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Argentina’s 34-man roster for the July Internationals features recalled and uncapped players. Los Pumas will take-on France in two home internationals before traveling across the Rio de la Plata to face Uruguay.
The July Internationals are the first opportunity for players to represent Argentina since the World Cup. The international window thereby is the start of a new era. It comes with Felipe Contepomi having replaced Michael Cheika as the new head coach.
Contepomi’s roster sees players being juggled. Some are missing so as to have rest. This naturally means others have opportunities. The exact selection criteria will be clearer over time; the Rugby Championship roster will reveal more about Contepomi’s agenda.
Who then is missing from the July roster? The answer is many regular players. They include the two point capped Pumas in history as well as the regular goal-kicker. They include some who are yet to complete their seasons for their clubs. They include players in their twilight as well as in their prime and some who are up-and-coming prospects.
| RETURNING PLAYERS |
Contepomi included players who did not play at the World Cup. Scrum-half Gonzalo García is back with Tomás Cubelli not selected. Similarly, Tomás Albornoz is included but Nicolás Sánchez is not. Alejo Miranda reports that the door has not closed; both players could play in the Rugby Championship and / or November.
Matías Orlando is back after missing out on the World Cup. Orlando joins Matías Moroni as the two outside center options. Lucio Cinti is rested. The wing selections see recalls for Santiago Cordero, Bautista Delguy, and Ignacio Mendy. Delguy has been on fire for Clermont while Mendy’s form has been well-documented by ARN.
Loose head prop Ignacio Calles is back as is tight head prop Lucio Sordoni. The additional recalled forward is second-rower Lucas Paulos. There are uncapped players joining them in the forwards. Indeed, the roster contains five uncapped forwards but just one uncapped back.
| UNCAPPED PLAYERS |
The six uncapped players come in two varieties: roster members and invitational players. The roster members are tight head prop Francisco Coria Marchetti (Brive, FR); flanker Bautista Pedemonte (Vannes, FR), second-rower Franco Molina, (Dogos) and fullback Mateo Soler (Dogos). The invitational players are Bautista Bernasconi (Benetton, IT) and flanker Joaquín Moro (Pampas).
| JULY 2024 INTERNATIONALS – MISSING PUMAS XV |
1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro (Benetton, IT – 78 caps)
2 Agustín Creevy (Sale Sharks, UK – 108 caps)
3 Joel Sclavi (La Rochelle, FR – 18 caps)
4 Guido Petti (Bordeaux, FR – 82 caps)
5 Tomás Lavanini (Clermont, FR – 86 caps)
6 Juan Martín González (Saracens, UK – 31 caps)
7 Facundo Isa (Toulon, FR – 51 caps)
8 Rodrigo Bruni (Bayonne, FR – 26 caps)
9 Tomás Cubelli (Miami Sharks, US – 93 caps)
10 Nicolás Sánchez (Suntory Sungoliath, JP – 104 caps)
11 Juan Imhoff (Racing 92, FR – 44 caps)
12 Gerónimo Prisciantelli (Zebre Parma, IT – uncapped)
13 Lucio Cinti (Saracens, UK)
14 Emiliano Boffelli (Edinburgh, UK – 59 caps)
15 Juan Cruz Mallía (Toulouse, FR)
16 Facundo Bosch (Bayonne, FR – 12 caps)
17 Rodrigo Martínez (Dragons, UK – 3 caps)
18 Francisco Gómez Kodela (Stade Français, FR – 38 caps)
19 Efraín Elías (Dogos AR – uncapped)
20 Francisco Gorrissen (Vannes, FR – 2 caps)
21 Agustín Moyano (Dogos – uncapped)
22 Domingo Miotti (Oyonnax, FR – 5 caps)
23 Rodrigo Isgró (Los Pumas 7’s – 3 caps)
