Juan Pablo Socino - Future Puma?

Socino with ball in hand for Nottingham

A young Argentine player who looms as Puma in the making is Juan Pablo Socino. The 24 year old flyhalf / centre has been in the sights of the FIR with the Italian Rugby Union looking at him as a potential Italian international flyhalf. Such a move would follow on from Leandro Cedaro who last week confirmed he had said no to a possible place in the Pumas squad in place of an opportunity of representing Italy. Cedaro is to play for Italy A next month. In the case of Socino, the opposite has occured with the young Argentine player being named in the Los Jaguares squad for the IRB Nations Cup to be played in Romania in June.

Socino is ready to take the step up after having impressed in England´s second division, the RFU Championship for Rotherham and Nottingham. He was named at inside centre in the Dream Team of the current season as well as also being named in the Dream Team for the 2010-2011 season. Scouts have been paying attention to his progress with Rabo Direct Pro 12 side, , Treviso looking to secure his signature. Socino, however, turned down the offer to play for the Italian side as well as offers of staying in the RFU Championship and, in fact, cut short his contract with Nottingham by one season so that he could return to Argentina and focus on making his way into the senior squad.

His return to Argentina has seen him take up a contract with the UAR as one of the PladAR players. It means he will be at the full disposal of Santiago Phelan and his colleagues and has declared himself to his country. This will likely see him play for los Pampas XV in 2013. nd likel. He will play less now than he was in England and certainly less than he would in the Rabo Direct Pro 12 but his move to Argentina will see him have far greater chances of making Los Pumas and he could very well be utilized in The Rugby Championship. He would likely be used as an inside centre given the options avaliable to Phelan at flyhalf. Moreover, Felipe Contepomi will not play in The Rugby Championship which could well see Socino earn a spot depending on how he performs for Los Jaguares the IRB Nations Cup.

               A young Juan Pablo Socino

Leo Senatore to captain first Pumas test of 2012

Los Pumas World Cup backrower, Leo Senatore has been given the honor of captaining Argentina in its first test of the year as Los Pumas take on Uruguay in Santiago, Chile on Sunday. In what is to only be his fifth international appearance, the man from Rosario will lead a team packed with players from the Los Pampas XV side which reached the Quarter Finals of South Africa´s Vodacom Cup. Such is the experimentation of the squad that Senatore is the only player who played in last years Rugby World Cup to be in the team. Others to have played in New Zealand who are a part of Los Pampas XV have been rested and are not a part of the 26 man squad for the South American Championship in which Argentina will also face Brazil and Chile over the next week.

Having just turned 28, Senatore is a player to keep an eye on in 2012 as Argentina are to have three home tests in June followed by home and away fixtures vs Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in The Rugby Championship and then a three test tour to Europe in November. Senatore, having returned from a stint in the Top 14 with Toulon is widely expected to be in Argentina´s starting XV to face Tier One opposition. He is likely to join Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe and Juan Manuel Leguizamón in forming the first choice backrow. 

Besides Senatore the other players who could well play in the June internationals are winger Manuel Montero, scrumhalf Martín Landajo and secondrower Santiago Guzmán. replacements Bruno Postiglioni and Tomás Cubelli are also players to watch out for. 

Argentina

1- Roberto Tejerizo

2- Martín García Veiga

3- Gastón Cortéz

4- Santiago Guzmán

5- Benjamín Macome

6- Lisandro Ahualli de Chazal

7- Javier Ortega Desio

8- Leonardo Senatore (captain)

9- Martín Landajo

10- Valentín Cruz

11- Manuel Montero

12- Javier Rojas

13- Matías Orlando

14- Diego Palma

15- Ramiro Moyano

Reserves:

16- Ignacio Saenz Lancuba

17- Bruno Postiglioni

18- César Fruttero

19- Nicolás Azzorin

20- Tomás Cubelli

21- Stéfano Ambrosio

22- Facundo Barrea

The Rugby Championship Players to Watch - Tomás Cubelli

Young and unknown, Los Pampas XV´ Tomás Cubelli is a player who could go on to bigger and better things. The 23 year old scrumhalf has been one of the teams players to stand up in this seasons Vodacom Cup in South Africa. Cubelli is into his second season of Vodacom Cup rugby after having a good debut season in 2011. He made Los Pampas XV as the teams replacement for Agustín Figuerola who had taken up a professional contract in France with Brive. This meant Martín Landajo became Los Pampas´ senior scrumhalf for the 2011 season with Cubelli selected as his replacement. Or, so it was meant to be in theory. It reality it proved to be very different with Cubelli recieving plenty of game time and despite being considered as Argentina´s fifth choice scrumhalf and not making the greater squad of 50 players, he was one of only ten players to be signed by the UAR on full time professional contracts. 

