Los Pumas name team for tour of Australia

After the first two rounds of the Rugby Championship, Los Pumas are preparing to travel to Oceania to continue their international tournament. The Australian tour will feature two matches, the first on Saturday, September 6 in Townsville, and the second on September 13 in Sydney. Los Pumas arrive at this stage after tying the series against New Zealand with a loss and a win in our country. After losing 41-24 in Córdoba, Los Pumas defeated the All Blacks in Vélez 29-23, marking their first ever win against the All Blacks on Argentine soil.  

The last match between Los Pumas and Australia took place last year in our country. There, the Wallabies won 20-19 in La Plata, while in Santa Fe, Los Pumas triumphed with a resounding 67-27.

Meanwhile, Los Pumas return to Townsville after four years away. On their last visit, in 2021, the Australians won the match 27-8. Mateo Carreras, Joaquín Oviedo, and Rodrigo Martínez Manzano made their debuts in that match. Los Pumas return to Sydney after their 2023 victory in Parramatta, 34-31, where Rodrigo Isgró made his debut (remember that this year's match will be played at Allianz Stadium, not Parramatta). 

The national team has 13 wins in the tournament: 5 against Australia and 4 against both New Zealand and South Africa.

Felipe Contepomi, Los Pumas head coach, spoke about the upcoming tour: “We closed out the year at home with a great win against the All Blacks in Vélez, which gives us a lot of energy for the challenging tour ahead. It's important that over the next five weeks away from home we can continue to build as a team and grow day by day. We are very grateful for the support we've received over these past few weeks in Argentina and are confident we'll find many fans cheering us on in Australia.”

Below is the 32-player squad for the two-week tour of Australia:

FORWARDS

1. STREETS , Ignacio
2. CORIA MARCHETTI , Francisco
3. GONZÁLEZ , Juan Martín
4. GRONDONA , Santiago
5. KREMER , Marcos
6. MATERA , Pablo
7. MOLINA , Franco
8. MONTOYA , Julian
9. OVIEDO , Joaquín
10. PAULOS , Lucas
11. PETTI , Guido
12. RAPETTI, Tomás
13. RUBIOLO , Pedro
14. RUIZ , Ignacio
15. SCLAVI , Joel
16. VIVAS , Mayco
17. WENGER , Boris

BACKS

1. Benitez Cruz , Simon
2. CARRERAS , Mateo
3. RACES , Santiago
4. CHOCOBARES , Santiago
5. CINTI , Lucio
6. DELGUY , Bautista
7. ELIZALDE , Benjamin
8. GARCÍA , Gonzalo
9. ISGRÓ , Rodrigo
10. MALLÍA , Juan Cruz
11. MENDY,  Ignacio
12. MOYANO , Agustín
13. PICCARDO , Justo
14. PRISCIANTELLI , Geronimo
15. ROGER, Nicolás

Rugby Championship Standings

Pos. P G E P +/- PTS

1. New Zealand 2 1 0 1 11 6

2. Australia 2 1 0 1 8 5

3. South Africa 2 1 0 1 -8 4

4. Argentina 2 1 0 1 -11 4

Fixture

• Pumas 24 vs All Blacks 41 (Mario Alberto Kempes Stadium, Córdoba)
• Pumas 29 vs All Blacks 23 (Vélez Sarsfield Stadium, Buenos Aires)
• September 6 – Wallabies vs Los Pumas (Queensland Country Bank Stadium – Townsville, Australia) – 1:30 a.m. (Arg.)
• September 13 – Wallabies vs Los Pumas (Allianz Stadium – Sydney, Australia) – 1:00 a.m. (Arg.)
• September 27 – Springboks vs Los Pumas (Hollywoodbets Kings Park – Durban, South Africa) – 12:10 p.m. (Arg.)
• October 4 – Los Pumas vs Springboks (Allianz Stadium Twickenham – London, England) – 11:00 a.m. (Arg.)

HISTORY OF THE PUMAS-AUSTRALIA

Matches: 41 Wins: 9 Draws: 3 Losses: 29

10/27/1979 Los Pumas 24 vs. Australia 13, in Buenos Aires (Ferro)

03/11/1979 Los Pumas 12 vs. Australia 17, in Buenos Aires (Ferro)

July 31, 1983: Australia 3 vs. Los Pumas 18, in Brisbane

07/08/1983 Australia 29 vs. Los Pumas 13, in Sydney

06/07/1986 Australia 39 vs. Los Pumas 19 in Brisbane

12/07/1986 Australia 26 vs. Los Pumas 0, in Sydney

10/31/1987 Pumas 19 vs. Australia 19, in Buenos Aires (Vélez)

11/7/1987 Los Pumas 27 vs. Australia 19, in Buenos Aires (Vélez)

04/10/1991 Los Pumas 19 vs. Australia 32, in Llanelli (RWC)

04/30/1995 Australia 53 vs. Los Pumas 7, in Brisbane

06/05/1995 Australia 30 vs. Los Pumas 13, in Sydney

11/01/1997 Los Pumas 15 vs. Australia 23, in Buenos Aires (Ferro)

08/11/1997 Los Pumas 18 vs. Australia 16, in Buenos Aires (Ferro)

June 17, 2000: Australia 53 vs. Los Pumas 6, in Brisbane

June 24, 2000: Australia 32 vs. Los Pumas 25, in Canberra

02/11/2002 Los Pumas 6 vs. Australia 17, in Buenos Aires (River Plate)

10/10/2003 Australia 24 vs. Los Pumas 8, in Sydney (RWC)

15/09/2012 Australia 23 vs Los Pumas 19, in Gold Coast

06/10/2012 Los Pumas 19 vs. Australia 25, in Rosario

09/14/2013 Australia 14 vs. Los Pumas 13, in Perth

05/10/2013 Los Pumas 17 vs. Australia 54, in Rosario

13/09/2014 Australia 32 vs. Los Pumas 25, in Gold Coast

04/10/2014 Los Pumas 21 vs. Australia 17, in Mendoza

July 25, 2015: Los Pumas 9 vs. Australia 34, in Mendoza

10/25/2015 Australia 29 vs. The Pumas 15, in Twickenham (RWC)

17/09/2016 Australia 36 vs. Los Pumas 20, in Perth

10/08/2016 The Pumas 21 vs. Australia 33, in Twickenham

16/09/2017 Australia 45 vs. Los Pumas 20, in Canberra

07/10/2017 Los Pumas 20 vs. Australia 37, in Mendoza

09/15/2018 Australia 19 vs. Los Pumas 23, in Gold Coast

06/10/2018 Los Pumas 34 vs. Australia 45, Salta

July 27, 2019: Australia 16 vs. Los Pumas 10, in Brisbane

November 21, 2020: Australia 15 vs. Los Pumas 15, in Newcastle

05/12/2020 Australia 16 vs. Los Pumas 16, in Sydney

09/25/2021 Australia 27 vs. Los Pumas 8, in Townsville

02/10/2021 Los Pumas 17 vs. Australia 32, on the Gold Coast

06/08/2022 Los Pumas 26 vs. Australia 41, in Mendoza

August 13, 2022: Los Pumas 48 vs. Australia 17, in San Juan

July 15, 2023: Australia 31 vs. Los Pumas 34, in Sydney

August 31, 2024: Pumas 19 vs Australia 20, in La Plata

09/07/2024 Los Pumas 67 vs Australia 27, in Santa Fe