Argentina Roster for 2023 includes Surprises

Argentina’s roster for 2023 comes with surprises. The announcement of a 48-man roster confirms who is in the frame for Rugby World Cup 2023. The roster is hybrid; it contains players who will play for (a) Los Pumas and for (b) the Argentina XV.

The roster is made-up of Argentina’s top players. They played this past season and / or next in locations around the world in including Australia, Italy, England, France, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales. Every elite league is represented. There are also opportunities for two players from Los Pumas 7’s.

The players will assemble in Buenos Aires to prepare for upcoming international activities. Argentina will compete in the Rugby Championship against Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. There will be one match vs each plus a fixture outside of the tournament against South Africa. Los Pumas will then travel to Europe and face Spain in Madrid as the second of two warm-up matches.

The Argentina XV will play four Rugby World Cup warm-up matches. The national next-of-XV will face Uruguay and Namibia in Montevideo and play two matches against Chile. The Argentine side will be very strong and will provide both neighboring countries with their toughest contests before the World Cup.

The newcomers on the roster are the Rugby Sevens duo of Luciano González and Rodrigo Isgró. The players are both uncapped. Martín Bogado of the Highlanders is the other uncapped player on the 48-man roster.

The player is a strong repetition of the 2022 selections. With it being extended to 48 players there are, nonetheless, opportunities for some players who missed out under Michael Cheika last year. Included is loose head Ignacio Calles, tight head Lucio Sordoni, hooker Facundo Bosch, back-rower Joaquín Oviedo, scrum-half Gonzalo García and winger Sebastián Cancelliere. Francisco Gorrissen and Benjamín Urdapilleta have notably not been selected.

 

ARGENTINA ROSTER 2023 – LOS PUMAS + ARGENTINA XV

LOOSE HEAD
Ignacio Calles (Pau, FR – 2 caps)
Thomas Gallo (Benneton, IT – 13 caps)
Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro (Benetton, IT – 76 caps)
Marco Vivas (Gloucester, UK – 17 caps)

HOOKER
Facundo Bosch (Bayonne, FR – 13 caps)
Agustín Creevy (London Irish, UK – 97 caps)
Julián Montoya (Leicester Tigers, UK – 85 caps)
Santiago Socino (Gloucester, UK – 8 caps)
Ignacio Ruiz (London Irish, UK – 4 caps)

TIGHT HEAD
Eduardo Bello (Newcastle Falcons, UK – 10 caps)
Francisco Gómez Kodela (Lyon, FR – 28 caps)
Santiago Medrano (Western Force, AU – 32 caps)
Joel Sclavi (La Rochelle, FR – 9 caps)
Lucio Sordoni (Glasgow Warriors, UK – 3 caps)

SECOND-ROW
Matías Alemanno (Gloucester, UK – 84 caps)
Tomás Lavanini (Clermont, FR – 78 caps)
Guido Petti (Bordeaux, FR – 73 caps)
Lucas Paulos (Bayonne, FR – 10 caps)

FLANKER
Juan Martín González (London Irish, UK – 20 caps)
Santiago Grondona (Pau, FR – 10 caps)
Facundo Isa (Toulon, FR – 44 caps)
Marcos Kremer (Clermont, FR – 56 caps)
Pedro Rubiolo (Newcastle Falcons, UK – 1 cap)

N8
Rodrigo Bruni (Bayonne, FR – 18 caps)
Pablo Matera (Honda Heat, JP – 91 caps)
Joaquín Oviedo (Perpignan, FR – 1 cap)

SCRUM-HALF
Lautaro Bazán Vélez (Rovigo, IT – 3 caps)
Gonzalo Bertranou (Dragons, UK – 49 caps)
Tomás Cubelli (Biarritz, FR – 88 caps)
Gonzalo García (Zebre, IT – 3 caps)

FLY HALF
Tomás Albornoz (Benetton, IT – 3 caps)
Santiago Carreras (Gloucester, UK – 31 caps)
Nicolás Sánchez (Brive, FR – 95 caps)

INSIDE CENTER
Santiago Chocobares (Toulouse, FR – 11 caps)
Jerónimo de la Fuente (Perpignan, FR – 74 caps)
Matías Orlando (Newcastle Falcons, UK – 57 caps)

OUTSIDE CENTER
Lucio Cinti (London Irish, UK – 12 caps)
Luciano González (Los Pumas 7’s – uncapped)
Matías Moroni (Newcastle Falcons, UK – 69 caps)

WING
Emiliano Boffelli (Edinburgh, UK – 50 caps)
Sebastián Cancelliere (Glasgow Warriors, UK – 13 caps)
Mateo Carreras (Newcastle Falcons, UK – 7 caps)
Santiago Cordero (Connacht, IE – 49 caps)
Bautista Delguy (Clermont, FR – 25 caps)
Juan Imhoff (Racing 92, FR – 41 caps)
Rodrigo Isgró (Los Pumas 7’s – uncapped)

FULLBACK
Martín Bogado (Highlanders, NZ – uncapped)
Juan Cruz Mallía (Toulouse, FR – 24 caps)