe Ezcurra and Sebastián Cancelliere have all been named by Fernández Miranda as likely to feature. They would all do so with Matera wearing the 6 shirt.
