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EspañolARGENTINA NATIONAL RUGBY UNION TEAM
The 'Argentina national rugby team', nicknamed '''Los Pumas''', is currently the top rugby union team in the Americas. The team, which plays in sky blue and white jerseys, is organised by the Argentine Rugby Union (UAR, from the Spanish ''Unión Argentina de Rugby''). Argentina is currently the only International Rugby Board (IRB) tier one classed nation that has no regular competition, such as the Six Nations and the Tri Nations.
Argentina played its first rugby match in 1910 against a touring British Isles team. It is today considered one of the top rugby nations in the world, and has thus far competed at every Rugby World Cup staged since 1987. The Pumas current captain is Agustín Pichot, and the current head coach is Marcelo Loffreda.
Although rugby union has not matched football (soccer) for popularity in Argentina, the impressive results by Los Pumas since the 1999 Rugby World Cup, have seen its popularity grow exponentially against a troubled economic backdrop. Argentina has managed from its appearance in the international arena to accomplish several upset victories, and has been a tough contender when playing in Buenos Aires.
| Contents |
| Colours and name |
| History |
| Early years |
| Post war |
| Sixties, seventies and eighties |
| Late 20th century |
| The new millennium |
| Record |
| Notable players |
| Current squad |
| See also |
| Sources |
| External links |
Colours and name
''Los Pumas'' play in a hooped shirt in the country's flag (and sporting) colours of sky blue and white with sky blue sleeves, white shorts, and hooped socks in sky blue and white. The emblem on the shirts features a jaguar, notwithstanding the team's nickname. The '''Pumas''' nickname is generally believed to be the result of an error made by a newsman who followed the team during their first overseas tour ever, to Southern Africa in 1965. Reporters were trying to devise a catchy nickname for the team similar to existing international team nicknames such as ''All Blacks'', ''Springboks'', and ''Wallabies''. One of them saw the picture of an animal on the UAR crest; however, he thought it was a puma instead of the actual jaguar. The mistake stuck, and was eventually adopted by the Argentines themselves (although the UAR crest still depicts a jaguar). As of 2006 the strip is manufactured by adidas and VISA is the shirt sponsor.
History
Early years
The first rugby union match in Argentina was played in 1873, the game having been brought to Argentina by the British immigrants. In 1899, four clubs in Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires, got together to form the River Plate Rugby Football Union.
In 1910 a side managed by Oxford University — supposedly the England national team but included three Scottish players — toured Argentina: the people of Argentina termed it the "Combined British", also known as a "Great Britain XV". Argentina made their international debut against this team, losing 3 to 28 on July 12 in Buenos Aires.
In 1927 the British Isles toured Argentina, with the Lions winning all nine encounters; the tour did however become a financial success for Argentinian rugby. Of the nine encounters, four tests were played, which Argentina lost by over 30 points in all. All the games took place in Buenos Aires.
Five years passed until another international team would return to Argentina, which would be the Junior Springboks in 1932, playing a two match series. Argentina lost both.
In 1936 the British Isles visited Argentina again, winning all ten of their matches and only conceding nine points in the whole tour. Only the one tests was played on tour, which Argentina lost nil to 23. The following month Argentina left the country to play their first away tests - against Chile in Valparaiso. Argentina won the first test (and their first game), 29 points to nil. The second match was won by a similar margin as well. Two years later Argentina hosted Chile, which resulted in Argentina winning by 30 points.
Post war
In the late 1940s Argentina hosted a combined Oxford & Cambridge side, which defeated them in both games of a two match series. In 1949 Argentina hosted their biggest nation yet - France, and although they lost both tests, the scorelines were very close on both occasions.
To mark the 1951 Pan-American Games, Argentina organised the first South American tournament in Buenos Aires with Chile, Uruguay and Brazil taking part. Argentina dominated the inaugural tournament with Chile putting up the only challenge before losing 13-3 to the Pumas, whose thrashing of Uruguay 62-0 and the Brazilian team 72-0 highlighted their dominance in South America.
In 1952, Argentina played an Ireland XV in a non-cap international held in Buenos Aires. Argentina lost the first Test by six points but raised the bar in the second meeting in Buenos Aires to draw 3-3. It wasn't a win, but it was the first time Argentina had avoided defeat against a major European team and it was celebrated as a victory.
As a result of the Irish tour, the UAR could not afford to host a visit from the Oxford & Cambridge team the following year. In 1954, they played host to France. The result was much the same as in 1949 with France proving far superior, winning 22-8 in the first Test before a 30-3 thrashing in the second, both of which were played in Buenos Aires.
