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Julián Montoya is the new captain of Argentina. The hooker replaces flanker Pablo Matera as the leader of Los Pumas. Montoya will thus lead Argentina in the upcoming July internationals. Argentina will play two test matches against Wales and possibly also face Romania in Bucharest.
Both Montoya and Matera are well-established in Los Pumas. Both men played Super Rugby under Mario Ledesma and featured in RWCs 2015 and 2019. Montoya overtook Agustín Creevy to be Argentina’s starting test hooker in the later of the two tournaments. Creevy captained Argentina at RWC 2015.
Montoya comes from Club Newman in Buenos Aires. The same club also produced former Pumas captain Felipe Contepomi. Montoya moved from Argentina to the Leicester Tigers while Contpepomi also played in England for Bristol. He went on to play many years in Ireland for Leinster and subsequently played for Toulon and Stade Français.
Montoya is presently joined by fellow former Jaguares players Tomás Lavanini and Matías Moroni. Lavanini will depart the Leicester Tigers to join Clermont next season. All three are on Argentina’s roster to travel to Wales in July.
Montoya made his test debut in 2014. The first of his 63 caps was against Uruguay. His most recent appearance was in the 2020 Tri Nations. Montoya takes over the captaincy with 63 test caps to his name. He is fifth most capped current Puma. Those with more caps are Nicolás Sánchez (84), Tomás Cubelli (76), Pablo Matera (69), and Matías Alemanno (65). Creevy continues to play for London Irish but is not on the roster for July. He has 89 caps; the most by all Pumas past and present.
