New Look Argentina Roster Preparing for Battle against South Africa and Australia

Felipe Contepomi has named a 34-man Los Pumas roster to prepare for battle against South Africa and Australia. The three upcoming test matches are in the calendar slot of the annual Rugby Championship but are not Rugby Championship fixtures. There is no Rugby Championship in 2026 due to South Africa and New Zealand preferring to play each other more times instead.

The three upcoming matches will see Los Pumas will face the Springboks in Buenos Aires and the Wallabies in Jujuy and Mendoza. The first will be on Saturday, August 08 with Argentina hosting the reigning world champions and the world no. 1 ranked South Africa. The matches against the Wallabies will take place on August 29 and September 05 respectively. Australia will face Japan in Osaka prior to touring Argentina.

UNCAPPED NAMES

Contepomi’s roster is comprised of 18 forwards and 16 backs. Two of the players included are officially invitational players (Jugadores Desarrollos). The two invitational players are Tarucas flanker Facundo Cardozo and Pumitas center Benjamín Ortiz.

Cardozo and Ortiz are both uncapped. They join eight other uncapped players on the roster. One plays Super Rugby in Australia, one United Rugby Championship (URC) in Italy and one Top 14 in France. The others are domestic-based players in Super Rugby Americas (SRA).

The ten uncapped players are: Facundo Cardozo, Franco Carrera, Agustín Fraga, Francisco Moreno, Benjamín Ordiz, Leonel Oviedo, Juan Penoucos, Juan Martín Scelzo, Mateo Soler and Tobías Wade.

The Australian-based player is Leonel Oviedo. The hooker is the older brother of the established N8, Joaquín Oviedo. Leonel Oviedo has been in Pumas rosters previously but remains uncapped. He featured for the Barbarians against South Africa in June 2026.

Leonel Oviedo was also on the roster for July. As was Dogos fullback, Mateo Soler, Pampas flanker Juan Penoucos and Pampas center Agustín Fraga. Tarucas flanker Agustín Sarelli misses out despite having featured on the roster in July.

Mateo Soler and Tobías Wade are former Los Pumas 7’s players while Juan Martín Scelzo is the son of the great Pumas tight head prop, Martín Scelzo who earned 59 caps from 1996-2011. He is pictured below playing against France in Buenos Aires in 2010.

RECALLED PUMAS

Five players have been recalled for the matches against South Africa and Australia. That is to say, five capped Pumas who did not play in the July test matches are on the roster.

Loose head prop Rodrigo Martínez and veteran second-rower Tomás Lavanini make returns after lengthily absences. The former earned three caps with Mario Ledesma in charge but others were preferred under Michael Cheika. He now has his first opportunity under Felipe Contepomi.

For many years Tomás Lavanini was a first-choice Puma. He held down the starting tight-head position in the second-row. This explains why he has 91 test caps. He was overtaken by Pedro Rubiolo in 2024 and has now been recalled after last playing for Argentina in September 2024.

Flanker Benjamín Grondona was a rookie Puma in 2025. He played in the July Internationals. His older brother, Santiago Grondona is a regular under Felipe Contepomi but he misses out due to the matches colliding with the Top 14 planning.

Veteran scrum-half Gonzalo Bertranou returns with Gonzalo García, like Santiago Grondona, missing out due to arrangements made with French-based clubs for the Top 14 season. It will see all involved free a week earlier to prepare for Argentina’s November matches against Ireland, Italy and France in the Nations Championship.

Meanwhile, Pampas winger Santiago Pernas has been recalled. He made his debut against Uruguay in July 2025. The match in Salta is his only test cap thus far.

NOT SELECTED

Felipe Contepomi has been happy to blood new players. Super Rugby Americas has facilitated the pathway and he has not been afraid of adding to Argentina’s player pool from this competition.

The are players who have missed out directly or indirectly because of Super Rugby Americas. Loose Head prop Ignacio Calles plays in an elite competitions but has not been selected this year. Similarly, Santiago Medrano and Facundo Bosch were regulars under Mario Ledesma but continue to his out. Matías Medrano, who now plays for Benetton, is another front-rower not selected.

Second-rower Lucas Paulos plays at the elite level professionally but is also missing as are back-rowers Bautista Pedemonte, Rodrigo Bruni, and Facundo Isa.

Former starting inside center Jerónimo de la Fuente last played for Argentina in what was his 80th cap back in July 2024. In addition, former Puma Matías Orlando has missed out despite another SRA center being selected. The uncapped Tomás Medina watches on from the URC while fullback Martín Bogado is a further omission of note.

NOT AVAILABLE

Rugby does not have an official off-season. This very fact means that Argentine coaches and staff negotiate directly with clubs. Obtaining players at all times is an impossibility until World Rugby provides the sport with a global season.

The Top 14 Final was on June 27. It meant that Toulouse and Montpellier players involved were not considered for Argentina’s matches against Scotland and Wales. One of them was Santiago Chocobares who also missed out on facing England and is not on the roster to face South Africa and Australia.

Julián Montoya is among the missing players. The captaincy will therefore go to another player. Pablo Matera and Santiago Carreras were vice-captains in July.

