Argentina’s win over New Zealand was truly nationwide. The 23 match-day players were from clubs and cities from across the country. On the one hand, 13 of Argentina’s twenty-three players are not from Buenos Aires. On the other hand, all but 4 of Argentina’s players at RWC 2007 were from Buenos Aires.
There are a number of reasons for the change. The leading one is that High Performance Centers have transformed the player pathway. In the past it was common for players to move to the big city to be seen. Juan Manuel Leguizamón is a case in point. In short, the creation of PladAR has increased visibility.
All players from Saturday’s match are displayed in the following table.
# | PLAYER | CITY OF BIRTH | CLUB OF ORIGIN |
1 | Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro | General Madariaga | Bigua |
2 | Julián Montoya | Buenos Aires | Newman |
3 | Francisco Gómez Kodela | Buenos Aires | Belgrano Athletic |
4 | Guido Petti | Buenos Aires | SIC |
5 | Matías Alemanno | Córdoba | La Tablada |
6 | Pablo Matera | Buenos Aires | Alumni |
7 | Marcos Kremer | Concordia | Los Espinillos, Salto Grande |
8 | Rodrigo Bruni | Tandil | UNCAS |
9 | Tomás Cubelli | Buenos Aires | Belgrano Athletic |
10 | Nicolás Sánchez | Tucumán | Tucumán Lawn Tennis |
11 | Juan Imhoff | Rosario | Duendes |
12 | Santiago Chocobares | Rufino | Duendes |
13 | Matías Orlando | Tucumán | Huirapuca |
14 | Bautista Delguy | Buenos Aires | Pucará |
15 | Santiago Carreras | Córdoba | Córdoba Athletic |
16 | Facundo Bosch | Necochea | CUBA |
17 | Mayco Vivas | Rafaela | CRAR |
18 | Santiago Medrano | Buenos Aires | Regatas Bella Vista |
19 | Santiago Grondona | Buenos Aires | Champagnat |
20 | Tomás Lezana | Santiago del Estero | Santiago Lawn Tennis |
21 | Gonzalo Bertranou | Mendoza | Los Tordos |
22 | Lucio Cinti | La Plata | La Plata RC |
23 | Santiago Cordero | Buenos Aires | Regatas Bella Vista |