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Argentine front-rowers have been identified for future international duty. Argentina’s national scrum coach, Andrés Bordoy is overseeing the progress of players both at home and abroad. 38 players have been named that are bring monitored. 12 are loose head props, 13 are hookers and 13 are tight head props.
There are players who are well established in Los Pumas as well as uncapped players and others who have been off the radar for a significant period of time. Some players will be involved in the 2022 Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR), others have recently departed Argentina and some have been abroad for many years.
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Loose head prop was a position of rotation in 2021. Mario Ledesma did not have a settled first choice player. Debuts were handed out to five players in the position – Ignacio Calles, Thomas Gallo, Facundo Gigena, Rodrigo Martínez and Carlos Muzzio.
Other names were close to also playing test rugby for Argentina in 2021. Federico Wergrzyn was on the roster for the opening matches of the year only to join Provence from Los Jaguares XV. 2019-2020 regular Mayco Vivas missed the year through injury.
Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro is easily the most capped loose head option. He had an excellent 2020 but less so in 2021. Thomas Gallo appears to now be the top option in the #1 shirt.
There are notably twelve loose head props listed while there are thirteen hookers and thirteen tight head props. In connection is the absence of the name of Santiago García Botta. The 29-year-old Harlequins prop is a former Jaguar and has 33 caps for Argentina.
Two other missing names of note are Nicolás Solveyra (Houston SaberCats) and Javier Corvalán (Cafeteros Pro). Both players had strong showings for their professional teams in 2021.
LOOSE HEAD PROP
| PLAYER | AGE | HOME CLUB | CURRENT CLUB | CAPS |
| Ignacio Calles | 26 | Los Cardos (Tandil) | Pau (FR) | 2 |
| Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro | 32 | Camarones (Pinamar) | Benetton (IT) | 67 |
| Javier Díaz | 26 | Natación (Tucumán) | Valorugby Emilia (IT) | 3 |
| Thomas Gallo | 22 | Universitario (Tucumán) | Benetton (IT) | 4 |
| Facundo Gigena | 27 | Tala (Córdoba) | London Irish (UK) | 7 |
| Rodrigo Martínez | 23 | Los Tordos (Cuyo) | Wasps (UK) | 3 |
| Francisco Minervino | 22 | Luján (Buenos Aires) | Luján (Buenos Aires) | – |
| Carlos Muzzio | 37 | San Patricio (Corrientes) | Mont de Marsan (FR) | 3 |
| Nicolás Revol Pitt | 21 | La Tablada (Córdoba) | La Tablada (Córdoba) | – |
| Nicolás Toth | 21 | Lomas (Buenos Aires) | Provence (FR) | – |
| Mayco Vivas | 23 | CRAR (Rosario) | Unattached | 12 |
| Federico Wergrzyn | 25 | Esquel (Lagos del Sur) | Provence (FR) | – |
Julián Montoya received plenty of praise for his performances in 2021. He led a struggling team very well. He held down the hooker spot with Facundo Bosch being his understudy in ten of the twelve test matches. Santiago Socino featured in the two that Bosch missed.
Agustín Creevy missed all of 2021 and 2020. His non-selection raised questions as his form for London Irish has been excellent. He was Argentina’s highest try scorer at the elite level in the year 2021. Creevy is being monitored and is now likely to make a return in 2022.
Additional hooker options are uncapped players. One of two stand a chance of making their test debuts in 2022. A lot will depend on whether, unlike in 2021, there is player rotation to keep players fresh for certain matches.
More hookers can be identified. The trio of Tomás Baravalle (Benetton), Diego Fortuny (Houston SaberCats) and Lionel Oviedo (Céret Sportif) are examples of missing names. Baravalle has been speculated as being on Italy’s radar following the controversial and recent eligibility law changes.
HOOKER
| PLAYER | AGE | HOME CLUB | CURRENT CLUB | CAPS |
| Bautista Bernasconi | 21 | CASI (Buenos Aires) | CASI (Buenos Aires) | – |
| Facundo Bosch | 30 | CUBA (Buenos Aires) | La Rochelle (FR) | 11 |
| Agustín Creevy | 36 | San Luis (La Plata) | London Irish (UK) | 89 |
| Pablo Dimcheff | 22 | Pucará (Buenos Aires) | Bordeaux (FR) | – |
| José Luis González | 24 | Tucumán RC (Tucumán) | Mont de Marsan (FR) | – |
| Tomás Montilla | 21 | Marista (Cuyo) | Marista (Cuyo) | – |
| Julián Montoya | 28 | Newman (Buenos Aires) | Leicester Tigers (UK) | 75 |
| Mariano Muntaner | 21 | Tucumán RC (Tucumán) | Tucumán RC (Tucumán) | – |
| Ignacio Ruíz | 20 | Regatas (Buenos Aires) | Regatas (Buenos Aires) | – |
| Beltrán Salese | 20 | Newman (Buenos Aires) | Newman (Buenos Aires) | – |
| Santiago Socino | 29 | Los Matreros (Buenos Aires) | Gloucester (UK) | 4 |
| Martín Vaca | 20 | Jockey (Villa María) | Narbonne (FR) | – |
| Axel Zapata | 28 | SITAS (Buenos Aires) | SITAS (Buenos Aires) | – |
Argentina’s scrum has been a weakness in recent years. When the team is at full-strength the scrum tends to perform well. It is usually exposed when players from outside of the regular starting props are on the field. Francisco Gómez Kodela is the firm starter though he lacks an understudy.
Eduardo Bello did well with limited opportunities in 2021. Enrique Pieretto and Santiago Medrano were both used without cementing their names in the match-day 23. There are high hopes that the uncapped Joel Sclavi will boost the scrum in 2022.
2021 SLAR props Alejandro Luna and Facundo Pomponio are notably absent as is the Italian based Cristian Bartoloni.
TIGHT HEAD PROP
| PLAYER | AGE | HOME CLUB | CURRENT CLUB | CAPS |
| Eduardo Bello | 26 | San Martín (Villa María) | Zebre Parma (IT) | 2 |
| Joaquín Blangetti | 20 | San Martín (Villa María) | Nevers (FR) | – |
| Javier Coronel | 20 | Universitario (La Plata) | Universitario (La Plata) | – |
| Lucas Favre | 25 | Lomas (Buenos Aires) | El Salvador (ES) | – |
| Francisco Gómez Kodela | 36 | Belgrano (Buenos Aires) | Lyon (FR) | 21 |
| Brian González | 22 | Provincial (Rosario) | Provincial (Rosario) | – |
| Ramiro Herrera | 32 | Chenque (Chubut) | La Rochelle (FR) | 40 |
| Gonzalo Hughes | 23 | Patoruzú (Chubut) | SIC (Buenos Aires) | – |
| Santiago Medrano | 25 | Regatas (Buenos Aires) | Western Force (AU) | 27 |
| Enrique Pieretto | 27 | Córdoba Athletic (Córdoba) | Glasgow Warriors (UK) | 25 |
| Joel Sclavi | 27 | Pueyrredón (Mar del Plata) | La Rochelle (FR) | – |
| Lucio Sordoni | 23 | Atlético (Rosario) | Unattached | 3 |
| Juan Pablo Zeiss | 32 | Pehuenes (Lagos del Sur) | Los Matreros (Buenos Aires) | 7 |
