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Argentina have added a test match to their 2023 schedule. With it Los Pumas are confirmed to play five matches prior to Rugby World Cup 2023. The newest fixture to the list sees Argentina facing Spain away in a warm-up match before arriving in France for the World Cup.
KiwiHouse will organize the event. As explained on their website, KiwiHouse is made up of a group of professionals from different walks of life who share a passion for Rugby.
🔴 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯
¡Ya es oficial! ¡@lospumas visitarán España para medirse a #LosLeones!
🇪🇸 España 🆚 Argentina 🇦🇷
📆 𝟮𝟲 𝗱𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯
🏟️ @Metropolitano🎫 Compra tus entradas en https://t.co/uYJFRNiZ7b.#LoQueNosUne #100AñosDeRugby pic.twitter.com/NiUv3sKPlt
— KiwiHouse (@house_kiwi) January 4, 2023
KiwiHouse organized The Match on May 21, 2022. The Match was a celebration of rugby in Madrid. Spain faced the Classic All Blacks in front of an attendance of 40,000 at the Wanda Metropolitano, the Estádio Metropolitano now known as the Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano.
The same venue will play host to Spain vs Argentina before Rugby World Cup 2023. Los Leones will face Los Pumas on Saturday, August 26 at the aforementioned Madrid stadium. The match is placed 14 days between Argentina’s first match of the World Cup.
Argentina will play Rugby Championship matches in July. Los Pumas host New Zealand in Mendoza on July 08, face Australia away on July 15 and face South Africa away on July 29. Argentina subsequently host South Africa in a Rugby World Cup warm-up match in Buenos Aires on August 05.
The Springboks have additional warm-up matches scheduled for August 19 against Wales in Cardiff and August 25 against New Zealand in London. Australia face France on August 26, the same date that Los Pumas face Los Leones in Spain.
It has been a long time since Spain and Argentina faced-off in a test match. The teams played home-and-away matches in 1992. Argentina won 43-34 in Madrid and 38-10 in Buenos Aires. Prior to that Argentina defeated Spain 40-12 in Mar del Plata in 1987 and 28-19 in Madrid in 1982.
More recent meetings have been Spain against the Argentina XV, the national next-of-XV. The teams played matches against one-another in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
The Argentina XV won 30-10 in 2015. Players capped at the time or since by Argentina included Tomás Baravalle, Gonzalo Bertranou, Facundo Bosch, Santiago García Botta, and Manuel Plaza. The now Italian-capped Juan Ignacio Brex also played in the match.
Felipe Ezcurra captained an Argentina XV side containing additional Pumas Gabriel Ascárate, Joaquín Díaz Bonilla, Sebastián Cancelliere, and Carlos Muzzio to a 44-8 win over Spain in 2016.
The Argentina XV won 37-5 in 2017. Six players capped then or since featured for the Argentina XV. They were Lautaro Bazán Vélez, Joaquín Díaz Bonilla, Felipe Ezcurra, Facundo Gigena, Juan Cruz Guillemaín, and Santiago Medrano.
Argentina face England, Samoa, Chile and Japan in that order, in Pool D of Rugby World Cup 2023. Among other things, the match against Spain shapes as ideal preparation for Michael Cheika’s team for game’s two and three of the World Cup. If there is to be rotation at the World Cup then already having had combinations work together against Spain will be highly beneficial.
The equivalent of Spain vs Argentina ahead of Rugby World Cup 2019 saw the Mario Ledesma coached Pumas playing against Randwick in Sydney, Australia.
