All Blacks to face Argentina big guns in Rugby Championship as Los Pumas name squad

Argentina head coach Felipe Contepomi has recalled several experienced players for their opening Rugby Championship matches against the All Blacks in New Zealand.

Lucio Cinti, Agustin Creevy, Juan Martín Gonzalez, Tomás Lavanini, Juan Cruz Mallia and Joel Sclavi have all been included in Contepomi’s squad after they missed Los Pumas’ recent mid-year international campaign.

Meanwhile, Contepomi has also sprung a surprise by naming uncapped second-row Efrain Elias in his squad of 31 players which consists of 17 forwards and 14 backs.

Elias, who plies his trade as a club player at Top 14 champions Toulouse, recently captained Argentina‘s U20 team during the World Rugby U20 Championship in South Africa last month.

Veteran centre unavailable for selection

Argentina will be without the services of veteran centre Jeronimo de la Fuente, however, as he ruled himself out of selection for the entire Rugby Championship due to personal reasons.

Los Pumas and the All Blacks kick off the Rugby Championship at Sky Stadium in Wellington on August 10 before they face off at Eden Park in Auckland on August 17.

Argentina head into the tournament after winning two out three of last month’s mid-year Tests – against France and Uruguay – while New Zealand won all three their internationals – against England and Fiji.

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Los Pumas’ last match against the All Blacks was at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France and the men in black clinched a 44-6 victory in Paris.

Contepomi is happy with the progress his team made during the mid-year internationals and is looking forward to the challenge of taking on the All Blacks in their backyard.

“After meeting up with the squad for the three weeks of the July window, we now have the enormous challenge of starting a new Rugby Championship and continuing to build and evolve as a team,” he said.

“For the first two matches with New Zealand we have a list of 31 players and something important to note is that this list is not definitive for the rest of the competition, but may be modified as the tournament progresses.

“On the other hand, we want to thank the Argentine public for their enormous support in the first three matches of the year and we are looking forward to meeting again in La Plata, Santa Fe and Santiago del Estero in the coming weeks.”

Los Pumas squad for Rugby Championship Tests in New Zealand

Forwards: Eduardo Bello, Agustin Creevy, Efrain Elias, Thomas Gallo, Juan Martin Gonzalez, Marcos Kremer, Tomas Lavanini, Pablo Matera, Franco Molina, Julian Montoya, Joaquin Oviedo, Juan Bautista Pedemonte, Pedro Rubiolo, Ignacio Ruiz, Joel Sclavi, Lucio Sordoni, Mayco Vivas

Backs: Thomas Albornoz, Lautaro Bazan Velez, Gonzalo Bertranou, Martin Bogado, Mateo Carreras, Santiago Carreras, Santiago Chocobares, Lucio Cinti, Santiago Cordero, Bautista Delguy, Gonzalo Garcia, Juan Cruz Mallia, Matias Moroni, Matias Orlando

READ MORE: Rugby Championship: All four full squads ahead of the intriguing 2024 campaign