His involvement as one of the UAR´s players means that Santiago Phelan and his assistants have big ideas for Cubelli and his form in the 2012 Vodaocm Cup would suggest that he has a strong chance of playing against Tier One opposition for Argentina. He certainly have the background to suggest he is a player being priemd for international duty. Cubelli is a former Argentine Under 18 and Under 20 player. In 2008, while Argentina were replacing Agustín Pichot Cubelli was playing for the Under 18 team vs Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. In 2009 he played against Chile, Ireland and South Africa at under 20 level. While his debut came in May 2010 vs Uruguay and he also played against Chile several days after making his first appearance in international rugby. In 2011 he again played two tests, against the same opponents, scoring his first test try in his second test of the year, vs Uruguay. Cubelli has also made appearances vs France A and Russia playing for Los Jaguares. 

Cubelli the Pampa

Despite his young age Cubelli has already captained Los Jaguares. He was chosen to lead the Argenitna A side in a pre-season match earlier this year against Tucumán. The future would indeed appear to be bright for the Buenos Aires scrumhalf and he, alongside fellow Los Pampas XV scrumhalf Martín Landajo, is making a serious challenge for a place in Los Pumas for international duty in 2012. While the Pampas XV pair have been playing week in, week out in the Vodacom Cup the three Pumas scrumhalves used by Santiago Phelan during his four years in charge of the national team thus far have not been doing the same thing in Europe. Argentina´s starting scrumhalf from Rugby World Cup 2011, Nicolás Vergallo has been reciving very little game time for Toulosue this season with the club prefering the services of Australian Luke Burgess and France´s Jean-Marc Doussain. His replacement in New Zealand, Alfredo Lalanne has been playing this season in Englands second division for London Scottish. While a player who many considered very unlucky to miss out on World Cup selection, Agustín Figuerola has been receiving quality minutes on the field for Brive and has signed a new contract with the club. Of the three, Figuerola would appear to be at the top of the list while Cubelli is certainly a strong contender to represent Argentina.

With twelve tests this year, Argentina are going to be utilziing the sevices of more players for international duty than what is normal. Santiago Phelan has already made this clear as he needs to look after the interests of European based players who have been playing non-stop since the pre World Cup matches in August. Phelan also needs to try combinations in search of the best possible team for Argentina to have the best possible chance of success in The Rugby Championship. A large squad of, at least 28 players, is certain to be used for The Rugby Championship and a squad of this size will have three scrumhalves. But Cubelli is more than just an outside chance regardless of how much or little game time Argentina´s three senior players in his position are getting. On for  alone, Cubelli merits a an international call up from Phelan. 

Cubelli scoring for Belgrano Athletic

Cubelli comes from Buenos Aires club, Belgrano Athletic.The club has produced some very important players for Los Pumas. Amongst them two are the most capped Puma of all time, former captain Lizandro Arbizu and current centre, Marcelo Bosch. Cubelli´s young age and contract with the UAR could well mean he could be the clubs lattest world class player. The club could also benefit greatly from him playing for Los Pumas as it could potentially have two Pumas playing in The Rugby Championship. 