In 1956, Argentina hosted Oxford & Cambridge again, but lost both of the fixtures 25-6 and 11-3. This was followed by a 4 to nil win over Peru, and a 50 to 3 win over Uruguay, though Argentina then lost to Chile for the first time.
At the second South American tournament, in 1958, Argentina accounted for Uruguay 50-3 and Peru 44-0. And despite some drinking before their game against the hosts Chile in Santiago, Argentina's players still emerged victorious 14-0.
In 1959 the Junior Springboks returned to Buenos Aires, winning both fixtures 6 to 14, and 6 to 20.
Sixties, seventies and eighties
In 1960, France visited Buenos Aires for a three match series with Argentina. The hosts still could not get their first win over the French, with France winning all three tests 37-3, 12-3 and 29-6.
The following year Argentina again showed their dominance on a continental level, winning the South American tournament held in Montevideo, by beating Brazil 60-0, Uruguay 36-3 and Chile 11-3.
In 1964 a new version of the South American tournament was played in San Pablo and Argentina again demonstrated their dominance with victories over Uruguay 25-6, Brazil 30-5 and Chile 30-8.
Back in the late 1960s the four home unions began tours to Argentina, and after Wales struggled in both Tests in Buenos Aires in 1967 it soon became clear that Argentina would a difficult place to win a series. Scotland became their next victims when the Pumas won the first test in 1968. The Scots won the second test two weeks later, but it was close.
The first trip of the Argentinean national rugby team to the other side of the Atlantic was to Rhodesia and South Africa in 1965. The team acquired the nickname "Pumas", from a local journalist after their first tour match, a defeat to Salisbury. The book "Be Pumas" recalls the Wackley Farmer of Rhodesia magazine commenting on the emblem embroidered on the tourists' jerseys was like a puma - rather than a jaguar. After defeats to Salisbury and Northern Transvaal, the first win came against Western Transvaal, another against South West Africa Country Districts and finally against the Southern Universities. The Pumas' landmark win against the Junior Springboks, by 11-6. They were welcomed home to Buenos Aires by a huge crowd; the tour had harvested 11 victories, one draw and four defeats over two months.
A match was then organised against the French champions Section Paloise, although the match was remembered for the uproar and misconduct of both teams rather than the Argentinean victory. Then Oxford and Cambridge arrived, a team that the Pumas had never beaten. The first match finished level at 19-19 and the second saw the University students triumph 9-3. 1965 ended with a match against Chile, which the Pumas won 23-11.
In 1966, the Gazelles arrived, a kind of a Junior Springboks B team. The visitors took two victories 9-3 and 20-15.
In September 1967, Argentina played in Buenos Aires in the South American Championship with victories over Uruguay 38-6 and Chile 18-0.
Wales arrived in Buenos Aires in 1968 and for the first time in their history the Pumas were able to triumph in a series, winning the first match 9-5 and drawing the second 9-9.
The great decade in Argentinean rugby came to and end with the arrival of Scotland in 1969. The first match saw a big Argentinean victory 20-3, but in the second game the visitors narrowly won 6-3.
The early 1980s saw the formation of the South American Jaguars, a team dominated by Argentinian players, which played eight matches against the Springboks including one win at Bloemfontein in 1982.
Late 20th century
From the late seventies to the early nineties, Argentina never lost the two matches of a series held in Buenos Aires, in a period that included victories against France, England, Australia and a 21-21 tie to the All Blacks, which is probably the most important result ever obtained by the Pumas, thanks to a terrific performance by Hugo Porta who scored all of Argentina's points.
By the time the first Rugby World Cup was held in Australia and New Zealand, in 1987, Argentines were confident its national team would at least make it to quarterfinals. However, an unexpected loss to Western Samoa prevented the team from clinching the first round.
On the following years, the retirement of many of Argentina's most experienced players, and the defection of many others to professional leagues (it should be mentioned that rugby union is still an amateur sport in Argentina and UAR's regulations of the time prevented any player who played professionally from playing for the national team) left Argentina with an inexperienced side.
This led to disappointing performances in the 1991 and 1995 World Cups, albeit in the latter Argentina presented a powerful forward pack which was praised by the international media. Argentina's tighthead prop, Patricio Noriega, and hooker, Federico Mendez, went to play to Australia and South Africa respectively after their RWC performance. Noriega even ended up playing for the Wallabies.
In 1999, a more experienced and somewhat under-rated Argentina made it to the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time, after a vibrant 28-24 win against Ireland. They were eliminated by France, 28-47, in the quarter-final.
The new millennium
The Pumas during their November 2006 win over England at Twickenham.
