Rugby Championship preview: ‘Highly motivated’ Argentina braced for tough campaign despite 2024 success
Argentina playmaker Tomas Albornoz and head coach Felipe Contepomi (inset).
Next up in our set of previews ahead of the 2025 Rugby Championship, we examine the prospects of last year’s third-placed finishers in the standings, Argentina.
After suffering a 2-0 series defeat on home soil against England in July, Los Pumas will be highly motivated to get back to winning ways in the Rugby Championship, where they have become more competitive in recent years.
Despite their poor recent form, Argentina will be highly motivated as they head into this year’s tournament after avoiding the competition’s wooden spoon in 2023 and 2024 when they finished in third position in the standings in both years.
Last year
After finishing third in 2023 under the guidance of Michael Cheika, he resigned as Argentina’s head coach after their campaign at the Rugby World Cup with Felipe Contepomi coming in as his replacement.
Although Cheika was a tough act to follow, Contepomi hit the ground running in the Rugby Championship as he guided Los Pumas to a shock 38-30 victory over the All Blacks in Wellington – a significant result as it was only their third ever triumph against the men in black and their maiden win in New Zealand.
Their next clash was against the same opposition in Auckland, and the All Blacks gained revenge courtesy of a 42-10 victory before Los Pumas suffered a narrow 20-19 defeat in their next match, on home soil against the Wallabies in La Plata.
However, things turned out differently when they headed to Santa Fe for the rematch with Australia as Argentina delivered a dominant overall performance en route to a 67-27 win – their biggest ever victory over the Wallabies.
And Contepomi’s charges followed that up with a shock 29-28 triumph over the Springboks in Santiago del Estero, which put them in contention for the title.
It wasn’t to be, however, as they 48-7 defeat to the Boks in the corresponding fixture in Nelspruit and finished in third spot in the final standings behind South Africa and New Zealand.
Despite that forgetful finish, it was a memorable tournament for Los Pumas as it was their best ever finish since joining the competition in 2012, and it was the first time that they notched victories against the All Blacks, Wallabies and Springboks in the same year.
This year
Although they suffered those back-to-back defeats to England in July, Los Pumas will be quietly confident ahead of this year’s Rugby Championship as they have been bolstered by the call ups of several classy players like Juan Cruz Mallía, Santiago Chocobares, Marcos Kremer, Bautista Delguy, Mateo Carreras, and Ignacio Ruiz, who are all set to make their first Test appearances of the year during the Rugby Championship.
Added to that, Tomas Albornoz, Gonzalo Garcia, Franco Molina and Joel Sclavi, who all started in Los Pumas’ 28-24 victory over the British & Irish Lions in Dublin in June but were rested during the two-Test series with England, have also been included in the squad.
Their first two matches are against the All Blacks in Córdoba and Buenos Aires and after beating Scott Robertson’s troops in New Zealand last year, they will be determined to repeat that feat on home soil in 2025.
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Following those encounters, Los Pumas head over to Australia where they are up against the Wallabies in successive clashes in Townsville and Sydney and although their hosts were competitive during their recent series with the British & Irish Lions, Argentina have held the upper hand in recent clashes between these sides, winning three and losing two out of five Tests since 2022.
Los Pumas will then finish off their campaign with back-to-back clashes against Springboks in Durban and at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham and although they will be the underdogs in both those matches, they will fancy their chances of causing an upset against the world champions, especially the latter clash which is at a neutral venue.
Players to watch
The return of several of their first-choice players, who were not in action against the Red Rose in Argentina, will definitely boost Argentina, and they should be very competitive throughout the Rugby Championship.
One player who has shown considerable improvement in recent years is Benetton playmaker Tomas Albornoz, who is now firmly entrenched as Argentina’s first-choice fly-half. The 27-year-old delivered a superb all-round performance in that memorable triumph over the Lions and if he can repeat that display on a consistent basis they could spring a few more surprises in this year’s tournament.
Amongst the forwards, Los Pumas have two of the world’s best loose forwards in Pablo Matera and Marcos Kremer, who over the years have combined brilliantly in tandem with both players outstanding on either side of the ball while the latter is also a valuable source of possession in the lineouts.
The veteran duo of captain Julián Montoya and Guido Petti will also be crucial to the cause, while other experienced campaigners like Juan Cruz Mallia and Santiago Carreras as well as excitement machines like Mateo Carreras and Bautista Delguy will be expected to lead the charge amongst the backline players.
Prospects
Despite facing a daunting challenge in back-to-back fixtures against an improving All Blacks side, Los Pumas have shown in the past that they are not overawed by the challenge of facing the men in black and they will fancy their chances of causing an upset in at least one of those clashes on home soil.
While the Wallabies have also showed signs of improvement, these fixtures in rounds three and four are matches which Contepomi will be targeting for wins and although they will be in action in Australia, they should be competitive.
The matches against the world champions will present a tougher challenge as neither of those encounters will be in Argentina but if they are competitive they should give a good account of themselves.
Overall, it should be a tough campaign and the clashes with the Wallabies in Australia will be crucial in the grander scheme of things. Home ground advantage should swing things in the Wallabies’ favour in both those games. Fourth place.
Fixtures
Saturday, August 16: v New Zealand (Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, Córdoba)
Saturday, August 23: v New Zealand (José Amalfitani Stadium, Buenos Aires)
Saturday, September 6: v Australia (North Queensland Stadium, Townsville)
Saturday, September 13: v Australia (Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney)
Saturday, September 27: v South Africa (Kings Park Stadium, Durban)
Saturday, October 4: v South Africa (Allianz Stadium Twickenham, London)