Week One: Juan Manuel Leguizamón

Week Two: Lucas González Amorosino

Week Three: Marcelo Bosch

Week Four: Agustín Creevy

Week Five: Juan Martín Hernández 
Week Six: Martín Bustos Moyano
Week Seven: Leonardo Senatore

Week Eight: Rodrigo Roncero
Week Nine: Gonzalo Camacho
Week Ten: Patricio Albacete
Week Eleven: Horacio Agulla
Week Twelve: Juan Figallo
Week Thirteen: Santiago Fernández
Week Fourteen: Tomás Cubelli
Week Fifteen: Marcos Ayerza

2011 Junior World Championship - Matías Moroni Yellow Card

Sometimes yellow or red cards can have a massive impact on the outcome of a match. But referee´s are not supposed to take this in cosideration when analyzing the punishment for a dangerous tackle. Instead, the tackle needs to be judged only regardless of the situation of the match itself. Welsh captain Sam Warburton was famously send off for a dangerous tip tackle on France´s Vincent Clerc, a decision deemed appropriate from referee´s around the globe. In the same year an Argentine player, outside centre, Matías Moroni was yellow carded without hesitation by Scottish referee Neil Paterson who deemed the tackle on on New Zealand´s inside centre, Rhys Llewellyn to be dangerous.

The tackle took place in just the fourth minute of the first half in what was a match between the Baby Blacks  and Los Pumitas at the 2011 IRB Junior World Championship in Italy. before the yellow card the scores were 0-0 but with Moroni on the sidelines, New Zealand scored a whopping three tries to essentially make it game over at 17-0. A second Pumitas player. To Argentina´s credit no complaint was ever made despite the tackle clearly not being worthy of a yellow card at all. It was not even a penalty offense. It was simply a well executed tackle which got the better of Llewellyn. If anybody was at fault it would be the New Zealander who turned in the tackle while still being drive back. He seemed to be attempting to free his shoulders so that he would be able to set up a ruck to the advantage of his team. The Argentine commentators were beyond belief at the decision of Paterson and unlike the Warburton incident they had good reason to feel anoyed.

Moroni was joined in the centre by Javier Rojas who started for Los Pampas XV this past weekend vs the Sharks XV. 

The Rugby Championship Players to Watch - Santiago Fernández

November 22, 2008 was a date that no Pumas fan had wished for. It was Argentina facing Ireland at Croke Park without both its flyhalves and its third choice player too. Having been named to start, Juan Martín Hernández had to withdraw from playing one hour before kickoff. Felipe Contepomi had been ruled out of the match with an infection in his arm, while Marcelo Bosch had undergone shoulder reconstruction surgery and was unavaliable. In place of these three European professionals Argentina gave a first ever test start to 22 year old Santiago Fernández. He was a promising player, based in Buenos Aires playing for the Hindú club. He had made his international debut one week earlier vs Italy in Los Pumas´ 22-14 win in Torino. Headcoach Santiago Phelan had brought in on in the late stages to get some game time and he played on the wing. 

Fernández was a part of the PladAR system at the time of his debut for Los Pumas. He had been identified as a player of the future and in May 2009 he played in Los Jaguares´ home series matches vs Namibia. It was not his first time playing for the Argentina A side, however, as he had made his first appearance in 2007 playing in the IRB Nations Cup in Romania where he took on Italy A, Namibia and South Africa A. Around the same time that Los Jaguares were playing Namibia, Felipe Contepomi was playing for Leinster vs Munster in the Heineken Cup Semi Final. Contepomi started the match strongly but injured his knee badly and was forced to undergo surgery. As such, Argentina would not be able to field the 10-12 combination of Hernández and Contepomi at all in 2009. Phelan selected Miguel Avramovic at 12 to face England in Manchester with Fernández on the bench. The following week, Phelan made changes after Argentina had been badly beaten, and he went for the 10-12 combination of Hernández and Fernández. Los Pumas´s win in Salta that day was a defining moment in the transition from Rugby World Cup 2007 to 2011. From the 2007 team only Hernández and Horacio Agulla remained in the backline. Gonzalo Camacho and Lucas González Amorosino were new comers to the team with Agulla playing at fullback. It was also the final test for Rimas Alvarez Kairellis.

Fernández vs Wales, 2009

The changes for the June series proved to be beneficial for November 2009 when Argentina faced an nothing less than an injury crisis in the backs. Contepomi had not recovered from injury yet while Bosch had returned to play fullback for Biarritz only to badly injury his knee and require reconstruction surgery. Hernández was also forced out, with a back injury he picked up playing in South Africa that required surgery. This saw Santiago Fernández moving from 12 to 10 where he started in a new combination with the uncapped Martín Rodríguez Gurruchaga for Argentina´s tour of England, Wales and Scotland. The pair played the full 80 minutes of the three tests despite both being amateur players. The lack of international experience didn´t stop Argentina collecting a narrow in at Murrayfield. The match underlined both players as ones for the future. 