In April 2000, Marcelo Loffreda was appointed coach of Argentina.
Argentina missed out on progressing to the 2003 World Cup quarter-finals due to a 15-16 loss to Ireland in a nail-biting game. It was noted that because of the fixture list, Argentina had to play four games in a fortnight, whereas Ireland played the same number of games in four weeks. It was suggested that Ireland, as a major nation, would not accept a similar fixture list, and that this may have played a role in the outcome of the game.
Since then they have shown good form, splitting a two-test home series with Wales in June 2004; handing defending Six Nations champion France a 24-14 loss in November 2004 at Marseille, where France had never lost before; and, later in the same tour, losing 21-19 to Ireland on a last-minute drop goal. After returning to Argentina, the Pumas lost 39-7 to the visiting Springboks of South Africa; however, the Pumas were without 10 regular starters who had returned to their club teams in Europe.
Perhaps the one of the Pumas' best matches in recent years came on 23 May 2005 in Cardiff, when they played the British and Irish Lions in the Lions' send-off match for their tour to New Zealand. The Pumas were forced to choose a side of second- and even third-choice players (prop Mauricio Reggiardo, later voted man of the match, came out of retirement for the game) as 25 players from their selection pool were unavailable due to club commitments. However, a Pumas performance widely hailed as inspired, combined with lacklustre play by a mostly second-choice Lions side, put Argentina on the verge of one of the greatest upsets in recent rugby history. It took a Jonny Wilkinson penalty at the death—and arguably the decision by Australian referee Stuart Dickinson to allow eight minutes of added time at the end of the match—for the Lions to salvage a 25-25 draw and avoid a humiliating defeat.
When the Springboks returned to Argentina in November of that year, they faced a much stronger Pumas side, with most of their European-based players present. The Pumas took a 20-16 lead into the half-time break at Vélez Sársfield. While they faded in the second half, they were not embarrassed, losing 34-23. The following week, the Pumas travelled to Murrayfield to take on Scotland and won a closely-fought match 23-19. This marked the fifth consecutive time since 1990 that ''Los Pumas'' had defeated Scotland. They claimed another Six Nations scalp a week later, defeating Italy 39-22 in Genoa.
In the 2006 mid-year Tests, Argentina welcomed a Wales side for a two-Test tour. ''Los Pumas'' swept the series, marking their first Test series win over Wales. However, in a near-reversal of the situation that ''Los Pumas'' faced against the Lions in 2005, the Welsh side only contained two first-choice players. The majority of the Wales side were A team and under-21 players, as over 20 first-choice squad members were unavailable or injured. The first test, on June 11, was a closely-fought affair, won 27-25. It was historically significant as the first Argentina Test ever to be held in Patagonia. The visitors were welcomed very warmly, as the match was held in Puerto Madryn, one of the major towns in an area that was settled by Welsh in the 1860s and where Welsh is still frequently spoken. The second Test at Vélez Sársfield on June 17 saw the Pumas take a 45-13 lead before two late Welsh tries cut the final margin to 45-27. Welsh indiscipline and lack of experience were generally seen as major contributing factors.[1] This did, however, mark Argentina's largest win ever over Wales. ''Los Pumas'' next entertained the world's top team, the All Blacks, at Vélez Sársfield the following week. The All Blacks won 25-19, but not until surviving an all-out Pumas assault on their try line in the final minutes.
On July 9, Argentina defeated Uruguay 26 points to nil in a Round 3a match during 2007 Rugby World Cup - Americas qualification. Being their second win during that stage, Argentina moved directly into the 2007 World Cup, taking the Americas 1 position. They joined Pool D, along with hosts France and Ireland.
The 2006 end-of-year Tests began with a bang for ''Los Pumas'', as they went into Twickenham and handed a 25-18 defeat. The error-riddled England side were booed off the Twickenham pitch after they crashed to their seventh consecutive Test defeat, equalling their worst ever run.[1] Further success followed for the Pumas, going on to defeat Italy in Rome and then coming within one point of achieving a similar result against France in Paris.
