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There is less than nine months to go until Argentina face England at the World Cup. The fixture is the pivotal match in Pool D. The group also contains Chile, Japan, and Samoa. Los Pumas will play the matches in the order of England, Samoa, Chile and Japan.
Argentina has five test matches scheduled before the World Cup. They are to begin in July, just two months before the World Cup begins. The on-field preparations were in 2022; fit players not involved are very unlikely to make the roster.
There was consistency in selection throughout 2022. It makes projecting the roster a simpler task than in prior campaigns. Argentina got it right in certain matches but wrong in others. All told, selections, combinations, and injuries provide insight into Michael Cheika’s intentions.
Click here to access Argentina’s complete list of senior training squads and overseas professionals.
The following table notes the rankings of players across all positions. This has been organized based on the patterns of selection under Michael Cheika in addition to comments made before and during the international season.
| POS | 1st Choice | 2nd Choice | 3rd Choice | 4th Choice | 5th Choice |
| 1 | T Gallo | N Tetaz Chaparro | M Vivas | I Calles | F Gigena |
| 2 | J Montoya (capt.) | I Ruiz | A Creevy | S Socino | F Bosch |
| 3 | F Goméz Kodela | J Sclavi | E Bello | S Medrano | E Pieretto |
| 4 | M Alemanno | G Petti | N Milán | I Calas | F Lavanini |
| 5 | T Lavanini | L Paulos | F Molina | R F Criado | G Hernández |
| 6 | JM González | S Grondona | F Gorrissen | J Gómez Vara | N D’Amorim |
| 7 | M Kremer | F Isa | P Rubiolo | T Lezana | JB Pedemonte |
| 8 | P Matera | R Bruni | J Oviedo | S Ruiz | J Mernes |
| 9 | G Bertranou | T Cubelli | G García | E Morales | L Bazán Vélez |
| 10 | S Carreras | T Albornoz | N Sánchez | G Prisciantelli | B Urdapilleta |
| 11 | E Boffelli | L Cinti | J Imhoff | J Domínguez | F Cordero |
| 12 | S Chocobares | J de la Fuente | L Mensa | B Ezcurra | JP Castro |
| 13 | M Moroni | M Orlando | A Segura | T Cubilla | J Riera |
| 14 | M Carreras | B Delguy | S Cordero | S Cancelliere | A Müller |
| 15 | J Cruz Mallía | M Bogado | I Mendy | S Tuculet | J Quetglas |
The table lists 75 players. This is more than double the number that will be on the roster for the World Cup. It is, oversized by purpose. Certain positions such as wing and second-row double while others require more players. Some players will be selected to cover multiple positions. For instance, Emiliano Boffelli and Lucio Cinti are listed as wings though the former has plenty of test experience at fullback and the latter has test experience at outside center.
Rosters at RWC 2023 will consist of 33 players. This is an increase from 31 from the previous tournament. The 33 players that ARN projects for Argentina’s roster are those in the color blue above. In the event of injury to a blue name, the next name listed is the projected name to join the roster.
The players in blue include three loose head props, three hookers and three tight head props. Four second-rowers rather than three have been named. This is to related to player management and means one less back-rower than would otherwise be the case. Based on Argentina’s schedule this option appears to support Cheika’s selections more than having an extra flanker who will not play.
The backs contain three specialist scrum-halves, two fly halves, two inside centers, two outside centers, and five players for the back-three. Fullback is listed as one though the two left wingers both cover fullback.
The projected First XV is the side that ARN deems Cheika will field against England. Fourteen of the fifteen players were regulars in 2022. Santiago Chocobares missed the tournament but had been on Argentina’s first roster of the year.
The forwards have all featured heavily under Cheika in 2022. Matías Alemanno took over Guido Petti to be a starting second-rower throughout 2022. Pablo Matera moved to be the first choice N8 and Emiliano Boffelli is wing rather than fullback.
The team has the highest possible total of five lineout jumping options. The flankers are in the formation of 6 being openside and 7 blindside; though, it is common for Argentina to also play left and right. Santiago Carreras is Cheika’s starting fly half and Emiliano Boffelli is the goal-kicker.