The following year saw the creation of Los Pampas XV and the teams involvement in South Africa´s Vodacom Cup. Before the season had started Fernández had been rumoured to being offered a deal to play Super Rugby for either the Stormers in South Africa or the Western Force in Australia. Neither rumour proved to be true but following his involvement in the Vodacom Cup he was signed on a two year deal for Montpellier to play in the French Top 14 in May 2010. The following month he was starting at inside centre for Los Pumas with Felipe Contepomi back from injury playing flyhalf and Martín Rodríguez Gurruchaga playing fullback. Signs were positive as Argentina scored its biggest ever win over France. The same combination would go on to be used for Argentina´s November tour of Europe with Fernández starting vs Italy and France at inside centre. He was rested, however, for the test vs Ireland.

Fernández scores for Montpellier

In the meantime Fernández was a starter for a team making plenty of headlines in France, Montpellier. Fernández´s arrival for the 2010-2011 season had been to give the club depth as François Trinh-Duc needed a solid deputy. Within no time, however, Fernández was the clubs starting inside centre and his constant game time has seen him improve as a player. He has been used at flyhalf on occassion, when Trinh-Duc has not been avaliable and has proven to be a solid option for the club. Fernández at 12 was a tryscorer in Montpellier´s history making Semi Final triumph over Racing Métro last season. The teams success involved Fernández and two other Pumas - Martín Bustos Moyano and Juan Figallo. The 2011-2012 season has been just as good for Fernández with him again playing plenty of rugby, usually in the 12 shirt but also playing 10 and doing a good job in place of Trinh-Duc.

Following Rugby World Cup 2011 the team´s Argentine players has doubled from three to six with Agustín Creevy, Maximilano Bustos and Lucas González Amorosino all joining and playing regularly. The six players are all likely to feature in The Rugby Championship with Santiago Fernández looking a certainty for the match day 22 to, in the least, be wearing the teams number 21 shirt. The most logical scenario is for Fernández to play 12 outside Juan Martín Fernández but the form of Martín Rodríguez Gurruchaga at 12 for Stade Français gives Santiago Phelan the luxury of having more quality options than ever before.

Week One: Juan Manuel Leguizamón

Week Two: Lucas González Amorosino

Week Three: Marcelo Bosch

Week Four: Agustín Creevy

Week Five: Juan Martín Hernández 
Week Six: Martín Bustos Moyano
Week Seven: Leonardo Senatore

Week Eight: Rodrigo Roncero
Week Nine: Gonzalo Camacho
Week Ten: Patricio Albacete
Week Eleven: Horacio Agulla
Week Twelve: Juan Figallo
Week Thirteen: Santiago Fernández
Week Fourteen: Tomás Cubelli

Pampas XV to face toughest test yet against the undefeated Western Province

  VS    

After a rest over Easter weekend the Pampas XV face their hardest match of the 2012 Vodacom Cup so far against the undefeated Western Province on Saturday, the Argentines have had to fight hard for their three wins since their opening defeat to the Eastern Province Kings. In this match they will have to up their game.

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Team News: Despite this being the Pampas XV's strongest opponents as yet, the coaches still haven't decided to select the 100% strongest XV and continue to heavily rotate the squad. Examples include the omission of the on form Tomás Cubelli and key goal kicker Santiago González Iglesias only on the bench, the half backs have been swapping throughout the tournament.

Also Bruno Postiglioni starts at tighthead prop replacing Juan Gómez, meaning he has started at all three front row positions over the tournament. Whilst it seemed the coaches were going to give him a run at hooker over the tournament, he has gone back to being switched around the front row. He definitely seems the new Guiñazu.

There is also no place yet for Leonardo Senatore who has returned to the Pampas XV squad after being released by Toulon after Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe returned from injury for them.

