"Los Pumas" redirects here. For the Mexican football team, see Club Universidad Nacional. For the Mexican gridiron football team, see Pumas CU.
Argentina
Nickname(s)
Los Pumas (The Pumas)
Emblem
Puma
Union
Argentine Rugby Union
Head coach
Felipe Contepomi
Captain
Julián Montoya
Most caps
Agustín Creevy (106)
Top scorer
Nicolás Sánchez (899)
Top try scorer
José María Núñez Piossek (30)
Home stadium
Various, see list
First colours
Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current
7 (as of 16 October 2023)
Highest
3 (2008)
Lowest
12 (2014)
First international
Argentina 3–28 British Isles (Buenos Aires, Argentina; 12 June 1910)
Biggest win
Argentina 152–0 Paraguay (Mendoza, Argentina; 1 May 2002)
Biggest defeat
New Zealand 93–8 Argentina (Wellington, New Zealand; 21 June 1997)
World Cup
Appearances
10 (First in 1987)
Best result
Third place (2007)
Tri Nations/Rugby Championship
Appearances
12
Best result
Runners-up (2020)
Website
uar.com.ar/los-pumas
The Argentina national rugby union team (Spanish: Selección de rugby de Argentina) represents Argentina in men's international competitions, The Argentine Rugby Union (Spanish: Unión Argentina de Rugby). Officially nicknamed Los Pumas, they play in sky blue and white jerseys. They are ranked 7th in the world by World Rugby, making them by some distance the highest-ranked nation in the Americas.
Argentina played its first international rugby match in 1910 against a touring British Isles team. Argentina has competed at every Rugby World Cup since the first tournament of 1987, and the country are considered by far the strongest team within the Americas, being undefeated against all but Canada, against whom they have suffered three losses.
The Pumas' impressive results since the 1999 World Cup have seen rugby's popularity in Argentina grow significantly. Argentina has achieved several upset victories, and are capable of regularly defeating Six Nations sides. In the 2007 Rugby World Cup Argentina were undefeated in their pool and reached the semi-finals for the first time; they were defeated by South Africa in the semi-finals, but followed up with a win over France to claim third place overall. By the end of the competition, the team had reached an all-time high of third in the World Rankings.
After their advances in competitiveness and performance during the 2000s, coupled with their location in the Southern Hemisphere, Argentina was the only tier 1 nation that had no regular competition.[1] Argentina officially joined The Rugby Championship on 23 November 2011.[2] In their first tournament in 2012, Argentina secured a 16–16 draw with The Springboks in only their second game.
The 2014 Rugby Championship saw the first Championship-match win for Argentina who defeated Australia 21–17.[3] 2015 proved to be a successful year for Argentine rugby, including their first ever win over South Africa in the Rugby Championship, and they reached another semi-final at the 2015 Rugby World Cup. In the 2016 Rugby Championship, the Pumas again defeated the Springboks. Although winless during the 2017 Rugby Championship, the Pumas achieved two wins in their 2018 campaign, defeating both South Africa and Australia. On 14 November 2020, the Pumas beat New Zealand 25–15 to record their first win over the All Blacks, and on August 27, 2022, they defeated the All Blacks for the first time in New Zealand. The wins against New Zealand meant that Los Pumas had finally won a match against every major Rugby union team.
^"Six Nations would be magnificent seven with us, pleads Pichot", Western Mail, 19 June 2006.
^Deges, Frankie. "Argentina is now part of Rugby Championship". Buenos Aires Herald. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
^"Wallabies defeated 21–17 by Argentina". The Australian. 4 October 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
and 28 Related for: Argentina national rugby union team information
The Argentinanationalrugbyunionteam (Spanish: Selección de rugby de Argentina) represents Argentina in men's international competitions, The Argentine...
Argentina XV, formerly known as the Jaguares, are the second nationalrugbyunionteam in Argentina, after the full national side, the Pumas. They already...
The South Africa nationalrugbyunionteam (Afrikaans: Suid-Afrikaanse nasionale rugbyspan) commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke...
The Argentinanationalrugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series, in the Rugby World Cup Sevens, and, beginning in 2016, in the Summer...
Rugby Championship, formerly known as the Tri Nations Series (1996–2011), is an international rugbyunion competition contested annually by Argentina...
Rugbyunion in Argentina is a hugely popular team sport. The first rugby match played in the country dates back to 1873, as the game was introduced by...
The Australia nationalrugbyunionteam, nicknamed the Wallabies, is the representative nationalteam in the sport of rugbyunion for the nation of Australia...
The Uruguay nationalrugbyunionteam (Spanish: Selección de rugby de Uruguay), nicknamed Los Teros, represents the Uruguayan RugbyUnion in men's international...
The England men's nationalrugbyunionteam represents the Rugby Football Union in men's international rugbyunion. They compete in the annual Six Nations...
The Philippines nationalrugbyunionteam, nicknamed the "Volcanoes", represents the Philippines in international rugbyunion. The Philippines have been...
Chilean nationalrugbyunionteam (Spanish: Selección de rugby de Chile) represents the Chilean Rugby Federation (Spanish: Federación Chilena de Rugby) in...
The Namibia nationalrugbyunionteam represents Namibia in men's international rugbyunion competitions nicknamed the Welwitschias, are a tier-two nation...
The Japan nationalrugbyunionteam (Japanese: ラグビー日本代表), often a.k.a “Cherry Blossoms”, or a.k.a “Sakura”, and more a.k.a “The Brave Blossoms” (ブレイブ・ブロッサムズ...
The Belgium nationalrugbyunionteam (French: Équipe de Belgique de rugby à XV) (Dutch: Belgisch nationaal rugbyteam) represents Belgium in men's international...
France nationalrugbyunionteam (French: Équipe de France de rugby à XV) represents the French Rugby Federation (FFR; Fédération française de rugby) in...
The Germany nationalrugbyunionteam (German: Deutsche Rugby-Union-Nationalmannschaft) represents Germany in men's international competitions. It currently...
USSR nationalrugbyunionteam (Russian: сборная СССР по регби, Georgian: საბჭოთა კავშირის მორაგბეთა ეროვნული ნაკრები) represented the Soviet Union in rugby...