PROJECTED FIRST XV
| # | PLAYER | CLUB | POS | CAPS |
| 1 | Thomas Gallo | Benetton (IT) | LH | 13 |
| 2 | Julián Montoya (capt.) | Leicester Tigers (UK) | HK | 85 |
| 3 | Francisco Gómez Kodela | Lyon (FR) | TH | 28 |
| 4 | Matías Alemanno | Gloucester (UK) | LO | 84 |
| 5 | Tomás Lavanini | Clermont (FR) | LO | 78 |
| 6 | Juan Martín González | London Irish (UK) | FL | 20 |
| 7 | Marcos Kremer | Stade Français (FR) | FL | 56 |
| 8 | Pablo Matera | Honda Heat (JP) | N8 | 91 |
| 9 | Gonzalo Bertranou | Dragons (UK) | SH | 48 |
| 10 | Santiago Carreras | Gloucester (UK) | FH | 31 |
| 11 | Emiliano Boffelli | Edinburgh (UK) | WI | 50 |
| 12 | Santiago Chocobares | Toulouse (FR) | CE | 5 |
| 13 | Matías Moroni | Newcastle Falcons (UK) | CE | 69 |
| 14 | Mateo Carreras | Newcastle Falcons (UK) | WI | 7 |
| 15 | Juan Cruz Mallía | Toulouse (FR) | FB | 23 |
The projected replacements are the player listed to the right of the starting name. There are not places for all players which means that specialists will play in the three front-row positions, one second-row, one back-row, one scrum-half, one fly half and one other back.
Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro sees off Mayco Vivas but Agustín Creevy has been overtaken by Ignacio Ruiz. Joel Sclavi, Guido Petti and Facundo Isa are all well-placed. The experience of Tomás Cubelli faces challenges from young talent. Tomás Albonoz has overtaken Nicolás Sánchez and Benjamín Urdapilleta. The defensive force and ball-carrying that Jeronimo de la Fuente offer place him as the remaining projected replacement.
Win, lose of draw against England, Los Pumas will be rotating at some stage. It will not be against Japan and is more likely to be against Chile than Samoa. In other words, Argentina is likely to be close to fielding the same team against Samoa as against England. The team that faces Chile should therefore see many changes. In addition, it may serve as insight into the Pumas line-up to face Spain in Madrid before the World Cup.
PROJECTED OTHER LINE-UP
| # | PLAYER | CLUB | POS | CAPS |
| 1 | Mayco Vivas | Gloucester (UK) | LH | 17 |
| 2 | Agustín Creevy | London Irish (UK) | HK | 97 |
| 3 | Eduardo Bello | Saracens (UK) | TH | 9 |
| 4 | Guido Petti | Bordeaux (FR) | LO | 73 |
| 5 | Lucas Paulos | Brive (FR) | LO | 10 |
| 6 | Santiago Grondona | Exeter Chiefs (UK) | FL | 10 |
| 7 | Pedro Rubiolo | Newcastle Falcons (UK) | FL | 1 |
| 8 | Facundo Isa | Toulon (FR) | N8 | 44 |
| 9 | Tomás Cubelli | Biarritz (FR) | SH | 88 |
| 10 | Tomás Albornoz | Benetton (IT) | FH | 3 |
| 11 | Mateo Carreras | Newcastle Falcons (UK) | WI | 7 |
| 12 | Jerónimo de la Fuente (capt.) | Perpignan (FR) | CE | 74 |
| 13 | Matías Orlando | Newcastle Falcons (UK) | CE | 57 |
| 14 | Bautista Delguy | Clermont (FR) | WI | 25 |
| 15 | Lucio Cinti | London Irish (UK) | FB | 12 |
The above team sees rests for captain Julián Montoya and other starting players including Matías Alemanno, Tomás Lavanini, Emiliano Boffelli, Thomas Gallo, Francisco Gómez Kodela, Juan Martín González, Marcos Kremer, Pablo Matera, and Matías Moroni.
Jerónimo de la Fuente is listed as captain. He has previously captained Los Jaguares in Super Rugby. The leadership could also go to another veteran such as Agustín Creevy, Tomás Cubelli or Matías Orlando. They could be rested altogether or feature as replacements.
Replacements in the rotated selection point towards being a front-row of Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, Ignacio Ruiz, and Joel Sclavi. Marcos Kremer is covering second-row, Juan Martín González is covering flanker with the backs being Gonzalo García, Santiago Carreras and Matías Moroni.
