Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
Pablo Matera is the third Puma in history to reach the milestone of 100 test caps. Matera will earn his 100th cap for his country on Saturday, July 13 against France in Buenos Aires. This means Matera will have the honor of playing in his 100th test match at home.
Matera was on course to reach the mark of 100 caps at Rugby World Cup 2023. He missed out on doing so as he was injured playing against Japan. This left him on 98 caps. He earned his 99th against France in Mendoza and now earns his 100th in Buenos Aires. Of note is that Matera was born in Mendoza and raised in Buenos Aires.
100 test caps is a true mark of elite contribution. Matera is the third Puma to each the milestone. He follows Agustin Creevy and Nicolás Sánchez, both of whom reached 100 caps in 2023. An important difference is that Matera plays his 100th cap at the age of 30 while Sánchez did so on the month of his 35th birthday and Creevy aged 39.
The trio were all part of the Jaguares Super Rugby era of Argentine rugby. Other players are approaching 100 caps. Among them is captain Julián Montoya who currently has 96 caps and hooker Matías Alemanno who has 94.
Other players may not reach the milestone of 100 test caps in 2024 but could do so in 2025. Tomás Lavanini presently has 86 test caps and Guido Petti has 82. Both second-rowers are likely for the Rugby Championship. Scrum-half Tomás Cubelli has 93 caps while centers Jerónimo de la Fuente and Matías Moroni have 79 and 81 caps respectively.
| TEST DEBUT – PABLO MATERA |
Pablo Matera made his debut for Argentina at the age of 19. He did so against Chile and was a try scorer in what was an 85-10 win. He scored again win his second test match, which was against Brazil, and from there went on to play in the 2003 Rugby Championship. He started in all six matches as a rookie.
| LOS PUMAS – PABLO MATERA |
Pablo Matera is among the best Pumas flankers past or present. His pathway to Los Pumas began with Los Pumitas. Matera featured for Argentina at the World Rugby u20 Championships in 2012 and 2013. He stablished himself in the starting line-up in his rookie season. He reaches 100 caps at the age of 30.
| CAREER – PABLO MATERA |
Pablo Matera is a product of Asociación Alumni in Buenos Aires. He was identified young and went through the High Performance system. This saw him playing for Argentina a Junior level and being given his test debut in the 2013 South American Championship.
His rookie season as a Puma caught the interest of foreign clubs. None other than the most successful club in the history if English rugby, the Leicester Tigers recruited Matera in 2023. His professional career saw him return home to play for Los Jaguares in Super Rugby. He was a part of the side which reached the final against the Crusaders. He joined Stade Français in late 2019.
After two seasons playing in the French Top 14, Matera took up the challenge of playing in New Zealand for the Crusaders. He played the 2022 Super Rugby season for the Christchurch side who won the title. Matera won multiple Man of the Match awards during the campaign for the Crusaders.
Matera’s season of Super Rugby was followed by a move to Japan. He joined his current club, Mie Honda Heat, in late 2022. He is the only Puma at the club and the only Puma in the Japan Rugby League One, the highest level of professional rugby competition in Japan.
His 100 test caps have included playing in three Rugby World Cups and a fourth is within his reach. Before making his Rugby World Cup debut in 2015, Matera had a monumental scalp to his name; Matera was a part of the Argentine side that defeated South Africa in Durban in 2015. Never before had Los Pumas beaten the Springboks.
Five years later saw Matera making history again, this time as captain. Matera led Argentina to victory over New Zealand. The 25-15 win was the triple crown for Matera after he also had beaten Australia and South Africa in prior Rugby Championships.
Matera has beaten all three Rugby Championship opponents on the road. Matera played N8 for the history making 2022 Pumas who defeated the All Blacks in New Zealand for the first-time.
There is not a test team that Matera has not beaten. He has beaten all comers at one time or more during his test career. His first Tier 1 win was over Italy in 2013 while the final Tier 1 side was England whom he defeated in 2022.
Matera’s 100 caps have come against the following countries: Chile, Brazil, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, England, Wales, Italy, Uruguay, Georgia, Tonga, Namibia, Ireland, France, Scotland, USA, Romania, Samoa, and Japan.
He was rested for Argentina’s 2022 test match against Spain in Madrid. The most notable opponent that Matera has never faced is Fiji. That fixture is longer due as Argentina last faced in Córdoba in 2003.
