Agustín Creevy attacks in the match against England at the 2019 Japan World Cup. Photo: Garcia Adrasti from Germany
Just over six months have passed since the last appearance on the Los Pumas stage, a period in which the staff was changed and now the national team is preparing to take the first step of a new cycle. Michael Cheika, the coach of the Argentina national team, has chosen 33 players to face the test matches with which he will start managing him.
And the highlight is the return of Agustín Creevy, the former captain who, due to differences with Mario Ledesma, the Australian’s predecessor, had not been called up for the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
The London hooker, who had an excellent season in the English squad, played his last game for Los Pumas in the group stage victory against the United States which resulted in the expulsion of the selected team with a sad elimination in the first place turn of the tournament.
In that tournament Creevy started as a starter against France and was one of the leaders of the forwards group. But instead Ledesma preferred Julián Montoya for the decisive match against England which marked the virtual farewell to the World Cup.
Regarding the call-up, Cheika commented: “I am very satisfied with our first squad for the Los Pumas season. There was a lot of competition for each of the positions and in our discussions on selecting each player we considered both the streak with Scotland and the long-term plans towards the 2023 World Cup. “
“With this goal in mind -he added-, the designation we made of the players to put together the Argentina XV squad for the European tour is also very important for us. All this will give us the opportunity to see Argentina’s 60 best players playing at a high level. And what also applies to everyone is that we will be able to see the Los Pumas jersey on Argentine fields after almost three years, “Cheika said, also referring to the team that will play abroad in July.
Scotland will make the seventh trip to Argentina in history (they did it in 1969, 1994, 2008, 2010, 2014 and 2018) and the three commitments with the Scots will lead to the start of a stage whose goal is the World Cup in France 2023.
In the call-up, in addition to the return of Creevy, the returns of Juan Imhoff, Benjamín Urdapilleta and Mayco Vivas stand out, as well as the inclusion of three rookies: the scrum-half Lautaro Bazán Vélez (recently stopped being part of the Los Pumas 7’s), hooker Ignacio Ruiz (participated in the European tour in 2021) and prop Joel Sclavi (new European champion). Matías Alemanno, Rodrigo Bruni, Juan Cruz Mallía and Santiago Chocobares did not participate in the European tour at the end of 2021 due to various injuries, but will now be available.
The Los Pumas international July window includes three test matches against Scotland with the following program: July 2, in Jujuy; 9, in Salta; and 16, in Santiago del Estero.
The squad list that will see Montoya as captain is the following: Matías Alemanno (73 appearances), Lautaro Bazán Vélez, Emiliano Boffelli (38), Rodrigo Bruni (14), Santiago Carreras (19), Santiago Chocobares (11) ), Lucio Cinti (seven), Santiago Cordero (44), Agustín Creevy (89), Tomás Cubelli (82), Jerónimo de la Fuente (65), Bautista Delguy (22), Thomas Gallo (four), Gonzalo García (three ), Francisco Gómez Kodela (11), Juan Martín González (eight), Santiago Grondona (six), Juan Imhoff (37), Facundo Isa (37), Marcos Kremer (44), Tomás Lavanini (68), Juan Cruz Mallía ( 13), Pablo Matera (80), Julián Montoya (75), Matías Orlando (47), Lucas Paulos (five), Guido Petti (66), Ignacio Ruiz, Nicolás Sánchez (93), Joel Sclavi, Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro (67 ), Benjamin Urdapilleta (16) and Mayco Vivas (12).
NEW WITH THE SEVEN
The Sevens World Circuit already has its calendar for the 2022/2023 season with 11 races and a more than interesting prize: the best four will qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
The stages that will make up the circuit will be: from 4 to 6 November, Hong Kong, from 2 and 3 December, Dubai, from 9 to 11 December, Cape Town; 21 and 22 January Hamilton; January 27-29, Sydney; February 25-26, Los Angeles; March 3-5, Vancouver; March 31-April 2, Hong Kong; 8-9 April, Singapore; 12-14 May, Toulouse; and 20 and 21 May, London.
After spending a week at the top of the world rankings, the Los Pumas, bronze medal winners at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, were in third place with 118 points, behind South Africa (124 points) and Australia (118). the ninth place obtained on Sunday in the London tournament which was played in Twickenham.
The last function of the circuit will be in Los Angeles on 27 and 28 August, but then the great challenge of Seven will come: the World Cup in South Africa which will be played from 9 to 11 September. The Pumas already know the opponents in Zone A: Australia, Spain and Japan.
Source: Clarin
