Argentina Squad Announced for the 2026 U20 Rugby Championship - Super Rugby thumbnail

The Argentina U20 team (Los Pumitas) is preparing for what will be the first demanding test of the year, with the start of the SANZAAR U20 Rugby Championship, which will take place at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

In this competition, as with the seniors, Los Pumitas will face the Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans; There will be three days with a round-robin competition system.

Before leaving for South Africa, Los Pumitas will hold a training camp at Hindu Club from April 17 to 20.

In the first edition of the Tournament in 2024, on Australia’s Sunshine Coast, Argentina, led at the time by Álvaro Galindo, won against Australia in the firts match by 25-6, then fell to New Zealand by 43-20 and on the last date they fell in a tight 30-28 against South Africa.

Last year, in Gqeberha under the command of Nicolás Fernández Miranda, the team lost in its three matches, but closed the tournament with a great performance against Australia that left very positive feelings for the team that would later get third place in the U20 World Cup in Italy.

Eusebio Guiñazú, one of the coaches of Los Pumitas, stated: “We have very good expectations for this Rugby Championship, with two fundamental priorities. The first is the personal development of the players, players who are all part of a national high-performance plan. For many of these boys it will be their first experience competing at this level, and we believe that this tournament has to be an experience that adds value in the development of the players, and that adds value not only to compete in this instance, but a value that can remain with them throughout their careers.”

“We believe that in this way we will really be making a contribution to the personal development of each of these players who are part of the national high-performance system. And the best way to develop players is the second priority we have, which is to compete. It’s a great opportunity to play against South Africa, New Zealand and Australia to really prepare ourselves and the team to be prepared for this level of competition with the ultimate goal of getting very good results, but that those results come from the awareness and naturalization of many habits and a certain work ethic that leads us to obtain those results.”

“We believe that if we continue to prepare in that way we can get those results, so our expectations are very good and are based on these two big priorities.”

“The group is really very good, all the players come from doing their respective preseasons. We believe that we have a very good combination and a very good mix between many players who have done their pre-seasons with Super Rugby Americas franchises, and many of them have even had minutes of competition. Others have done it through their clubs and the vast majority have been monitored and followed by their regional academies, so the group is in very good condition.”

“There has been a very intense preseason work and it has been a joint work not only with the staff that we have to participate in the competition, but with the entire high performance system of the Union. The group is in very good condition, really all the players have worked in a very good way and with a lot of commitment to this process so we believe that the group is really in a good spacve at the moment”.

“For that, the national squad sessions that we have been able to do have been very important, starting with the first one we did in December and then having had one per month that allowed us to begin to transmit and consolidate the main game ideas with which we are going to face the competition and start spending time together.”

“The boys have all done their preseasons, either in their provinces, in their clubs or in their franchises, and those concentrations have been of great importance to begin to transmit the idea of the game, to begin to prepare, to be prepared for the competition that is coming. Competition that is going to be really very tough, playing every 6 days with rivals of enormous level, but we have been preparing for that and the concentrations have been vital to start with that preparation and start to generate all the habits that will allow us to be competitive when the tournament starts”.

“The Rugby Championship is a tournament that precedes the next World Cup which is in July and it is a huge opportunity to play a tournament of this magnitude to prepare for what is going to be the following World Cup and that will undoubtedly be one of the great objectives, but always focusing game by game and action by action.”

“We are very clear that there is a great objective, which is the World Cup in the middle of the year, but we believe that today the focus has to be on this tournament in Gqeberha, which is going to be what will give us the foundations to then be more competitive every day and in that way arrive in the best possible way in the collective part and in the best possible way to the World Cup.”

Argentina U20 Rugby Championship Squad:

ANNAND, JEREMY (BELGRANO ATHLETIC – URBA)
AVACA, LUCIANO (TALA RC – UNION CORDOBESA DE RUGBY)
BENAVIDES, BAUTISTA (SANTA FE – UNIÓN SANTAFESINA DE RUGBY)
CAMBIASSO, NICOLÁS (BUENOS AIRES – URBA)
CAÑAS, BASILIO (CAE – UNION ENTRERRIANA DE RUGBY)
CEBRON, FABRIZIO (REGATTAS – URBA)
COLL, PEDRO (TIGRES R.C – SALTA RUGBY UNION)
CUNEO, MANUEL (SAN JUAN R.C – UNIÓN SANJUANINA DE RUGBY)
DANDE, TOMÁS (HUIRAPUCA R.C – TUCUMÁN RUGBY UNION)
DEGRATI, ÁLVARO (ATLÉTICO DEL ROSARIO – UNIÓN DE RUGBY DE ROSARIO)
FARIAS CERIONI, BENJAMÍN (UNIVERSITARIO R.C – UNIÓN DE RUGBY DE TUCUMAN)
FÉRNANDEZ MIRANDA, RAMÓN (HINDU – URBA)
GIANANTONIO, MANUEL (TALA RC – UNIÓN CORDOBESA DE RUGBY)
KELLER, CONSTANTINO (CÓRDOBA ATHLETIC – UNIÓN CORDOBESA DE RUGBY)
LEDESMA AROCENA, BENJAMÍN (SIC – URBA)
MARIZZA, FRANCO (PARANÁ ROWING – UNION ENTRE RÍOS DE RUGBY)
NARVAEZ, FEDERICO (ATLÉTICO DEL ROSARIO – UNIÓN DE RUGBY DE ROSARIO)
ORDIZ, BENJAMÍN (LOS CARANCHOS – ROSARIO RUGBY UNION)
PASCUAL VIALE, JOAQUÍN (ALUMNI – URBA)
PFISTER, SIMÓN (TUCUMÁN RC – UNION DE RUGBY DE TUCUMÁN)
PONZIO, AGUSTÍN (CRAI – UNIÓN SANTAFESINA DE RUGBY)
PREUMAYR, JUAN (JOCKEY – ROSARIO RUGBY UNION)
QUIROGA MIGUENS, BAUTISTA (CUBA – URBA)
SALINAS MALLEA, BAUTISTA (LOS TORDOS RC – UNIÓN DE RUGBY DE CUYO)
SERPA, FEDERICO (LOS TORDOS RC – UNIÓN DE RUGBY DE CUYO)
SORONDO, JERÓNIMO (BELGRANO ATHLETIC – URBA)
TANONI, MATEO (JOCKEY – ROSARIO RUGBY UNION)
TELLO FREDES, GERMAN (MARISTA R.C – UNIÓN DE RUGBY DE CUYO)
TOWER, FEDERICO (CÓRDOBA ATHLETIC – UNIÓN CORDOBESA DE RUGBY)
VALLE, LAUREANO (MENDOZA R.C – UNIÓN DE RUGBY DE CUYO)
ZABELLA, IGNACIO (UNIVERSITARIO RC – UNIÓN DE RUGBY DE ROSARIO)