Argentina With the Entire Arsenal back for London Camp

Argentina has the entire arsenal back for the upcoming training camp. Felipe Contepomi has named his strongest roster of the year. It includes the return of regular captain Julián Montoya and over a dozen other players who were unavailable for Los Pumas’ in the recent home matches against Australia and South Africa.

The 33-man roster will assemble in London, England from Monday (October 26) to Wednesday (October 28). The three day camp will be preparation for the Nations Championship. Contepomi will confirm his roster for the November Internationals at the completion of the camp.

The Nations Championship will bring to a close international competition for 2026. The end-of-year tour will see Los Pumas facing Ireland, Italy and France and playing in London against a to be confirmed opponent.

BOLSTERED ARSENAL

Julián Montoya returns to captain Los Pumas. He featured for Argentina in the July Internationals but was not involved in the three aforementioned test matches wherein Los Pumas had home advantage against South Africa and Australia.

There were twenty players missing from the roster. This is visible in who Felipe Contepomi has recalled as it is a very different roster to that which faced the Springboks and Wallabies. Props Thomas Gallo, and Joel Sclavi are in for the first time this year as is second-rower Pedro Rubiolo, flanker Juan Martín González, center Santiago Chocobares and fullback Juan Cruz Mallía.

The arsenal is also bolstered by the return of enforcer Marcos Kremer in addition to fellow flanker Santiago Grondona, scrum-half Gonzalo García, fly-half Tomás Albornoz, center Justo Piccardo and wingers Mateo Carreras and Bautista Delguy.

INJURED

Two regular forwards mis out through injury. By coincidence they are the Perpignan pairing of hooker Ignacio Ruiz and No. 8 Joaquín Oviedo. Both are front-line players who are well-positioned for selection for the Rugby World Cup 2027 roster.

NOT SELECTED

Felipe Contepomi has not been shy to rotate players. When compared to Michael Cheika or Mario Ledesma regimes, Contepomi’s tenure has seen an expansion in the size of the roster with more players selected across all positions.

An outcome of this has been a number of seasoned players and developing players miss out on the roster for the camp in London. Notably missing forwards include hooker Bautista Bernasconi, tight head prop Pedro Delgado and second-rowers Matías Alemanno and Franco Molina.

Benjamín Grondona had a break-out performance vs South Africa but is also missing as is center Matías Moroni who has 99 caps for his country.

There is no fairy tale recall for veterans from prior coaching regimes. Facundo Bosch, Santiago Medrano, Facundo Isa, Rodrigo Bruni, and Francisco Gorrissen are all examples of former Pumas

ROSTER – LOOSE HEAD PROP

POS	PLAYER	AGE	CLUB	CAPS
LH	Thomas Gallo	27	Lyon (FR)	40
LH	Mayco Vivas	28	Oyonnax (FR)	44
LH	Boris Wenger	24	Harlequins (UK)	11

ROSTER – HOOKER

POS	PLAYER	AGE	CLUB	CAPS
HK	Julián Montoya	32	Pau (FR)	120
HK	Leonel Oviedo	28	Western Force (AU)	3

ROSTER – TIGHT HEAD PROP

POS	PLAYER	AGE	CLUB	CAPS
TH	Francisco Moreno	24	Newcastle Red Bulls (UK)	3
TH	Tomás Rapetti	21	Toulouse (FR)	8
TH	Joel Sclavi	32	Leicester Tigers (UK)	32

ROSTER – LOOSE HEAD SECOND-ROW

POS	PLAYER	AGE	CLUB	CAPS
LO	Efraín Elías	22	Toulouse (FR)	6
LO	Guido Petti	31	Harlequins (UK)	104

ROSTER – TIGHT HEAD SECOND-ROW

POS	PLAYER	AGE	CLUB	CAPS
LO	Tomás Lavanini	33	Highlanders (NZ)	94
LO	Pedro Rubiolo	23	Bristol Bears (UK)	31

ROSTER – FLANKER

POS	PLAYER	AGE	CLUB	CAPS
LFL	Juan Martín González	25	Saracens (UK)	51
FL	Santiago Grondona	28	Pau (FR)	27
FL	Marcos Kremer	29	Clermont (FR)	83
FL	Pablo Matera	33	Honda Heat (JP)	127

ROSTER – NO. 8

POS	PLAYER	AGE	CLUB	CAPS
NO. 8	Joaquín Moro	25	Leicester Tigers (UK)	8
NO. 8	Juan Martín Scelzo	24	Stade Français (FR)	2

ROSTER – SCRUM-HALF

POS	PLAYER	AGE	CLUB	CAPS
SH	Simón Benítez Cruz	27	Newcastle Red Bulls (UK)	15
SH	Gonzalo García	27	Pau (FR)	19
SH	Agustín Moyano	23	Western Force (AU)	11

ROSTER – FLY HALF

POS	PLAYER	AGE	CLUB	CAPS
FH	Tomás Albornoz	29	Toulon (FR)	24
FH	Santiago Carreras	28	Bath (UK)	70
FH	Gerónimo Prisciantelli	27	Racing 92 (FR)	6

ROSTER – INSIDE CENTER

POS	PLAYER	AGE	CLUB	CAPS
CE	Santiago Chocobares	27	Toulouse (FR)	35
CE	Faustino Sánchez Valarolo	22	Dogos	5

ROSTER – OUTSIDE CENTER

POS	PLAYER	AGE	CLUB	CAPS
CE	Lucio Cinti	26	Saracens (UK)	45
CE	Justo Piccardo	24	Montpellier (FR)	13

ROSTER – WING

POS	PLAYER	AGE	CLUB	CAPS
WI	Mateo Carreras	26	Bayonne (FR)	36
WI	Bautista Delguy	29	Clermont (FR)	42
WI	Rodrigo Isgró	27	Harlequins (UK)	20
WI	Ignacio Mendy	26	Benetton (IT)	8