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A lot has happened during the two decades in between the British & Irish Lions’ home matches against Argentina. The then and the now illustrate just how far Argentine Rugby has come from 2005 to 2025. The progress has enabled Argentina to remain a critical country in the global game and Los Pumas to further cement themselves as a giant on the world stage. This article is a comparative look at Argentina’s Rugby Transformation from 2005 to 2025.
 VS MISSING MEN IN 2005 |
The British & Irish Lions wanted a warm-up match in 2005. They offered Argentina the opportunity of playing in Cardiff on May 23. Argentina accepted knowing that the date was far from ideal.
Argentina prepared against Japan in April. Miguel Avramovic, Agustín Creevy and Juan Manuel Leguizamón debuted. Leguizamón, who featured in place of the unavailable Gonzalo Longo, was one of four from the Japan test match who started against the British & Irish Lions. Another was Federico Todeschini, who Marcelo Loffreda called-up from Béziers in the Pro D2. He scored 20 points in the 25-25 draw in Cardiff.
Argentina played without 26 front-line players; assembling a Pumas side to face the British & Irish Lions was a challenge in itself. The match was the day after the European Rugby Champions Cup final which featured Juan Martín Hernández, Agustín Pichot, Rodrigo Roncero, and Omar Hasan.
The leading story, from an Argentine perspective, was that Los Pumas were competitive despite the odds. Some players were out through injury while others were still playing for their clubs. Loffreda worked in liaison with many parties. He called-up Bernardo Stortoni and Martín Schusterman from the English second division. Mauricio Reggiardo came out of retirement and Nicolás Fernández Miranda, Federico Méndez, Pablo Bouza, Francisco Leonelli, and Federico Genoud were selected from amateur clubs in Argentina.
The 2025 fixture will be played on the same weekend as the Top 14 Semi Finals. Los Pumas are certain to be affected again. Nonetheless, Argentina has a larger pool of players in elite divisions now than twenty years ago and preparations began with a camp in London earlier this month.
| THREE SEMI FINALS |
Five Rugby World Cups (RWCs) took place in between the British & Irish Lions hosting Argentina in 2005 and 2025. This period saw Argentina making history by winning Bronze at RWC 2007 and also reaching the Semi Finals in 2015 and 2023.
England also competed in three Semi Finals over this period. Wales played in two while neither Scotland nor Ireland advanced beyond Quarter Finals. RWCs 2007-2023 also saw Argentina playing in more Semi Finals than France and Australia.
Argentina’s draw against the British & Irish Lions came at a time when Los Pumas were in No Man’s Land. Argentina sought regular international competition in the form of joining either the Tri Nations or the Six Nations. The door to both was closed.
RWC 2007 changed this. Action had to be taken and Argentina was granted entry to the Tri Nations which became the Rugby Championship in 2012.
Since entering the Rugby Championship, Los Pumas have made history including first ever wins came against New Zealand and South Africa, plus Argentina handed Australia their biggest ever defeat. The same period saw Argentina beating every opponent. A win over the British & Irish Lions is the last remaining scalp.
 NATIONWIDE PLAYERS AND HOME MATCHES |
Loffreda’s 30-man roster for RWC 2007 was dominated by players from Buenos Aires. Getting noticed often meant players moved to URBA clubs. Only Omar Hasan, Leguizamón, Schusterman and Todeschini were not from Buenos Aires province.
Argentina’s roster for RWC 2023 was very different with eight of the 33 players having been born in Buenos Aires district capital and three more in other parts of Buenos Aires province.
The spread of players has coincided with the UAR taking home test matches nationwide. Historically, Buenos Aires hosted most of Argentina’s home matches including all in years as recent as 2000 and 2001. Córdoba’s hosting of Argentina vs Fiji in 2003 was rare at the time but Los Pumas have since gone on to play nationwide.
Buenos Aires hosted tests against Wales and South Africa in 2024 with Tucumán also hosting the former. The Springboks returned in 2005 to Buenos Aires but Los Pumas’ games against Italy were in Salta and Córdoba.
Expansion continued in 2006 with Argentina facing Wales in Patagonia. Subsequent years saw Los Pumas playing home test matches in more locations. La Plata, Mar del Plata, Mendoza, San Juan, Resistencia, Rosario, Santa Fe, Tucumán, Jujuy and Santiago del Estero are all examples.
| EXPANDED PLAYER POOL |
Loffreda had a smaller player pool in 2005 compared to Contepomi in 2025. In the years in between, the UAR reported significant growth. From 2008-2018, the number of rugby players in Argentina increased by 80%. Furthermore, in addition to more rugby players in Argentina, opportunities continue to open up for players in elite leagues.
Argentina defeated England in London in 2006 with five Argentine-based players: Pablo Gomez Cora, Alberto Vernet Basualdo, Esteban Lozada, Nicolás Fernández Miranda and Horacio Agulla. The number of amateur players on Pumas team sheets has now all but ended. 22 of the 23 involved in the 2002 win over England played abroad. Eliseo Morales, who was playing Super Rugby Americas, was the exception.
Super Rugby Americas (SRA) was born as South America’s professional league. Argentina has embraced it increasingly following Los Jaguares’ removal from Super Rugby in 2020. The Jaguares experiment saw home-based players prioritized for international duty from 2016-2019. An exodus followed from Argentina and many from the next generation such as Tomás Albornoz, Joaquín Oviedo, Pedro Rubiolo and Ignacio Ruiz have gone from SRA to Europe.
| PROFESSIONALISM AND REGIONAL LEADERSHIP |
A strong Uruguay is beneficial to Argentina. The return of Uruguay to the RWC in 2015 was followed by High Performance investment and Super Rugby Americas. Chile tweaked and replicated the model to qualify for RWC 2023. Peñarol and Selknam are the backbones of Los Teros and Los Cóndores.
SRA has enabled the expansion of professional rugby in South America and also within Argentina. Córdoba (Dogos), Buenos Aires (Pampas) and Tucumán (Tarucas) have SRA teams and more are to follow with Rosario on track to join in 2026.
There is room for more Argentine teams and also for expansion in Chile and Uruguay. Both countries could have two SRA teams; in fact, initial plans were for Uruguay to have two teams. Concepción looms as a possibility for a second Chilean team.
| NATIONAL HIGH PERFORMANCE RUGBY CENTER |
Argentina’s rugby transformation continues with the construction of a national High Performance Rugby Center. The Centro Nacional de Rugby (CNR) is a project that has been on the table in recent decades. It will be completed in November, 2026.
The CNR will centralize all the activities of the UAR, to optimize human resources and the organizational capacity, with focus placed on the excellence of the players and the game. The commitment is to make available a cutting-edge space for Argentine rugby.
Los Pumas, Las Yaguaretés, Los Pumas 7’s, Los Pumitas, the Argentina XV and Academies will all use the CNR for training and preparations. So too will the Pampas, Dogos and Tarucas.
Considering Los Pumas’ accomplishments until today, what is possible with the CNR? Could the CNR edge Los Pumas closer to winning a Rugby World Cup? The sky is the limit.
