Pumas line up Six Nations sides for 2018

The Pumas endured a difficult year in 2017, winning only two of their dozen test matches. It should be noted, however, that all ten of their defeats came at the hands of teams ranked in the top five of the official World Rugby Rankings (South Africa have only recently dropped below that threshold). While the coming year isn’t quite as harsh, there are no easy matches for Argentina with all of their matches outside the Rugby Championship against Six Nations sides.

Reliable sources have confirmed to Americas Rugby News that Argentina will play Scotland twice in the coming year, with Ireland and France also on tap for their November tour. A two-match test series against Wales to start the June test window has already been announced by the WRU.

Scotland will make it an all-Americas tour as they play both Canada and the USA before heading south to Argentina. The Pumas will reciprocate the visit with a match at Murrayfield to close out the November window. Prior to that will be stops in Dublin and a to-be-determined location in France to face Les Bleus.

All of those opponents are currently ranked in the top 10, with only France currently below the Pumas in 9th spot, though only by the slimmest of margins. Wales ahead of Argentina in 7th spot, with Scotland bumped up to 5th on the back of a strong year in 2017 and Ireland currently ranked 3rd. The SANZAAR nations remain among the top teams in world, with New Zealand clear in the No 1 spot and Australia at No 4. Evan a disappointing year by South Africa’s standards sees them ahead of Wales in 6th.