The list of unavailable players is long. It underlines the choice that Argentina has to balance short-term gains from having the best players take to the field, protecting player interest ahead of Rugby World Cup year, and having a realistic working relationship with professional clubs. This does not happen in regular years with the Rugby Championship being played.

UNAVAILABLE LIST
Tomás Albornoz
Matías Alemanno
Mateo Carreras
Santiago Chocobares
Francisco Coria Marchetti
Bautista Delguy
Gonzalo García
Santiago Grondona
Marcos Kremer
Julián Montoya
Joaquin Oviedo
Justo Piccardo

INJURED

Injuries have contributed to selections. They include front-line players Thomas Gallo, Juan Martin González, Juan Cruz Mallía and Pedro Rubiolo. All four have been regulars under Contepomi when available. Franco Molina was injured playing against Wales in July.

Bautista Bernasconi, Benjamín Elizalde and both debuted for Argentina in 2025 but are sidelined through injuries now. Injury to Eduardo Bello ended his Rugby Championship early in 2024 and he is not yet ready for a recall.

INJURED LIST
Eduardo Bello
Emiliano Boffelli
Bautista Bernasconi
Benjamín Elizalde
Thomas Gallo
Juan Martín González
Juan Cruz Mallía
Franco Molina
Pedro Rubiolo
Joel Sclavi

LA FUGA ARGITALIANA

There is another phenomena on top of the 21 missing players through availability and injury. It is La Fuga Argitaliana or the Arg-Italian Drain. It means Argentine homegrown players who are representing Italy and are thereby not Pumas.

Felipe Contepomi is on record as saying that he was going to select Domingo Miotti for the upcoming matches. Miotti has five caps but last received a call-up in July 2022. He has officially change allegiance to play for Italy and is expected to debut in November. Contepomi has Nicolás Roger on his roster in his place.

Argentina XV hooker Pablo Dimcheff also now plays for Italy as does tight head Juan Manuel Pitinari. The uncapped Leonel Oviedo and Francisco Moreno are on the contemporary Pumas roster.

Center Juan Ignacio Brex has over 50 caps for Italy. He was a former Los Pumas 7’s and Argentina U20 player. The center options see Faustino Sánchez Valarolo (2 caps) and the uncapped Benjamín Ordiz and Agustín Fraga joining veterans Lucio Cinti and Matías Moroni. Like Brex, the homegrown loose head prop, Iván Nemer was also capped by Italy during the previous Rugby World Cup cycle.

UPCOMING FIXTURES 

AUG 08  VS (Estadio Vélez Sarsfield, Buenos Aires, AR)

AUG 29  VS (Estadio 23 de Agosto, San Salvador de Jujuy, AR)
SEP 05  VS (Estádio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza, AR)

ARGENTINA ROSTER – FORWARDS

LOOSE HEAD PROP
Rodrigo Martínez (Dragons, UK, 3 caps)
Mayco Vivas (Oyonnax, FR, 42 caps)
Boris Wenger (Harlequins, UK, 8 caps)

HOOKER
Leonel Oviedo (Western Force, AU uncapped)
Ignacio Ruiz (Perpignan, FR, 30 caps)

TIGHT HEAD PROP
Pedro Delgado (Harlequins, UK, 11 caps)
Francisco Moreno (Tarucas, uncapped)
Tomás Rapetti (Toulouse, FR, 6 caps)

LOOSE HEAD SECOND-ROW
Franco Carrera (Zebre Parma, IT, uncapped)
Guido Petti (Harlequins, UK, 101 caps)

TIGHT HEAD SECOND-ROW
Efraín Elías (Toulouse, FR, 3 caps)
Tomás Lavanini (Highlanders, NZ, 91 caps)

FLANKER
Facundo Cardozo (Tarucas, uncapped) *
Benjamín Grondona (Bristol Bears, UK, 2 caps)
Pablo Matera (Honda Heat, JP, 124 caps)
Juan Penoucos (Pampas, uncapped)

N8
Joaquin Moro (Leicester Tigers, UK, 5 caps)
Juan Martín Scelzo (Stade Français, FR, uncapped)

* Invitational

ARGENTINA ROSTER – BACKS

SCRUM-HALF
Simón Benítez Cruz Newcastle Red Bulls, UK 12 caps)
Gonzalo Bertranou (California Legion, US, 68 caps)
Agustín Moyano (Western Force, AU, 9 caps)

FLY HALF
Gerónimo Prisciantelli (Racing 92, FR, 4 caps)
Nicolás Roger (Dogos, 3 caps)

INSIDE CENTER
Faustino Sánchez Valarolo (Dogos, 2 caps)
Benjamín Ordiz (Capibaras, uncapped) *

OUTSIDE CENTER
Lucio Cinti (Saracens, UK, 42 caps)
Agustín Fraga (Pampas, uncapped)
Matías Moroni (Bristol Bears, UK, 97 caps)

WING
Rodrigo Isgró (Harlequins, UK, 17 caps)
Ignacio Mendy (Benetton, IT, 5 caps)
Santiago Pernas (Pampas, 1 cap)

FULLBACK
Santiago Carreras (Bath, UK, 67 caps)
Mateo Soler (Dogos, uncapped)
Tobías Wade (Pampas, uncapped)

* Invitational