Pampas XV: 15 Román Miralles, 14 Facundo Barrea, 13 Lisandro Gómez Lopez, 12 Gabriel Ascárate, 11 Ramiro Moyano; 10 Benjamín Madero, 9 Martín Landajo; 1 Francisco Piccinini, 2 Emiliano Coria, 3 Bruno Postiglioni; 4 Julio Farías Cabello, 5 Mariano Galarza; 6 Tomás Leonardi, 7 Rodrigo Báez, 8 Lisandro Ahualli

Replacements: 16 Roberto Tejerizo, 17 Germán Aráoz, 18 Santiago Guzmán, 19 Genaro Fessia; 20 Tomás Cubelli, 21 Santiago González Iglesias, 22 Matías Orlando

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The Opposition: Western Province


Undefeated in the Vodacom Cup, the Western Province are the feeder team to the Super Rugby leaders the Stormers and are probably the favourites for the Vodacom Cup as well.

They have a much better record than the Pampas XV who are very much the underdogs for this match, they beat the only team to beat the Argentines so far the Eastern Province Kings by five points, and they also thrashed the Boland Kavaliers (the team the Pampas XV had to stage a big comeback to beat in the last minute) and scored 51 points against them.

Demetri Catrikilis

A notable player to watch out for is Demetri Catrikilis, a fly half of Greek origin and who is a very highly rated prospect and seen as a future Springbok, he was a points machine for the Western Province in last year's Currie Cup campaign.

They also have good experience in Danie Poolman, Schalk Ferreira, Wikus Blaauw and former Springbok Hilton Lobberts all of whom have a fair amount of Super Rugby experience.

In the Pampas XV's previous and only meeting against the Western Province in 2010, they were narrowly defeated 19-16, the Argentines will hope to keep the result similarly close and as underdogs hope for an upset.

SWD Eagles: 15 Kurt Coleman, 14 Danie Poolman, 13 Michael van der Spuy, 12 Marcel Brache, 11 Ederies Arendse; 10 Demetri Catrikilis, 9 Nic Groom; 1 Schalk Ferreira, 2 Sidney Tobias, 3 Wickus Blaauw; 4 Hilton Lobberts, 5 Quinn Roux; 6 Reuben Johannes, 7 Yaasir Hartzenburg, 8 Tyrone Holmes

Replacements: 16 Rohan Kitshoff, 17 Tom Botha, 18 Alistair Vermaak, 19 Wilhelm van der Sluys; 20 Grant Hattingh, 21 Rick Shroeder, 22 Berton Klaasen

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Date: Saturday the 17th of March
Venue: AF Markötter Stadium, Paul Roos Gymnasium, Stellenbosch
Kickoff: 16:00 (Local Time), 14:00 (GMT), 11:00 (Argentina Time)

Belisario Agulla signs on for two more years at Agen

Having been bought in as a medical joker in August Belisario Agulla has proven his weight in the Top 14 Orange and has now earned himself a permanent contract with French club Agen in a new two year deal. The 23 year old former Los Pampas XV outside back and the young brother of first choice Argentine winger, Horacio Agulla is a player to keep an eye on for the future. His hard work at the club this season has seen him become a regular in the team in recent matches and with the USA´s Kevin Swiryn retiring this is only going to continue. 

With Argentina playing twelve tests this year, rather than the normal number of six, his chances of joining Horacito in Los Pumas have been enlarged. He will need to continue working hard in the remaining Top 14 Orange matches in April and May. Agen have four games left and should be targeting two wins at least. The remaining games are against Toulon, Bordeaux-Begles, Bayonne and Racing Métro. Should Belisario Agulla start in these games his chances of featuring vs Italy in San Juan will be amplified. The match will be played on the same day as the Top 14 final and it is expected that Santiago Phelan will be resting players from the Semi Final the previous week as well as the Aviva Premiership Final. This could mean that of the World Cup wingers only Gonzalo Camacho will feature vs the Italians. 

Belisario Agulla´s new contract will see him will continue to play alongside the former Pumas pair of centre Miguel Avramovic and tighthead prop Martín Scelzo. A fourth Argentine player looks set to be joining the club with Esteban Lozada hihgly likely to leave Edinburgh for a return to France.

Pampas XV stage thrilling comeback to defeat the Boland Kavaliers in the last minute

The Pampas XV showed spirit to come back from 27-13 against the Boland Kavaliers and get their third win of their defence of the Vodacom Cup.

