Argentina Roster for Ireland Comes with Returning Hero

Los Pumas head coach Felipe Contepomi has finalized Argentina’s first roster for the Nations Championship. His 33-man roster will travel to Dublin to prepare Argentina’s opening match of November on Friday, November 06 against Ireland.

The naming of the roster comes with the notable inclusion of a returning hero. After missing out on international duty in both 2024 and 2026, and only playing for Argentina in July 2025, veteran Facundo Isa is back. Isa has been called-up in place of the injured Santiago Grondona.

The other alterations to the roster were already made following the original announcement of the training camp. Loose head prop Thomas Gallo and utility back Santiago Carreras were both named only to be ruled out with injuries. They join the aforementioned Santiago Grondona plus Ignacio Ruiz and Joaquín Oviedo on the unavailable list. Of them Gallo, Carreras and Oviedo are out with longterm injuries.

 

MISSING PUMAS

Missing Pumas has been a theme for Argentina throughout 2026. The lack of a global season and the decision of New Zealand and South Africa to not compete in the Rugby Championship in 2026 meant adjustments to which Felipe Contepomi took action to blood players, reward players with recalls, and attempt numerous new combinations.

There are missing players who will be in action but for the Argentina XV rather than Los Pumas. Tight head prop Pedro Delgado and flanker Benjamín Grondona are two cases in point. Another is rookie Pumas flanker Juan Penoucos.

There are also players who featured this year but have not been selected. Examples of veterans include Matías Alemanno, Gonzalo Bertranou and Matías Moroni. The latter of these two players has 99 test caps for Argentina.

A notable non-selection is that of Franco Molina. The second-rower debuted in 2024 and has since been a mainstay in Contepomi selections. The November roster is the first without him with veteran Tomás Lavanini back instead. This also comes with no place for Franco Carrera and Luciano Asevedo. Both are uncapped second-rowers yet both have trained with the roster this year.

Further cases include Nicolás Roger who started against Australia in Mendoza and Francisco Coria Marchetti who featured in July. Finally, outside backs Santiago Pernas and Tobías Wade miss out. Both players were in consideration to play against South Africa and Australia earlier this year.

 

NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP – NOVEMBER INTERNATIONALS FIXTURES

NOV 06, 2026 VS (Lansdowne Road, Dublin, IE)

NOV 14 2026 VS (Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa, IT)

NOV 21, 2026 VS (Stade de France, Paris, FR)

NOV 27/28/29, 2026 VS (Twickenham Stadium, London, GB-ENG)

 

ROSTER – LOOSE HEAD PROP

POS	PLAYER	AGE	CLUB	CAPS
LH	Rodrigo Martínez	28	Dragons (GB-WLS)	4
LH	Mayco Vivas	28	Oyonnax (FR)	44
LH	Boris Wenger	24	Harlequins (GB-ENG)	11

 

ROSTER – HOOKER

POS	PLAYER	AGE	CLUB	CAPS
HK	Julián Montoya	32	Pau (FR)	120
HK	Leonel Oviedo	28	Western Force (AU)	3

ROSTER – TIGHT HEAD PROP

POS	PLAYER	AGE	CLUB	CAPS
TH	Francisco Moreno	24	Newcastle Red Bulls (GB-ENG)	3
TH	Tomás Rapetti	21	Toulouse (FR)	8
TH	Joel Sclavi	32	Leicester Tigers (GB-ENG)	32

 

ROSTER – LOOSE HEAD SECOND-ROW

POS	PLAYER	AGE	CLUB	CAPS
LO	Efraín Elías	22	Toulouse (FR)	6
LO	Guido Petti	31	Harlequins (GB-ENG)	104

 

ROSTER – TIGHT HEAD SECOND-ROW

POS	PLAYER	AGE	CLUB	CAPS
LO	Tomás Lavanini	33	Highlanders (NZ)	94
LO	Pedro Rubiolo	23	Bristol Bears (GB-ENG)	31

 

ROSTER – FLANKER

POS	PLAYER	AGE	CLUB	CAPS
LFL	Juan Martín González	25	Saracens (GB-ENG)	51
FL	Marcos Kremer	29	Clermont (FR)	83
FL	Pablo Matera	33	Honda Heat (JP)	127

 

ROSTER – NO. 8

POS	PLAYER	AGE	CLUB	CAPS
NO. 8	Facundo Isa	33	Pau (FR)	53
NO. 8	Joaquín Moro	25	Leicester Tigers (GB-ENG)	8
NO. 8	Juan Martín Scelzo	24	Stade Français (FR)	2

 

ROSTER – SCRUM-HALF

POS	PLAYER	AGE	CLUB	CAPS
SH	Simón Benítez Cruz	27	Newcastle Red Bulls (GB-ENG)	15
SH	Gonzalo García	27	Pau (FR)	19
SH	Agustín Moyano	23	Western Force (AU)	11

 

ROSTER – FLY HALF

POS	PLAYER	AGE	CLUB	CAPS
FH	Tomás Albornoz	29	Toulon (FR)	24
FH	Gerónimo Prisciantelli	27	Racing 92 (FR)	6

 

ROSTER – INSIDE CENTER

POS	PLAYER	AGE	CLUB	CAPS
CE	Santiago Chocobares	27	Toulouse (FR)	35
CE	Faustino Sánchez Valarolo	22	Dogos	5

 

ROSTER – OUTSIDE CENTER

POS	PLAYER	AGE	CLUB	CAPS
CE	Lucio Cinti	26	Saracens (GB-ENG)	45
CE	Justo Piccardo	24	Montpellier (FR)	13

 

ROSTER – WING

POS	PLAYER	AGE	CLUB	CAPS
WI	Mateo Carreras	26	Bayonne (FR)	36
WI	Bautista Delguy	29	Clermont (FR)	42
WI	Rodrigo Isgró	27	Harlequins (GB-ENG)	20
WI	Ignacio Mendy	26	Benetton (IT)	8

 

ROSTER – FULLBACK

POS	PLAYER	AGE	CLUB	CAPS
FB	Juan Cruz Mallía	30	Toulouse (FR)	51
FB	Mateo Soler	23	Dogos	1