''Los Pumas'' had been invited by the Belgium Rugby Federation to play their local games there in case of being accepted in an annual competition [2]. Soon after they also received invitations from Spain, Switzerland, France and Portugal[3]
In the meantime, ''The Sunday Times'' of London reported in February 2007 that the IRB was brokering a deal with SANZAR, the body that organises the Tri Nations, to admit ''Los Pumas'' to the competition as early as 2008. The story noted that logistical issues, specifically the distance between Argentina and Europe plus fixture congestion in Northern Hemisphere rugby, caused the Six Nations to baulk at admitting Argentina. The IRB was apparently convinced that the Tri Nations was the proper place for a Southern Hemisphere team, and has reportedly found South Africa strongly supporting the move and Australia not opposed. However, ''The Sunday Times'' indicated that the biggest stumbling block may well be the UAR itself, "some of whose members are deeply attached to amateurism."[4]
''Los Pumas'' began their final preparation for the 2007 Rugby World Cup with a two-test series against visiting Ireland, who will be grouped against them in France. In the first test on May 26 at Santa Fe, they scored a 22-20 win on a last-minute drop goal by Felipe Contepomi. Both teams were heavily experimental, especially the Irish, with stars such as Brian O'Driscoll, Ronan O'Gara, Paul O'Connell and Gordon D'Arcy missing from the touring squad. The Pumas were themselves missing many stars who were playing that weekend in the final round of the 2006-07 Top 14 season in France.[5][6] The second test against Ireland was a 16-0 Pumas win at Vélez Sársfield on June 2.[7] On June 9, ''Los Pumas'' completed a clean sweep of their mid-year tests with a 24-6 win over in Mendoza. They split their final warmup tests, defeating neighbours 70-14 at CASI in Buenos Aires on August 4 and losing to Wales at Millennium Stadium 27-20 on August 18.
At the World Cup, ''Los Pumas'' were drawn into the so-called pool of death, featuring two other teams ranked in the top six in the IRB rankings—Ireland and the hosts France. On top of this, they opened the World Cup at Stade de France against the French, marking the third consecutive World Cup in which they played against the host nation in the World Cup opener. In possibly one of their finest hours,[8] the Pumas took a 17-9 lead into the half, and held on for a surprising 17-12 win.
Record
Their Test record against all nations:
| Against | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | % Won |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | 4 | 12 | 1 | 23.53 | |
| 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | |
| 7 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0.00 | |
| 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 75.00 | |
| 27 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | |
| 13 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 23.08 | |
| 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 75.00 | |
| 40 | 9 | 30 | 1 | 22.50 | |
| 9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 44.44 | |
| 14 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 64.29 | |
| 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 80.00 | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | |
| 13 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 0.00 | |
| 16 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | |
| 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | |
| 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 25.00 | |
| 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 83.33 | |
| 11 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0.00 | |
| 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | |
| 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | |
| 30 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 | |
| 10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 40.00 | |
| World XV | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| 'Total' | '271' | '162' | '103' | '6' | '59.63' |
Notable players
Argentina in 2005.
★ Esteban Jorge Karplus (1937-2002)
★ Diego Albanese (1973 - )
★ Lisandro Arbizu
★ Diego Dominguez (1966 - ) (a dual international, first for Argentina and then for Italy)
★ Rolando Martin
★ Federico Mendez (1972 - )
★ Patricio Noriega (1971 - ) (a dual international, first for Argentina and then for Australia)
★ Marcelo Pascual (1964 - ) show&page=pumas_historia
★ Agustín Pichot (1974 - )
★ 'Hugo Porta' (1951 - ) (Inductee to the International Rugby Hall of Fame)
★ Gonzalo Quesada (1974 - )
★ Pedro Sporleder
★ Ignacio Corleto
Current squad
The squad for the 2007 Rugby World Cup:[12][13]
Martín Aramburú replaced the Pumas' all-time leading try scorer, José María Núñez Piossek, after the latter suffered a groin injury. Senillosa replaced Martín Gaitán, who was forced to withdraw when he was found to have a blocked artery in his heart.
See also
★ Rugby union in Argentina
★ Rugby World Cup
★ Churchill Cup
★ English settlement in Argentina
★ World Cup Preview
Sources
★ Argentina's time in the sun (from the BBC)
★ Puma power (from the BBC)
1. England 18-25 Argentina
2. Oferta para ser local en Bélgica
3. A la UAR le llueven ofertas para la concentración de Los Pumas previa al Mundial
4. Ambitious Argentina poised to secure TriNations place
5. First Test Preview: Argentina v Ireland
6. Argentina 22-20 Ireland
7. Argentina 16-0 Ireland
8. Coach asks Argentina to stay calm
9. Argentina > Head to Head Table
10. Record excludes match against the Barbarians as this was not a representative side.
11. Ranking archives can be found at the IRB website; www.irb.com
12. Pumas chosen for RWC
13. Pumas make another change
External links
★ Rugby Fun - Excellent Argentine Rugby Website
★ Argentinian rugby union news from Planet Rugby
★ Official Argentina rugby home page
★ Rugbytime - News, Statistics and Results about Argentinian Rugby
★ Argentinian rugby news from El Rugbier
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