Ramiro Moyano slides in for the
Pampas XV's first try, Moyano is
now the second leading try scorer
in the tournament

After an early exchange of penalties between the Boland kicker Elgar Watts and Santiago González Iglesias, it was the Pampas XV who got the first try of the match with a flowing backs move getting stopped just 10 metres short of the line, but regaining quick ball and Tomás Cubelli who looks to be a very intelligent scrum half, set up a simple try for Ramiro Moyano to finish in the corner, his fourth of the tournament which leaves him second in the leading try scorers list.

González Iglesias showed why he is one of the best goal kickers in Argentina by slotting the conversion from the corner and also scored a penalty, but over the next 20 minutes of the match Boland took control and built a healthy lead for themselves.

Captain Julio Farías Cabello went
off injured after just 33 minutes,
and over the next 22 minutes
Boland scored 24 unanswered
points to take control

The maul yet again was the Pampas XV Achilles heel for Boland's first try which was scored by their captain Franzel September. With matches coming up against Super Rugby's stronger reserve sides, this issue, which has been the Pumas strength in the past, must be improved.

Boland took the lead just before half time with a fantastically finished try by Senan van der Merwe, who had no right to score in the corner but somehow managed to touchdown despite being shunted into touch by tow Pampas XV defenders. Boland's kicker Elgar Watts, like González Iglesias also was on good goal kicking form and didn't miss a kick all day and slotted this one from the corner.

After half time, a penalty from Watts, and then an try which was wrapped up and given as a simple gift to Boland as Román Miralles gave a tame intercept pass to the winger Brendon April who went under the posts. At this point with 55 minutes gone, Boland were leading 27-13, but then the Pampas XV mounted  a great comeback.

Tomás Cubelli has proved himself
a very intelligent scrum half and
one of the best things to come out
of this year's Vodacom Cup

After getting some possession and territory, the Argentines scored a try through little Tomás Cubelli wriggling underneath tacklers to score. And the Pampas XV from then on got more possession and territory but the Boland defence stood firm until the final minute when the replacement scrum half Martín Landajo just about managed to get the ball down from a short range pickup and secure the win for the Pampas XV.

The win will be very morale boosting for the Pampas XV (who have Leonardo Senatore arriving for the latter stages of the competition), but after a rest week they will face their hardest test so far in the only undefeated side left in their group, the Western Province, who put 50 points on the Boland and also beat the EP Kings who defeated the Pampas XV in the first round. The match will be a good indication of how far the Pampas XV can go in this year's tournament. However just to reach the quarter finals they now need only just to win one of their remaining three group matches.

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46-20

Tries	Moyano (16), Cubelli (56), Landajo (79)	September (35), van der Merwe (39), April (54)
Conversions	González Iglesias (19, 57, 80)	Watts (36, 40, 55)
Penalties	González Iglesias (6, 29, 64)	Watts (3, 42)

Pampas XV: 15 Román Miralles, 14 Facundo Barrea, 13 Lisandro Gómez Lopez, 12 Gabriel Ascárate (Javier Rojas HT), 11 Ramiro Moyano; 10 Santiago González Iglesias, 9 Tomás Cubelli (Martín Landajo 66); 1 Bruno Postiglioni, 2 Emiliano Coria (Roberto Tejerizo 78), 3 Juan Gómez (Francisco Piccinini 61); 4 Juan Pablo Lagarrigue (Tomás Leonardi 52), 5 Mariano Galarza; 6 Julio Farías Cabello (Genaro Fessia 33), 7 Rodrigo Bruno, 8 Lisandro Ahualli de Chazal

Boland Kavaliers: 15 Jacquin Jansen, 14 Senan van der Merwe, 13 Jonathan Francke, 12 Siviwe Magaba (Ricardo Croy 65), 11 Brendon April; 10 Elgar Watts, 9 Neil Papier (Bolla Conradie 50); 1 Charl du Plessis (Bjorgen Julies 38), 2 Hansie van Dyk, 3 Ross Geldenhuys; 4 PJ van Zyl, 5 Nolan Clark; 6 Franzel September, 7 Alwyn Bester (Jerry Sefoko 71), 8 Zandre Jordaan

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Highlights

Leonardo Senatore returns for Toulon

Leonardo Senatore

Leonardo Senatore will return to Toulon´s lineup for Saturday´s match vs Brive at the Stade Amédée-Domenech. He announced his delight at returning for the third placed Top 14 Orange club on twitter and hopes to face-off against his Pumas teammate, Agustín Figuerola. The Argentine backrower has been on the sidelines for Toulon due to the return of captain, Joe van Niekerk from injury. His match vs Brive has been rumoured, in French sources, as being his last due to the complettion of the rehabilitation process of Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe who has been on the sidelines all season after seriously injurying his knee vs Scotland in September.

