After the first four rounds of the demanding Rugby Championship, Los Pumas have 2 wins and 2 losses and are in second place in the table with 10 points, being the only runners-up to South Africa, which, with four wins in a row, leads the championship with 18 points.
The Springboks are Los Pumas' last rival in the two remaining rounds to complete the tournament; the first of them in Santiago del Estero on Saturday, September 21, and the last round in Nelspruit at the Mbombela Stadium on September 28.
The Pumas, for their part, in the first four dates of the tournament obtained two victories and two defeats. On the tour of New Zealand they won in Wellington by 38-30 and fell in Auckland by 10-42, while against the Wallabies in our country, the result was a 19-20 defeat in La Plata and a 67-27 victory in Santa Fe.
The first of the two matches against the Springboks will be at the Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades in Santiago del Estero, on Saturday, September 21 at 23:00 (SA Time). The only previous game for Los Pumas in the Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades in Santiago del Estero was in 2022 against Scotland, where they won 34-31 and won the series against the Europeans.
The last date of the Rugby Championship will be in South Africa at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit; the only time that Los Pumas played there against the Springboks was in 2016, with a victory for the locals by 30-23.
Felipe Contepomi, head coach of Los Pumas, spoke about the national team's upcoming matches against South Africa: “The Rugby Championship final is coming up and it is a very important moment for us given that we are going to face the two-time world champions. Without a doubt, these are going to be two great matches and we will face them with a lot of responsibility. We are not measured by results but by our actions and our behaviour, and that is where we will put our focus in the next two weeks. I would like to thank all the Argentine fans for all their affection for the team and tell them that we are very happy to meet again in Santiago del Estero in the next few days.”
The Pumas named a squad of 34 players for the week of training in Santiago del Estero, and after the match, the list of those who will travel to Nelspruit will be released.
Ignacio Calles, Matías Moroni and Lucio Sordoni will return to the squad, while Matías Medrano and Joaquín Moro will be called up on a development basis.
Eduardo Bello, for his part, suffered an injury to the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in the last test against Australia in Santa Fe and will undergo surgery.
Argentina squad:
Forwards: Bautista Bernasconi, Ignacio Calles, Pedro Delgado, Thomas Gallo, Juan Martin González, Santiago Grondona, Marcos Kremer, Tomás Lavanini, Pablo Matera, Matías Medrano, Franco Molina, Julián Montoya, Joaquín Moro, Joaquín Oviedo, Guido Petti, Pedro Rubiolo, Ignacio Ruiz, Joel Sclavi, Lucio Sordoni.
Backs: Tomás Albornoz, Lautaro Bazán Vélez, Gonzalo Bertranou, Mateo Carreras, Santiago Carreras, Santiago Chocobares, Lucio Cinti, Bautista Delguy, Gonzalo García, Rodrigo Isgró, Juan Cruz Mallía, Ignacio Mendy, Matías Moroni, Matías Orlando, Justo Piccardo.