Argentina To Allow European-Based Players Back Into Pumas

Argentina is to allow European-Based players back into Los Pumas. The decision has been made, reports Alejo Miranda for La Nacion.

The change had been suggested for 2018 Rugby Championship but may in fact happen earlier. The upcoming June Internationals against Wales and Scotland are a strong possibility to see the inclusion of European-based players.

New UAR President Marcelo Rodríguez declared that:

“It is something that soon will be discussed and approved by the council, but I have the utter conviction that for Los Pumas we must have the best players.”

In addition the manager of Los Pumas, José Santamarina, has made it known that there are to be upcoming meetings with the incoming UAR regime to resolve what simply ‘has to be addressed’.

Mid-Week Pumas
Since RWC 2015 Argentina has blocked players based outside of Argentina from international duty. Only players with permission have been considered. Having permission meant Tomás Cubelli was fine to play for the Brumbies but Juan Imhoff was not considered while playing for Racing 92.

Cubelli was the only player under a long-term deal to earn caps for Los Pumas. Others selected were in Europe as medical jokers, namely Juan Pablo Estelles and Felipe Arregui.

The policy meant Argentina was unable to field its strongest possible team in any game in 2016 or 2017. In rugby terms it was akin to having a mid-week British & Irish Lions playing and not the weekend side which faced the All Blacks in 2017. The debate being how many Jaguares are Argentina’s finest?

Daniel Hourcade took Argentina to the Semi Finals of RWC 2015. Yet since then he has a record of six wins from twenty-five matches played. The wins have been against France, Italy (2), Japan, Georgia and South Africa.

The definitions of Los Pumas and Los Jaguares have been regularly debated. Hugo Porta recently slammed the concept of the team altogether. Others, including Marcelo Bosch simply do not differentiate between the teams at all, highlighting this as being the essence of the problem.

Back to the Future
The experiment has failed. Super Rugby has not seen Los Jaguares pushing for a title while Los Pumas have fallen in the World Rankings and are now comfortably behind not only Rugby Championship rivals but also England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Tossing out the baby with the bath water is not going to be the solution. Abandoning Los Jaguares and Super Rugby would be madness. Instead a means of not relying entirely on the existing set-up is a sensible compromise. Find a balance between Super Rugby and Europe.

This very mind-set is what enabled Drew Mitchell and Matt Giteau to return for Australia. With both being out of favor they resurrected their careers at Toulon. Australia’s relaxing of player selection rules saw them back for the Wallabies and staring in the run to the RWC 2015 final.

Hourcade has been opposed to selecting from Europe though has himself admitted he would ‘love to have Juan Figallo in the team.’ 

The Names
Without winning games no coach can keep his or her job. Hourcade has survived, doing so with mixed opinions. Those backing him are increasingly few. They know that, above all else, Los Pumas must be at full-strength to win matches.

Before Argentina does allow European-Based players back into Los Pumas it needs to notify the players themselves. While Bosch, Figallo and Imhoff, among many others, have been in Europe for two RWC cycles others have just made the move as recently as 2018 itself.

Consider Facundo Bosch, Santiago Cordero, Ramiro Herrera, Facundo Isa and Lucas Noguera Paz. All were in Hourcade’s roster at some point post RWC 2015.

Added to this are players yet to play under Hourcade who merit consideration to play for Argentina comparably to their counterparts at Los Jaguares. Among this list fall names such as Eduardo Bello, Juan Ignacio Brex, Patricio Fernández, Facundo Gigena, Francisco Gómez Kodela, Axel Müller, Santiago Socino, and Benjamín Urdapilleta.

For Los Jaguares the motivation must now grow instantly. For many places in Hourcade’s roster in June may well be under serious threat.