The Rugby Championship will kick off this Saturday with a burgeoning rivalry between the legendary New Zealand All-Blacks, and Argentina’s team, known as Los Pumas. Starting at 5:10 local time, the match will be held in the Stadium Malvinas Argentinas, the first time Mendoza will be hosting an international competitive rugby game. The game can be followed live through the ESPN network available on most cable TV providers, and also be streamed through the STAR+ platform.
The Rugby Championship, a competition between Argentina, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, will be a display of top talent as the four highest ranked teams in the southern hemisphere face off over a one-round six game tournament starting July 8 and ending on July 29. A friendly match between Argentina and South Africa will also be held on August 5 in Buenos Aires.
With the Rugby World Cup scheduled to begin in September of this year in France, this year’s Rugby Championship has been shrunk from its normal 12 match home and away schedule. Each team will only play 3 games, with Argentina hosting its first match before traveling to Australia and South Africa. For each win, a team is awarded 4 points; a tie gives a team two points, and there are no points in the case of a loss. Bonus points can also be awarded, either when a team scores three or more tries than their opponent, or if a team loses by 7 points or less.
New Zealand has a long and storied history of success, winning 19 of 26 tournaments since the competition, originally the Tri-nations, began in 1996—it became the Rugby Championship in 2012 when Argentina joined and expanded the competition to 4 teams. They also hold the highest all-time winning percentage in all competitions, at 76%. They have a winning record against all 19 countries they have faced — with 12 never winning a single match. Argentina only recorded its first win against the powerhouse in 2020.
Los Pumas lack the same pedigree, being awarded the wooden spoon — given to the last place team — every year except 2015. Their recent performances, however, give reason to believe that this year’s competition may see a change in fortunes. For the first time in 2022, Argentina won two consecutive games in this competition, including an impressive first ever away win against New Zealand. Emiliano Boffelli was also tied in first place for total points scored with 71.
The game against the All-Blacks in 2022 was a fiery affair, with Argentina able to use the elevated emotions in their favor forcing the typically well disciplined New Zealand into several yellow card offenses en route to a 25-18 win. In the end, this did little to impact the All-Blacks who rebounded to win the competition by a single point—while Los Pumas finished in last place.
Los Pumas coach Michael Cheika will hope that he can inspire a team that is missing some of their star players, who are resting for the World Cup later this year. They will also be without Marcos Kremer who is serving a 5 week suspension for violent conduct while playing for his team in France. This might have motivated the coach in his recent tactical innovation, calling two players from the sevens team—Rodrigo Isgro and Luciano Gonzalez to join the team as fullbacks. As the name suggests, Rugby 7s only takes place with 7 players on each team compared to the 15 in test rugby. As a result, players are usually a bit smaller in stature but much more agile.
Although there has been a lack of wins in official competition, Argentina does have a long rugby tradition, its first international game held in 1910, just seven years after New Zealand. During a 1965 tour in Africa, a local reporter mistook their logo of a jaguar for a puma, giving the team its nickname that has stuck to this day. There is also a history of the All-Blacks in Argentina, first traveling to Mendoza for an exhibition match against Marista Rugby Club in 1976.