Argentina 2016: Super Rugby, International Staff and Games
The announcement of the eagerly awaited details concerning Argentina and Super Rugby are less than a week away. Being revealed will be everything – the name of the team, uniform, venue and coaching staff. Also being made official will be the test schedule for Los Pumas and the ‘A’ side, the Argentina XV.
Team Name
One of the worst kept secrets is that Argentina’s Super Rugby franchise will play under the name of Los Jaguares. While it is yet to be confirmed the logo displayed below has been circulating on social media. Speculation implies that it is to be the official emblem of the franchise and will appear on the uniforms.
Coaches
The coaching staff for both Los Pumas and Super Rugby will be reaffirmed. At the present point in time no official announcement has been made concerning Super Rugby. Daniel Hourcade, though, will retain the position of Head Coach of Los Pumas.
His right hand man at the World Cup, Raúl Pérez will be the main coach of the Super Rugby franchise with Felipe Contepomi to be his assistant. Plans had been in place for Contepomi to be the Head Coach but, upon greater reflection, the UAR believes a more experienced coach to be better at this point in time.
Hourcade’s coaching staff will also consist of Pablo Bouza, Emiliano Bergamaschi and Germán Fernández, of whom all were involved in the World Cup. Joining Pérez and Contepomi at Los Jaguares will be Martín Gaitán and José Pellicena.
Jaguares Roster
The already confirmed 30 members of the Super Rugby roster will be joined by additional athletes. Certain positions do not yet have enough players per position, specifically hooker, prop and scrum half. Completing the list will not be players based abroad but, rather, developmental players based at home.
These players will form the Pumas roster for international duty throughout 2016, thereby preventing those playing in Europe from further international honors. Missing will therefore be World Cup Pumas Horacio Agulla, Marcos Ayerza, Marcelo Bosch, Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe, Mariano Galarza, Juan Figallo, Juan Imhoff and Juan Pablo Socino.
In order for such players to be capped again they will need to depart Europe to play for the Argentine franchise or for a rival. It is for this reason that Tomás Cubelli will remain eligible for international duty. The scrum half will be playing for the Brumbies. His spot on the Jaguares roster is expected to go to Felipe Ezcurra.
The current 30-man roster is as follows:
HookerAgustín CreevyHookerJulián MontoyaPropSantiago García BottaPropRamiro HerreraPropLucas Noguera PazPropNahuel Tetaz ChaparroSecond-rowMatías AlemannoSecond-rowJuan Cruz GuilemaínSecond-rowGuido PettiSecond-rowTomás LavaniniBack-rowRodrigo BáezBack-rowFacundo IsaBack-rowJuan Manuel LeguizamónBack-RowTomás LezanaBack-rowPablo MateraBack-rowJavier Ortega DesioBack-rowLeonardo SenatoreScrumhalfMartín LandajoFly halfJuan Martín HernándezFly halfNicolás SánchezCenterGabriel AscárateCenterEmiliano BoffelliCenterJerónimo De la FuenteCenterSantiago González IglesiasCenterMatías MoroniCenterMatías OrlandoWingSantiago CorderoWingManuel MonteroFullbackRamiro MoyanoFullbackJoaquín Tuculet
Jaguares Home Ground
Home matches will all be played in Buenos Aires at Vélez Sarsfield stadium. The large, 50,000 capacity stadium was chosen after previous efforts to play at a smaller venue in a rugby-specific neighborhood were unsuccessful.
Vélez Sarsfield is a stadium that the UAR has rented on numerous occasions in the past. The venue played host to 28 test matches from 1986-2015 with Tier 1 rivals Australia, England, France, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa and Wales all playing at the ground.
Argentina International Calendar
The Argentina XV will play in the Americas Rugby Championship against the USA on February 02 and subsequently play Canada, Uruguay, Brazil and Chile. The five matches will be followed by three home games in June with Romania playing on June 11 and France doing so on June 18 and 25. Venues for the June internationals are to be Tucumán and a yet to be determined location in the south.
From August to October Argentina six matches in the Rugby Championship. As has been the case in previous tournaments venues for the matches are to be spread. South Africa will play in Salta while Australia and New Zealand will face Los Pumas in different, yet to be determined, cities.
The traditional end of year tour will be unique for Argentina in 2016 as the South Americans will play exclusively in the U.K. The three-match tour will see Argentina playing against Wales on November 12, Scotland on November 19 and England on November 26.
Confirmation
Complete details of the above will be made official by the UAR on Wednesday, December 16. In addition Los Jaguares playing uniforms will be revealed.
