World Cup Watch – Argentina – March 25 2019

Before Los Pumas have played a match in 2019 vital information has been confirmed pertaining to the make-up of the player roster. On ESPN Argentina Mario Ledesma explained positions and named players. These observations have been used to update the projected playing roster for Argentina at RWC 2019.

The official policy is that players who are genuinely better than those at Los Jaguares will be selected. This is to begin for the Rugby Championship and names will be selected from Europe depending on which clubs are involved in the play-off’s in the English Premiership, Pro 14, and Top 14.

 

ARGENTINA

##

NAME

CLUB

POS

CAPS

 

FIRST CHOICE

1	Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro	Jaguares	LH	50
2	Agustín Creevy	Jaguares	HO	83
3	Juan Figallo	Saracens (UK)	TH	26
4	Guido Petti	Jaguares	LO	45
5	Tomás Lavanini	Jaguares	LO	50
6	Pablo Matera (c)	Jaguares	FL	58
7	Marcos Kremer	Jaguares	FL	21
8	Facundo Isa	Toulon (FR)	N8	25
9	Gonzalo Bertranou	Jaguares	SH	19
10	Nicolás Sánchez	Stade Français (FR)	FH	74
11	Juan Imhoff	Racing 92 (FR)	WI	35
12	Jerónimo de la Fuente	Jaguares	CE	44
13	Marcelo Bosch	Saracens (UK)	CE	39
14	Santiago Cordero	Exeter Chiefs (UK)	WI	33
15	Emiliano Boffelli	Jaguares	FB	23

Ledesma named Juan Figallo as a vital player for the scrum, elaborating in a way which reduces any doubt as to who will be the starting tight head. Joining Figallo in the projected front-row are Jaguares Agustín Creevy, and Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro.

The second-row sees incumbents Guido Petti, and Tomás Lavanini named though Ledesma noted that he sees the position as a weakness due to a lack of tall players. Within Argentina he deems there to be a major lack of options which relates to his use of Marcos Kremer at flanker.

Kremer is named together with captain Pablo Matera as the starting flankers. In November Kremer did not play which saw Petti out of position, albeit he is below the 2,00m height which Ledesma seeks from locks. Matera, and Kremer are projected to be joined by Facundo Isa whom Ledesma termed as an x-factor player.

In the backs Ledesma named fly half as a major weakness at Los Jaguares. He named Benjamín Urdapilleta as a player he is following closely and would have selected him for November had he been fit. Patricio Fernández remains a option though Ledesma is frustrated at his lack of opportunities at Clermont.

Jaguares captain Jerónimo de la Fuente is a safe option for inside center. Outside him the picture is not so clear. Both Matías Moroni, and Matías Orlando have their strengths – Moroni on attack, Orlando on defense. Though under Ledesma in 2018 neither man was consistently at the elite level. This sees reliable veteran Marcelo Bosch presently favored for the 13 shirt.

Argentina has a magnitude of options at wing though the sustained form of Santiago Cordero, and Juan Imhoff make them the top options. Bautista Delguy is out for the season and now faces a race against time to be picked.

Fullback is between veteran Joaquín Tuculet, and youngster Emiliano Boffelli. The latter gets the nod despite not yet being able to play a full match for Los Jaguares this year.

 

REPLACEMENTS

16	Julián Montoya	Jaguares	HO	48
17	Facundo Gigena	Leicester Tigers (UK)	LH	–
18	Ramiro Herrera	Stade Français (FR)	TH	39
19	Mariano Galarza	Bordeaux (FR)	LO	26
20	Javier Ortega Desio	Jaguares	N8 / FL	51
21	Tomás Cubelli	Jaguares	SH	70
22	Benjamín Urdapilleta	Castres (FR)	FH	10
23	Ramiro Moyano	Jaguares	WI	30

Ledesma will go for reliable, proven replacements. This means that Jaguares are, in certain positions, not the priority. This is true in the front-row where Santiago García Botta is projected to miss out to the uncapped Facundo Gigena with Mayco Vivas also ahead of him. Gigena’s form and game time for Leicester see him named.