Toulon will not be resigning Senatore for next season and the Pumas backrower´s contract as a meical joker could come to an end following this weekends match vs Brive. Should this, indeed, be Senatore´s final match then he will be flown to South Africa to link up with Los Pampas XV. Despite not being of the same callibre, more game time in the Vodacom Cup would be to the advantage of Senatore and Los Pumas as the backrower is a certainty to feature in the June internationals vs Italy and France.

Pampas XV stage second half show to comfortably claim their second Vodacom Cup win

The Pampas XV overcame the Border Bulldogs in pouring rain for their second win of their Vodacom Cup defence, but had to comeback from a half time deficit to comfortably win the match.

The first half was not easy for the Pampas XV though, despite tries from Javier Rojas and Mariano Galarza who both wriggled over from short range the Border Bulldogs managed two tries of their own and had a 20-12 lead until the 40th minute but from that point the Pampas XV ran away with the match and the Bulldogs didn't get another point on the board and the Argentines scored 34.

The Pampas XV looked impressive
in the second half and may be getting
some momentum leading into some
big matches coming up

One of the bright spots of the Pampas XV campaign so far has been the performance of the two scrum halves both of whom have looked good and should be challenging for a spot in the Pumas squad, Tomás Cubelli was impressive in the last match against the Eagles, and in this match Martín Landajo impressed with a masterfully placed chip kick over the Bulldogs defence to set up Javier Rojas to score his second try.

After that bit of scrum half skill was magical, the Pampas XV really began to get their rhythm in the rain and score some great tries. Rodrigo Bruno scored from an individual effort, showing great pace running 45 metres from the back of a scrum to score. A bald number 7 rampaging up the pitch brought back memories of Rolando Martín who was a great and underrated part of the Pumas side in the late 1990's and early 2000's which the current side has a large part to thank for them earning a spot in the Tri Nations.

The fifth try was from very good link up play by the front rowers and Javier Rojas, Emiliano Coria showed good accelaration for the initial break and offloaded to Rojas and Bruno Postiglioni a front row known to have quite some speed finished with a fantastic side step. Winger Vuyo Mbotho won't be happy about being sidestepped by a prop however.

Ramiro Moyano set up the last try

The last try was set up by a Ramiro Moyano chip kick for Javier Rojas to complete a hat trick which leaves Rojas the joint top try scorer of the competition so far. A noticeable tactic of the Pampas XV this season has been the chip kick and it has worked very well for them, and set up four tries in the last two matches.

The result is satisfactory for the Pampas XV who scored some very good tries in the second half when they clicked. The Argentines now will have a series of harder matches coming up which will be a bigger test for these players, next week they face Boland who have the same record won two lost one as them and beat the SWD Eagles by 20 points on Saturday.

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46-20

Tries	Rojas (11, 50, 81), Galarza (26), Bruno (58), Postiglioni (75)	Basson (20), Krause (37)
Conversions	Madero (27, 51, 58, 76, 82)	Kruger (21, 38)
Penalties	Madero (40, 43)	Kruger (5, 14)

Pampas XV: 15 Ezequiel Faralle (Ramiro Moyano 54), 14 Matías Orlando, 13  Gabriel Ascárate, 12 Javier Rojas, 11 Manuel Montero (Facundo Barrea 74); 10 Benjamín Madero (Santiago González Iglesias 57), 9 Martín Landajo (Tomás Cubelli 61); 1 Robrto Tejerizo (Franciso Piccinini 57), 2 Emiliano Coria, 3 Germán Aráoz (Bruno Postiglioni 50); 4 Santiago Guzmán (Julio Farías Cabello HT), 5 Mariano Galarza; 6 Genaro Fessia, 7 Rodrigo Bruno, 8 Tomás Leonardi (Juan Pablo Lagarrigue (54)

