50 Caps for Tomás Lavanini

This Saturday will see Tomás Lavanini completing 50th caps for Argentina. The world class second-rower from Buenos Aires will reach the milestone against Scotland and have the honor of leading the team out of the changing rooms onto Murrayfield.

Aged 25, Lavanini debuted for Argentina in 2013. It came at the age of 20 against Uruguay. His second cap was against Brazil while his third saw him making his first appearance in the Rugby Championship, doing so as a replacement against South Africa in Mendoza.

The following year Lavanini would face both Uruguay and Chile before earning his first start in the senior roster. He would wear the no 5 shirt against Ireland in Tucumán and Resistencia in the June Internationals.

Daniel Hourcade’s fall-out with Patricio Albacete would see Lavanini elevated into the starting line-up for the Rugby Championship. He partnered Mariano Galarza throughout, including in the historic Rugby Championship win over Australia.

Galarza was injured in the Mendoza fixture. This saw changes for the November Internationals with Lavanini joined by Juan Cruz Guillemaín who debuted against Scotland and the 19-year-old Guido Petti doing so against Italy.

Lavanini and Petti would be the starting second-row in 2015 and remain so now in 2018. Together they were the partnership in the 2015 win over South Africa in Durban as well as in Salta the following year and in 2018 against both South Africa and Australia.

Matías Alemanno is the understudy which has also seen Marcos Kremer being used as a flanker. In his absence Mario Ledesma is presently fielding Petti at flanker with Galarza back in the frame covering second-row.

Lavanini has been at the forefront of Argentina in recent seasons. He has impressed both in Super Rugby for Los Jaguares and in the Top 14 for Racing 92. His 50th cap comes very early, making him a candidate to become the first ever Puma to reach the 100 mark.

At present World Rugby Hall of Famer Felipe Contepomi is the most capped Puma. He earned his 87th, and final, cap at the age of 36 against Australia. Former captain Agustín Creevy is closing in on the mark. He will earn his 84th cap on Saturday.

Last weekend was the 49th cap for Lavanini. His forwards teammates Julián Montoya and Javier Ortega Desio both reached the mark of 50 caps. With Lavanini joining them he becomes the 36th Puma to earn 50 caps.

Hugo Porta was the first Argentine player to reach 50 caps. Having made his debut against Chile in Montevideo on October 10 1971, he reached the milestone on September 17 1985. His 50th test came against Uruguay in Asunción, Paraguay. It took the legendary Porta a staggering 14 years to reach his half-century.

The following table lists the players including caps from Saturday’s fixture vs Scotland.

#	PLAYER	POS	YEARS	CAPS
1	Felipe Contepomi	FH	1998-2013	87
2	Lisandro Arbizu	CE/FH	1990-2005	86
3	Rolando Martín	FL	1994-2003	86
4	Juan Manuel Leguizamón	FL/N8	2005-2018	85
5	Mario Ledesma	HK	1996-2011	84
6	Agustín Creevy	HK	2005-	84
7	Martín Landajo	SH	2008-	84
8	Pedro Sporleder	LO	1990-2003	78
9	Juan Martín Hernández	FH	2002-2017	74
10	Federico Mendez	HK/LH	1990-2004	73
11	Nicolás Sánchez	FH	2010-	74
12	Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe	FL/N8	2004-2015	71
13	Agustín Pichot	SH	1995-2007	71
14	Tomás Cubelli	SH	2010-	69
15	Marcos Ayerza	LH	2004-	66
16	Ignacio Fernández Lobbe	LO	1996-2008	65
17	Omar Hasan	PR	1995-2007	65
18	Horacio Agulla	WI	2005-2015	63
19	Diego Cuesta Silva	WI/CE	1983-1995	63
20	Martín Durand	FL	1997-2008	60
21	Martín Scelzo	PR	1996-2011	59
22	Hugo Porta	FH	1971-1990	58
23	Patricio Albacete	LO	2003-2013	57
24	Diego Albanese	WI	1995-2003	55
25	Pablo Matera	FL	2013-	58
26	Rodrigo Roncero	LH	1998-2012	55
27	Matías Alemanno	LO	2014-	53
28	Lucas González Amorosino	WI/FB	2007-2016	52
29	Gonzalo Longo	N8	1999-2007	51
30	Joaquín Tuculet	FB	2012-	51
31	Javier Ortega Desio	FL/N8	2012-	51
32	Julián Montoya	HK	2014-	51
33	Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro	LH/TH	2010-	50
34	Mauricio Reggiardo	TH	1996-2003	50
35	Leonardo Senatore	N 8	2008-	50
36	Tomás Lavanini	LO	2013-	50