Santiago Medrano is highly regarded by Ledesma but at just 22, he is not yet the player he will become. This means Figallo’s understudy is set to be Ramiro Herrera whom Ledesma said is currently not fully fit and thereby playing at 90% of his ability. In the frame though not having met with Ledesma is Francisco Gómez Kodela.

Elsewhere in the replacement forwards Mariano Galarza is the one non-Jaguar. He is expected to join Julián Montoya, and Javier Ortega Desio. Behind them is where it gets interesting which is explained below in the traveling reserves.

The England-bound Martín Landajo is looking on the out for Ledesma. Gonzalo Bertranou, and Tomás Cubelli are the names for not only the match day 23 but also the roster. The chances of taking three sacrum-halves to Japan are low.

Benjamín Urdapilleta’s performances have been noted by Ledesma, making him the clear candidate to cover fly half from the bench. The final bench spot goes to Ramiro Moyano over Joaquín Tuculet. This is a reflection of the comparative impact they offer as replacements combined with the starting line-up already having Cordero covering fullback if required.

 

TRAVELING RESERVES

24	Facundo Bosch	Agen (FR)	HO / FL	1
25	Santiago Medrano	Jaguares	TH	11
26	Matías Alemanno	Jaguares	LO	53
27	Rodrigo Bruni	Jaguares	FL / N8	3
28	Tomás Lezana	Jaguares	FL	30
29	Juan Cruz Mallía	Jaguares	CE / FB	4
30	Matías Orlando	Jaguares	CE	39
31	Joaquín Tuculet	Jaguares	FB	51

Strong indications are that three hookers will go to the RWC. Ledesma is following both Tomás Baravalle, and Santiago Socino closely. They are options in addition to Facundo Bosch who played a test in 2018 and the Jaguares duo.

Facundo Bosch happens to also cover flanker, a position in which he has had plenty of game time in for Agen in the Top 14. He has a slight edge over both Baravalle, and Socino though given Agustín Creevy’s injury Ledesma is looking at all of them.

The remaining seven traveling reserves are projected to be Jaguares. Forwards Matías Alemanno, Rodrigo Bruni, Tomás Lezana, and Santiago Medrano are all extremely well positioned. The same applies to Joaquín Tuculet while Matías Orlando is included as an option covering inside center.

Missing is Matías Moroni who would be picked to cover wing but with Boffelli, Cordero, Imhoff, and Moyano all selected it is not a priority. Juan Cruz Mallía makes the cut instead to give Argentina a utility additional option for both fly half, outside center, fullback, and even wing. He is included with an eye to covering all bases against Tonga, and the USA.

 

NON-TRAVELING RESERVES

32	Tomás Baravalle	Benetton (IT)	HO	1
33	Lucas Noguera Paz	Bath (UK)	LH	43
34	Francisco Gómez Kodela	Lyon (FR)	TH	11
35	Franco Molina	Jockey Córdoba	LO	–
36	Santiago Grondona	Champagnat	FL	–
37	Martín Landajo	Jaguares	SH	84
38	Patricio Fernández	Clermont (FR)	FH	2
39	Bautista Ezcurra	Jaguares	CE	5
40	Matías Moroni	Jaguares	CE	40
41	Bautista Delguy	Jaguares	WI	11
42	Santiago Carreras	Jaguares	FB	–

A coin can practically be flipped for Baravalle, and Socino at this stage. Baravalle, though, is likely to be free earlier for possible Rugby Championship activity. The experience of Lucas Noguera Paz and Francisco Gómez Kodela over Jaguares players sees them currently positioned as cover options either side of hooker.

The remaining forward positions are thin with Argentina XV and u20s names listed for this reason. In the backs Patricio Fernández is ahead of Joaquín Díaz Bonilla with the latter having been a mixed bag in Super Rugby.

Bautista Ezcurra, Matías Moroni, and Bautista Delguy are behind others at Jaguares and need to change this to move up in contention. Argentina XV fullback Santiago Carreras should be a Jaguar within the coming weeks. His 2019 thus far leads ARN to deem him as a better shot for Los Pumas than Sebastián Cancelliere.

 

A complete list of the Argentina’s senior player pool can be seen here.