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The Argentina XV roster to tour Georgia and Portugal contains players based in ten countries. Argentina, Australia, Chile, Colombia, England, France, Italy, Scotland, USA and Wales each had one or more players on a professional team of theirs in 2022.
Rugby, of course, does not have a global season. Players in Australia have their off-season in December-January but players in England do so in July and August. This, in itself, has been questioned with World Rugby unable to organize a calendar which has rest time aligned universally.
Those based in the Northern Hemisphere are at their end of their professional seasons. Some players are in the off-season already; there is a difference in timespan with some leagues finishing earlier than June.
For the English Premiership, United Rugby Championship (URC) and both the French Pro D2 and Top 14, June is the business end of the season. The URC Final will be on June 17, one day before the English Premiership and Super Rugby Finals. The Top 14 will conclude on June 24.
Elsewhere, Major League Rugby (MLR) 2022 will end in late June. The Super Rugby Final will be on the same weekend as the URC Final and the English Premiership Final.
The finals will affect Argentina’s preparations for the three-match home-series against Scotland. The clubs that are eliminated earlier will no longer require players. They can gain much needed rest before beginning the roster training in Buenos Aires.
Five players on the Argentina XV have been selected from French clubs. Three of them are Top 14 players and two play in the Pro D2. This, however, is subject to change. Bayonne won the 2022 Pro D2 Final and Mont de Marsan face Perpignan to determine who will play in the Top 14 and who will play in the Pro D2 next season.
Lucas Mensa and Joaquín Oviedo both played on Sunday and are likely to be on rival teams in the Top 14 vs Pro D2 fixture. Meanwhile, Facundo Bosch and La Rochelle will compete in the Top 14 play-off’s. La Rochelle take-on Toulouse on June 11. The winner will advance to face Castres in a Semi Final on June 17.
Ignacio Calles and Francisco Gorrissen will not compete in additional rugby in France this season. Both players will be available for the Argentina XV immediately. Gorrissen’s team played their final match of the season on May 12.
| POS | PLAYER | FRENCH TOP 14 / PRO D2 CLUB | SEASON OVER? |
| LH | Ignacio Calles | Pau (Top 14) | Yes |
| HK | Facundo Bosch | La Rochelle (Top 14) | No |
| FL | Francisco Gorrissen | Vannes (Pro D2) | Yes |
| N8 | Joaquín Oviedo | Perpignan (Top 14) | No |
| CE | Lucas Mensa | Mont de Marsan (Pro D2) | No |
Five members of the Argentina XV roster play for English Premiership teams. Of them four have completed their seasons. Facundo Gigena did so first due to London Irish having a bye in the final round on Saturday, June 04. The seasons ended for Mateo Carreras, Facundo Cordero, and Santiago Socino on Saturday.
The great unknown is Matías Moroni. The Leicester Tigers finished the regular season in top spot. They will have a home Semi Final against the Northampton Saints on Saturday, June 11. A win would see Leicester play again, this time in the Final at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday 18 June 2021.
| POS | PLAYER | ENGLISH PREMIERSHIP CLUB | SEASON OVER? |
| LH | Facundo Gigena | London Irish | Yes |
| HK | Santiago Socino | Gloucester | Yes |
| CE | Matías Moroni | Leicester Tigers | No |
| WI | Mateo Carreras | Newcastle Falcons | Yes |
| WI | Facundo Cordero | Exeter Chiefs | Yes |
The URC Semi Finals will be between South African and Irish teams. None of the final four are presently home to Argentines. Of the five names on the Argentina XV roster, two are from a club that reached the Quarter Finals. In short, all five have completed their URC seasons and will be available early to the Argentina XV coaching staff.
| POS | PLAYER | UNITED RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP CLUB | SEASON OVER? |
| TH | Enrique Pieretto | Glasgow Warriors (Scotland) | Yes |
| FL | Tomás Lezana | Scarlets (Wales) | Yes |
| SH | Gonzalo Bertranou | Dragons (Wales) | Yes |
| FH | Tomás Albornoz | Benetton (Italy) | Yes |
| WI | Sebastián Cancelliere | Glasgow Warriors (Scotland ) | Yes |
A healthy contingent of players are South American based. They come in a variety of positions, though of note is that all four second-rowers featured in SLAR 2022. Two played for Los Jaguares XV and the others played for Los Cafeteros Pro and Selknam respectively.
Some are on the radar for the Rugby Championship. This is so despite all of them being uncapped players. SLAR 2022 concluded in late May; as such, all players will be in prime condition to travel to Europe.
| POS | PLAYER | SOUTH AMERICAN CLUB | SEASON OVER? |
| HK | Bautista Bernasconi | Jaguares XV (Argentina) | Yes |
| TH | Javier Coronel | Jaguares XV (Argentina) | Yes |
| LO | Manuel Bernstein | Jaguares XV (Argentina) | Yes |
| LO | Rodrigo Fernández Criado | Jaguares XV (Argentina) | Yes |
| LO | Federico Lavanini | Cafeteros Pro (Colombia) | Yes |
| LO | Franco Molina | Selknam (Chile) | Yes |
| FL | Jerónimo Gómez Vara | Jaguares XV (Argentina) | Yes |
| N8 | Santiago Ruiz | Jaguares XV (Argentina) | Yes |
| SH | Eliseo Morales | Cafeteros Pro (Colombia) | Yes |
| SH | Gerónimo Prisciantelli | Jaguares XV (Argentina) | Yes |
| CE | Tomás Cubilla | Jaguares XV (Argentina) | Yes |
| CE | Agustín Segura | Jaguares XV (Argentina) | Yes |
| FB | Martín Bogado | Jaguares XV (Argentina) | Yes |
It came as no surprise that Julián Domínguez was named on the Argentina XV roster. The leading Argentine in Major League Rugby (MLR), Domínguez was superb all season for the Austin Gilgronis. The team was supposed to be in the play-off’s but breached competition rules. This means that MLR 2022 has finished for Domínguez.
| POS | PLAYER | MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY CLUB | SEASON OVER? |
| WI | Julián Domínguez | Austin Gilgronis (USA) | Yes |
Santiago Medrano was one of the top two tight heads for Los Pumas during the Mario Ledesma regime. Change has now seen him overtaken with the uncapped Joel Sclavi preferred for the July Internationals. Cheika only selected Sclavi and Francisco Gómez Kodela as tight heads which suggests that Medrano or Enrique Pieretto will join the roster for the Rugby Championship.
Medrano will join the Worcester Warriors next season. This follows two years playing for the Western Force. He held down a starting position and will take good form with him to take-on Georgia and Portugal.
| POS | PLAYER | SUPER RUGBY CLUB | SEASON OVER? |
| TH | Santiago Medrano | Western Force (Australia) | Yes |
