Argentina Announce Star-Studded Roster for World Cup 2023

Argentina has announced a star-studded roster for Rugby World Cup 2023. With Michael Cheika in charge, Los Pumas will be captained by Julián Montoya. The hooker will play in his third Rugby World Cup and his first as captain.

Montoya plays his rugby in England for the Leicester Tigers. He and his teammates represent a who’s who of professional rugby. The Premiership, United Rugby Championship (URC), Super Rugby and Top 14 are all represented.

Fourteen players will play in their first Rugby World Cup, seven in their second. Montoya, Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, Matías Alemanno, Tomás Lavanini, Guido Petti, Pablo Matera, Tomás Cubelli, Jerónimo de la Fuente, Juan Imhoff and Matías Moroni will all play in their third Rugby World Cup while Agustín Creevy and Nicolás Sánchez will play in their fourth.

The roster contains players from across the country. Every player comes from Argentina. There are no players qualifying via a grandparent, parent or via completing residency. All members of the 33-man roster qualify on birth.

RUGBY WORLD CUP 2023 – POSITIONAL SELECTIONS

Michael Cheika has opted for two specialist loose head props. This is one less than what some other rosters will contain. His two loose head props are Thomas Gallo and Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro. Both men play for Benetton in the United Rugby Championship (URC).

Gallo has been Cheika’s first-choice loose head prop throughout his tenure. Tetaz Chaparro is to be the understudy with Mayco Vivas having been cut from the roster. Tetaz Chaparro is thus the one change option, though Joel Sclavi may cover from tight head.

Three hookers are on the roster. Captain Julián Montoya is joined by former captain Agustín Creevy and Ignacio Ruiz. Montoya has 89 test caps. Creevy became the first Puma to 100 in Los Pumas’ farewell home match against South Africa in Buenos Aires.

Ruiz has been preferred to Facundo Bosch and Santiago Socino. With 5, he has fewer caps than both and is notably younger too. Ruiz has completed a move from the English Premiership to the Top 14. Both Creevy and Montoya will remain in the Premiership after the World Cup.

Three specialist tight head props are on the roster. Veteran Francisco Gómez Kodela is in line for his first Rugby World Cup at the age of 38. Rules meant he was not considered for RWC 2019 despite having been among the best Argentine tight-heads at the time.

Eduardo Bello and Joel Sclavi are also on the roster. They are to share the load as the understudy to Gómez Kodela. Their inclusion comes with Lucio Sordoni and Santiago Medrano having missed out. Gómez Kodela has 31 caps, Bello 13 and Sclavi 11.

Bello has recently signed for the Newcastle Falcons from Saracens. Francisco Gómez Kodela will not remain at Lyon in France next season but has offers from other Top 14 clubs. Joel Sclavi is a two-time European Champions Cup winner with la Rochelle.

Three rather than second-rowers were named on the roster. This is a minor surprise. The player to miss out is Lucas Paulos. As such, the trio of Matías Alemanno, Tomás Lavanini and Guido Petti will all be back for a third Rugby World Cup.

Alemanno is the most capped with 86 appearances. He is followed by Lavanini with 82 and Petti with 74. Lavanini and Petti play in the Top 14 while Alemanno plays in the English Premiership.

As noted in the back-row selection, the decision to take three rather than four second-rowers to the World Cup does not mean only three will play in the position. To the contrary, there two others who are options to start matches at the World Cup.

There are sevens back-rowers on the roster. This is a larger number than that required to have two complete back-rows. Former captain Pablo Matera leads the back-rowers with 95 test caps. Marcos Kremer is also vastly experienced with 56 caps. Facundo Isa is back for a second Rugby World Cup after missing 2019 due to selection policies at the time.

Rodrigo Bruni had a minor role at RWC 2019. He is back for a second now. He joins Matera and Isa as the N8 options; notwithstanding, Cheika has been playing Juan Martín González in the position. González, Santiago Grondona and Pedro Rubiolo will all be appearing in their first Rugby World Cup.

The back-rowers play their rugby in England, France and Japan. Bruni, Isa and Kremer play for Top 14 clubs, Matera plays in Japan while González, Grondona and Rubiolo play their rugby in England. Kremer and Rubiolo are flankers covering second-row. Both have test starts in the position.

Argentina took just two scrum-halves to RWCs 2015 and 2019. There will be three for Rugby 2023. Gonzalo Bertranou is the starting player. He has 53 caps. His understudy in 2022 was Tomás Cubelli while in 2023 it has thus far been Lautaro Bazán Vélez.

Cubelli is yet to play a test match due to fitness. Bázan Vélez started for Argentina against South Africa in Johannesburg. Bertranou plays for the Dragons in the URC, Bazar Vélez for Rovigo in Italy’s Top 10 and Cubelli will join the Miami Sharks in Major League Rugby (MLR) after the World Cup.

Bertranou has 53 caps, Cubelli 88 and Bazán Vélez 6. Of note is the non-selection of Gonzalo García. He underwent two surgeries and is almost ready to return. He is on the Argentina XV roster but is yet to play in 2023.

