The Rugby Championship, formerly known as the Tri Nations Series (1996–2011), is an international rugby union competition contested annually by Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. These are traditionally the four highest ranked national teams in the Southern Hemisphere; the Six Nations is a similar tournament in the Northern Hemisphere.
Rugby sevens is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. Rugby sevens is administered by World Rugby, the body responsible for rugby union worldwide. The game is popular at all levels, with amateur and club tournaments generally held in the summer months. Sevens is one of the most well distributed forms of rugby, and is popular in parts of Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, and especially in the South Pacific.
In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards and seven backs. In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16–23. Players are not restricted to a single position, although they generally specialise in just one or two that suit their skills and body types. Players that play multiple positions are called "utility players".
The Argentina national rugby union team represents Argentina in men's international competitions, The Argentine Rugby Union. 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.
Hugo Porta is an Argentine retired rugby union player, an inductee of both the International Rugby Hall of Fame and IRB Hall of Fame, and one of the best fly-halves the sport has seen. During the 1970s and 1980s, he played 58 times for Los Pumas, captaining them on 34 occasions, including leading them during the first World Cup in 1987.
Agustín Pichot is an Argentine retired rugby union player, formerly captain of the Argentine team and the English club Bristol. In addition to Bristol, he played for French sides Stade Français and Racing Métro after leaving Argentine team CASI from San Isidro in 1997. In 2011, he was inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame. He was Vice-Chairman of World Rugby between 2016 and 2020.
Felipe Contepomi is an Argentine professional rugby coach who is currently the backs coach at Leinster Rugby. He was a rugby union footballer who played fly-half or centre; his last club was Club Newman, in the first division of the URBA championship. He was also a key player for Argentina, having played 15 years for the national team. His twin brother Manuel was also a Puma. In June 2015 he was appointed coach of Argentina XV. Contepomi was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame in November 2017.
Bryan Gary Habana OIS is a South African former professional rugby union player. Playing mainly as a wing, he is widely considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. He played for the Golden Lions, the Blue Bulls and Western Province in South Africa, for the Bulls and the Stormers in Super Rugby, and for Toulon in the French Top 14, and won 124 caps for the South Africa national team.
Daniel Stuart Care is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for Premiership Rugby club Harlequins and the England national team.
Rugby union 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 British. The Argentina national team, sometimes referred to as the Pumas, have competed at the Rugby World Cup, and are considered a tier one nation by the sport's governing body, World Rugby.
Jaque Fourie is a South African former professional rugby union player. He was a versatile backline player whose usual position was in the centres. He was a member of the 2007 Rugby World Cup winning team, playing at outside centre for 6 out of 7 matches, including all 80 minutes of the World Cup Final, which South Africa won 15–6.
Rodrigo Roncero, also known as "RoRo", uncle of Mateo Morrone, alias Morronzero, Morroculo o Duketto,, is a retired Argentine former rugby union player. The last team in which he played was Stade Français in the Top 14. He has also played for Gloucester Rugby in the Guinness Premiership from 2002 to 2004. Roncero also played for Argentina, usually as a prop. Whilst at Gloucester he was a replacement in the 2003 Powergen Cup Final in which Gloucester defeated Northampton Saints.
Gonzalo Tiesi is a retired Argentine rugby union player. Tiesi played for the London Irish, Harlequins, Stade Français, London Welsh and Newcastle Falcons, as for 31 December 2012 won 32 full caps for his national team, Los Pumas. His usual position was at centre.
Mario Ledesma Arocena is an Argentine rugby union coach and a former international rugby player. He played in Argentina's successful 2007 Rugby World Cup campaign and had a professional playing career in France spanning 10 years. Since retiring he has coached at the highest level in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres and was most recently the head coach of the Argentine national team.
Alexander R. Corbisiero is an American-born English retired rugby union loosehead prop who last played for Premiership side Northampton Saints.
Grayson Hart is a professional rugby union player for Bedford Blues. He previously played for Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh Rugby in the Pro12 and the Blues and the NSW Waratahs in Super Rugby. Also Ealing Trailfinders and London Scottish in the RFU Championship. His usual position is Scrum-half.
Tomás Lavanini is an Argentine professional rugby union player who plays as a lock for Top 14 club Clermont and the Argentina national team.
Gabriel Ascárate is an Argentine rugby union footballer who played as a centre for Glasgow Warriors in the Pro12.
Matías Moroni is an Argentine professional rugby union player who plays as a centre for Premiership Rugby club Newcastle Falcons and the Argentina national team.
The History of the Argentina national rugby union team starts with the first international played by an Argentine side against the British Isles in 1910 when they toured on South America. Argentina gained recognition in 1965, when the team toured South Africa playing a series of friendly matches there. In that tour the national team was nicknamed Los Pumas, a name that became an identity mark for Argentina, remaining to present days.
