World Cup Door remains open for five Pumas

Daniel Hourcade’s 36 man training squad for the Rugby Championship is currently flying to Australia and consists of five more players than the total in which all competitors will take will them to England and Wales in September.

Of note are the return of Gonzalo Camacho and Juan Figallo in addition to the inclusion of Juan Pablo Socino who has previously played in non-capped matches. Their inclusion saw others missing out but the door has not necessarily closed on them and nor has it on all players.

Camacho’s selection follows a twenty-one month absence from Los Pumas. His last match was against the All Blacks in Hamilton in 2013, a match which was also the last appearance of Figallo in the sky-blue and white colors.

Their respective rehabilitation experiences have been different. Figallo missed the entire 2013-2014 season and transferred to Saracens from Montpellier where he played this past season, coming off the bench in the Premiership Final. The move was motivated by the extent of his vertebral injury which had been determined as a G3 category and was, consequently, outside of LNR competition laws.

Camacho, in contrast, joined the Leicester Tigers from the Exeter Chiefs but is yet to play for the club due to having to undergone three shoulder reconstruction surgeries. Following two seasons of no game time his comeback is now being monitored directly by Hourcade and his staff.

Both players are a welcome return for Hourcade who replaced Santiago Phelan following a disastrous Rugby Championship campaign in 2013. ‘El Huevo’ picked up the pieces to see Argentina defeating Australia in Mendoza and France in Paris and did so with a vastly different lineup. Included on both occasions was Manuel Montero whose place has been taken by Camacho.

In addition to Camacho Hourcade included four other wingers – Horacio Agulla, Santiago Cordero, Lucas González Amorosino and Juan Imhoff. Both Cordero and González Amorosino are natural fullbacks and have been named with this in mind as Joaquín Tuculet is, otherwise, the only player named in the position.

The rise of left winger Montero coincided with Imhoff becoming the leading option on the right wing while Agulla was moved to outside centre where he started in winning teams in Mendoza and Genoa. The veteran of Rugby World Cups 2007 and 2011 offers a genuine alternative to Marcelo Bosch with Jerónimo De la Fuente being the only other player in Hourcade’s squad named who could be in the frame to start a test at 13.

Left out were centres Gabriel Ascárate and Matías Orlando in addition to winger Ramiro Moyano, all of whom have minor injuries. Any of these three could return due to the limited number of squad members in their positions. Simply put Ascárate will be next in line at inside centre, Orlando at outside centre and Moyano at either wing or fullback.

Figallo’s return sees Bruno Postiglioni missing out. He had been used in rotation with Lucas Noguera Paz in 2014 from the bench as cover for Marcos Ayerza. The three were the leading loosehead prop options while Francisco Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro and Ramiro Herrera started tests at tighthead and Matías Díaz has joined them in the squad. Of the five Figallo is unique in being regarded as a genuine option on both sides of the front-row.

2014 Currie Cup champion Manuel Carizza’s World Cup hopes also remain open. In opting to only select three second-rowers he has included back-rower Benjamín Macome as an option. Matías Alemanno, Tomás Lavanini and Guido Petti Pagadizabal are expected to be joined by Mariano Galarza in time for the World Cup.

Should Galarza be fully fit then his place ought to be assured. If not Carizza is likely to be included. His non-selection by Hourcade is based on the coach determining that the traditional Pumas game plan of large bullying forwards is outdated and, as such, more robust players are required to last 80 minutes. Carizza, nevertheless, could still  join the squad at any time during the Rugby Championship.