The coaches opted for two rather than three fly halves. This meant a player missed out. Tomás Albornoz is the player left out of the roster. Cheika explained his decision with experience being the biggest factor in Nicolás Sánchez’ favor.

Sánchez is now the understudy to Santiago Carreras. Sánchez is Argentina’s second most capped player in history with 97 caps. He is presently unattached to a club following his move from Stade Français to Brive earlier on in 2023.

Santiago Carreras has started all but one test match at fly half under Cheika. He now has 35 caps. He will operate in a tandem play-maker capacity with fullback Juan Cruz Mallía. Sánchez is highly likely to start at least once at the World Cup.

Four rather than five centers was the final decision. It came with a massive call having been made Matías Orlando will miss the World Cup. The coaching staff went for Santiago Chocobares and Jerónimo de la Fuente as the inside centers and Lucio Cinti and Matías Moroni as their outside centers.

Santiago Chocobares made his Pumas debut in 2000. He did so in the historic win over New Zealand. He plays his rugby in France for Toulouse. de la Fuente also plays in the Top 14. He plays for Perpignan. RWC 2023 will be the third World Cup for the 75 time capped Puma.

Lucio Cinti has overtaken Matías Moroni to be the starting Pumas outside center. Cinti has 16 caps compared to Moroni’s 73. Both men play their rugby in the English Premiership. Cinti has signed for Saracens for the new season while Moroni plays for the Newcastle Falcons. The center options suggest two pairings: (a) Chocobares and Cinti (b) de La Fuente and Moroni.

Four wingers have made the roster. This is a notable number. Some rosters opt for three. Argentina go into the tournament with goal-kicker Emiliano Boffelli and Mateo Carreras as the top wingers. They  are thus expected to have Juan Imhoff and Rodrigo Isgró as their under studies.

Boffelli is the most capped with 53 tests to his name. Imhoff has 43, a number far lower than what it would have been had coaches been free to always select players regardless of where they played their rugby. Carreras has 10 caps while Isgró debuted in the 2023 win over Australia in Sydney.

While four wingers is noteworthy, big calls have nonetheless been made. Santiago Cordero and Bautista Delguy both missed out. They have 50 and 25 test caps respectively.

Two fullbacks have made the roster. Juan Cruz Mallía is the starting name with 24 caps. His understudy is Martín Bogado who made his test debut just two days before the announcement of the roster.

Mallía plays his rugby for Toulouse in the Top 14 while Bogado plays for New Zealand’s southern most franchise, the Highlanders, in Super Rugby. A Third fullback option is Boffelli. He has started at both wing and fullback in 2023.

 

Argentina’s final match before the World Cup will be against Spain in Madrid on August 26. Los Pumas begin their World Cup in Marseille, France against England on September 09.

 

RUGBY WORLD CUP 2023 – ARGENTINA ROSTER

LOOSE HEAD
Thomas Gallo (Benneton, IT – 17 caps)
Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro (Benetton, IT – 78 caps)

HOOKER
Agustín Creevy (Sale Sharks, UK – 100 caps)
Julián Montoya (Leicester Tigers, UK – 89 caps)
Ignacio Ruiz (Perpignan, FR – 5 caps)

TIGHT HEAD
Eduardo Bello (Newcastle Falcons, UK – 13 caps)
Francisco Gómez Kodela (Lyon, FR – 31 caps)
Joel Sclavi (La Rochelle, FR – 11 caps)

SECOND-ROW
Matías Alemanno (Gloucester, UK – 86 caps)
Tomás Lavanini (Clermont, FR – 82 caps)
Guido Petti (Bordeaux, FR – 74 caps)

BACK-ROW
Rodrigo Bruni (Bayonne, FR – 20 caps)
Juan Martín González (Saracens, UK – 24 caps)
Santiago Grondona (Bristol Bears, UK – 14 caps)
Facundo Isa (Toulon, FR – 46 caps)
Marcos Kremer (Clermont, FR – 56 caps)
Pablo Matera (Honda Heat, JP – 95 caps)
Pedro Rubiolo (Newcastle Falcons, UK – 4 caps)

SCRUM-HALF
Lautaro Bazán Vélez (Rovigo, IT – 6 caps)
Gonzalo Bertranou (Dragons, UK – 53 caps)
Tomás Cubelli (Miami Sharks, US – 88 caps)

FLY HALF
Santiago Carreras (Gloucester, UK – 35 caps)
Nicolás Sánchez (Unattached – 97 caps)

INSIDE CENTER
Santiago Chocobares (Toulouse, FR – 7 caps)
Jerónimo de la Fuente (Perpignan, FR – 75 caps)

OUTSIDE CENTER
Lucio Cinti (Saracens, UK – 16 caps)
Matías Moroni (Newcastle Falcons, UK – 73 caps)

WING
Emiliano Boffelli (Edinburgh, UK – 53 caps)
Mateo Carreras (Newcastle Falcons, UK – 10 caps)
Juan Imhoff (Racing 92, FR – 43 caps)
Rodrigo Isgró (Los Pumas 7’s – 1 cap)

FULLBACK
Martín Bogado (Highlanders, NZ – 1 cap)
Juan Cruz Mallía (Toulouse, FR – 24 caps)