Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
If rugby is the sport of the giants, Argentina are treating it as such. Head Coach Mario Ledesma will be taking some 46 players with him for this year’s edition of the competition.
Ledesma said that he thinks the competition “will be tougher than the Rugby World Cup.” Los Pumas will play against Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Matches will exclusively take place in Australia.
Rugby is yet to resume in Argentina. It was suspended in March. Those involved in Super Rugby have either been training at a COVID-19 affected camp in Buenos Aires. The exception are those based abroad. There has been a player exodus and team manager Marcelo Loffreda has been busy talking to players abroad. There will be a contingent of European-based names for the Rugby Championship.
The team will play warm-up fixtures. These are yet to b confirmed, however those in need of game time will have the opportunity to play for the Argentina XV in the South American Championship in October.
The final make-up of the roster is unknown. Notwithstanding, Argentina is to take gigantic roster to Australia for the Rugby Championship. The players presently training in Buenos Aires will all be considered, though they will not be given priority. Instead, the roster will comprise of the very best players.
There are officially 19 current European-based players under consideration. They are Facundo Gigena, Facundo Bosch, Ignacio Calles, Agustín Creevy, Francisco Gomez Kodela, Ramiro Herrera, Enrique Pieretto, Matías Alemanno, Tomás Lavanini, Guido Petti, Facundo Isa, Marcos Kremer, Pablo Matera, Patricio Fernández, Nicolás Sánchez, Benjamín Urdapilleta, Lucas Mensa, Santiago Cordero, and Ramiro Moyano.
