Most Capped Americas XV

What would the most capped XV of all-time look like? Who are the most capped rugby players from the Americas? If these or similar questions have crossed your mind then this article is for you.

Listed below is the Americas team comprising the most capped player across all positions. Starting with the front-row the selection sees a different country represented across the three positions. All three appeared in Rugby World Cups and remain celebrated names in their countries.

The second-row may surprise some readers. Both players are South Americans, though one of them is from Uruguay rather than Argentina. Diego Magno is the all-time most capped player from the Americas with 92 caps. The next most capped second-rower is Pedro Sporleder.

The back-row sees some liberty as Al Charron and Juan Manuel Leguizamón make the line-up. They are among the most capped players, though both played across multiple positions in their careers. The same is true of Magno. Overall, Leguizamón has seven more caps than Aaron Carpenter who had some experience out of position at hooker.

Martín Landajo and Felipe Contepomi played together for Argentina in 2012 and 2013. They were in the start and end of their respective careers. Contepomi played a lot at inside center. This has been taken into consideration for both positions. The same applies to Lisandro Arbizu who was fly half at RWC 1995 but center at RWC 1999.

Arbizu joins Ciaran Hearn in the mid-field. Both men were capped across a range of positions, though it is at 12 and 13 that they were arguably both at their best. Arbizu played at RWCs 1991, 1995 and 1999 while Hearn did so at RWCs 2011, 2015 and 2019. The then captain tragically missed out on RWC 2003 with a knee injury in Los Pumas’ final warm-up match.

The all-time most capped back-three come from Canada and Uruguay. Winston Stanley joins the Uruguayan duo of Leandro Leivas and Gastón Mieres to have three well-known names to Canadians.

Click here for the Americas all-time Top 10 most capped players.

 

Most Capped Americas XV

1 – Mike MacDonald (USA: 67 caps, 56 starts)
From 2000-2012 prop Mike MacDonald was an Eagle. The Californian appeared in three Rugby World Cups during these years and was also a professional in England from 2005-2012. MacDonald’s performance against Russia in 2011 won plenty of accolades. Four years earlier he crossed for the USA’s opening try against Tonga in Montpellier. Joining him in both matches was Todd Clever, the man who overtook MacDonald as the most capped Eagle in history.

2 – Agustín Creevy (Argentina: 89 caps, 59 starts)
Former captain, Agustín Creevy is Argentina’s most capped player of all-time. He is approaching the mark of 100 caps, though COVID-19 is not helping matters. First capped in 2005, Creevy was a flanker who converted to hooker in 2009. Since then he has never lost his place on the roster.

3 – Mario Sagario (Uruguay: 76 caps, 53 starts)
Uruguayan tight head, Mario Sagario was a rare professional Tero at RWC 2015. He decided against competing in a second RWC to instead focus on his career. His final cap was against Brazil in the 2019 Americas Rugby Championship.

4 – Diego Magno (Uruguay: 92 caps, 61 starts)
A Tero since 2008, Diego Magno is officially the most capped Americas player of all-time. His 92 caps are three more than Agustín Creevy and his age of 31 make him four years the junior of the Argentine. Magno has appeared in two Rugby World Cups and is a seasoned member of the Houston SaberCats.

5 – Pedro Sporleder (Argentina: 78 caps, 72 starts)
The most capped Argentine second-rower is Sporleder. In Los Pumas from 1990-2003 he appeared in four Rugby World Cups. In 2002 he ran in four tries against Paraguay. He went to his final World Cup as cover with Particio Albacete, Ignacio Fernández Lobbe, and Rimas Álvarez Kairelis ahead of him.

6 – Al Charron (Canada: 76 caps, 76 starts)
Canada’s greatest ever forward is also their most capped player of all-time and tied with Gareth Rees on a record 25 caps as captain. The Ottawa, Ontario, native was part of a fearsome back row in the 1991 World Cup team that made reached the quarter finals and a near unanimous choice for a World XV following the tournament’s completion. Charron spent most of his early days on the blindside but also won several caps at lock and no8.

7 – Rolando Martín (Argentina: 86 caps, 77 starts)
‘The Yankee’ was one of Argentina’s first players to play professional rugby. From 1994-2003 Martín was a constant in Los Pumas teams. He appeared in Rugby World Cups 1995, 1999, and 2003. His cheeky try against Ireland in 2002 lives on as a valuable lesson to kids learning the game.

8 – Juan Manuel Leguizamón (87 caps, 64 starts)
When the Santiago del Estero N8 debuted against Japan in 2005, Head Coach Marcelo Loffreda realized he had a player of massive potential. Leguizamón went on to play in four Rugby World Cups. In the 2013 Rugby Championship he scored tries in consecutive matches against South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.

9 – Martín Landajo (Argentina: 84 caps, 58 starts)
A Puma from 2008-2018, Martín Landajo achieved the remarkable feat of playing in every test match during the Daniel Hourcade era (2013-2018). He played in RWC 2011, starting in the Quarter Final win over Ireland in Cardiff. He left Argentina to continue his career with the Harlequins in 2019.

10 – Felipe Contepomi (Argentina: 87 caps, 75 starts)
Debuting for Argentina at the age of 21 the Newman flyhalf would remain in the team until aged 36. Contepomi played in four World Cups, captaining Los Pumas in New Zealand 2011. A 31-point-haul over France in 2010 was the high point of the Santiago Phelan coaching era.

11 – Winston Stanley (Canada: 66 caps, 64 tests)
Comfortably Canada’s most capped winger even though he started at fullback on 18 occasions, Stanley is also Canada’s second placed try scorer of all-time, behind DTH van der Merwe. He retired somewhat prematurely at the age of just 29 following the 2003 World Cup, and has since become an accomplished coach for various teams in Western Canada.

12 – Lisandro Arbizu (Argentina: 86 caps, 83 starts)
Like Contepomi, Arbizu was a natural flyhalf. Both men played in a number of positions. Arbizu started mostly at inside center.  Arbizu was in the team from 1990-2005. He played in Rugby World Cups 1991, 1995, and 1999. A broken leg against Canada in August 2003 ruled him out of playing in a fourth Rugby World Cup. 3 of 17 tries were against New Zealand, the best of these in mid-2001.

13 – Ciaran Hearn (Canada: 73 caps, 62 starts)
Of Canada’s active players none have more caps than Ciaran Hearn. The veteran of three RWCs needs eight more caps to overtake Aaron Carpenter to become Canada’s most capped player of all-time. He featured in all of Canada’s matches at RWC 2019, meaning that he could overtake Carpenter. Among his test career highlights are wins over Fiji and Tonga in 2013 and a RWC win over the latter in 2011.

14 – Leandro Leivas (Uruguay: 76 caps, 53 starts)
The most capped winger, be that right or left, is Leandro Leivas. Having debuted in 2008, he has two RWC campaigns to his name and experienced the lack of matches for Uruguay compared to the regular competition since 2015. Now a professional player, Leivas is a consistent performer for the Toronto Arrows in Major League Rugby.

15 – Gastón Mieres (Uruguay: 70 caps, 60 starts)
Completing the team at fullback is Leivas’ Uruguayan and Arrows teammate, Gastón Mieres. In his rookie test season of 2010 Mieres was playing RWC qualifiers. He went on to start in all of Uruguay’s matches at RWC 2015 and three of the four at RWC 2019. The 30-year-old still has plenty of caps ahead of him.