Border Bulldogs: 15 Logan Basson, 14 Quinton "Chucky" Norris, 13 Chumani Booi, 12 Dwayne Jenner (Arthur William Williams 47), 11 Vuyo Mbotho; 10 Louis Kruger, 9 Ntando Kebe (Lesley-Dean Luiter 18); 1 Blake Jonathan Kyd, 2 FJ Binneman (Khwezilokusa Mkhafu 21), 3 Armon Fourie (Marius Visser 28); 4 Ben Venter (Adam Wessels 51), 5 Samora Fihlani; 6 Clinton Koen, 7 Gareth Krause (Rynardt van Wyk 64-67 blood), 8 Lubabalo Mzwakali (Rynardt van Wyk 78)

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Highlights

Pampas XV rally to comeback and avoid shock defeat to the SWD Eagles to record a narrow 34-30 first win

The defending Vodacom Cup champions the Pampas XV recorded their first win of the season against the SWD Eagles, although it was not at all an easy one as they came from behind to edge the match 34-30.

Unlike the opening match defeat to the EP Kings where the Pampas XV got off to a flying start, this match got off to the worse possible one as centre Elric van Vuuren who was impressive, got an intercept try from an attempted inside pass from his opposite number Gabriel Ascárate to score under the posts just two minutes into the game.

Benjamín Madero scored a try but
also missed 8 point worth of kicks

However despite the shaky start the Pampas XV hit back two minutes later from a maul, the move that they themselves struggled so badly with in the first match provided them with their first try as the Eagles failed to contain it and Tomás Leonardi went over with the ball. And the Argentines would soon take the lead as a chip kick behind the Eagles defence from Benjamín Madero set up a try for himself.

But it was the Eagles who regained the lead going into half time as two van Vuuren got two extra penalties, whilst Madero struggled with the boot missing two penalties and a conversion meaning the Eagles went into half  time with a 13-12 lead.

After a penalty from Madero made it 15-13 to the Pampas XV, but then followed a worrying period and very questionable defense for the Pampas XV. Firstly winger Clinton Wagman finished off a neat move from the Eagles, but full back Román Miralles got himself horribly tangled up defensively due to poor alignment.

The Kings third try was even worse defence as Juan Pablo Lagarrigue and Emiliano Coria allowed van Vuuren to run straight through the middle of them in the defensive line in what should have been a routine tackle, and from there van Vuuren just needed to give a simple pass to Alshaun Bock to score. This try led the Eagles to a 10 point lead with 25 minutes to play and the Pampas XV were heading to a big upset of a defeat.

Note that although he couldn't do anything to stop Bock scoring, scrum half Tomás Cubelli did a great job in getting back and stopping Bock and forcing him to touch down in the corner which resulted in a missed conversion. The Pampas XV soon got a try back, through a sniping break from Cubelli on the back of a very solid and strong scrum and he again showed some real intelligent play, diving over pretending to score a try but without touching the ball down and then to sneak the try an extra 10 metres closer to the posts. In close games these small things such as what Cubelli did so well are crucial. I hope the coaches Daniel Hourcade and Mauricio Reggiardo appreciate the intelligence of Cubelli's play.

Facundo Barrea scored the Pampas
XV's fifth try

After the try from Cubelli, the match momentum swayed towards the Pampas XV as the Eagles tired, Ramiro Moyano went over in the corner, and then the other winger Facundo Barrea scored from a chip kick by Santiago González Iglesias, the second try in the match from a chip kick for the Argentines.

With the score 34-25 to the Pampas XV, the Eagles managed a consolation try in the last minute from lock Grant le Roux to win themselves a bonus point, but it wasn't enough to deny the Pampas XV their first win topped off by a try scoring bonus point. Bizarrely the 34-30 scoreline to the match is the exact same as the Eagles first match loss against the Free State Cheetahs.

The Pampas XV should be getting combinations better by now and perhaps their confidence could take a boost as well, they face Border Bulldogs next week who have struggled so far conceding 82 points in their first two matches. However a concern for the coaches must be the fact that three players went off with injuries during this match, Tomás de la Vega and Nahuel Lobo both went off before half time with injuries as did Juan Pablo Estelles in the second half, hopefully their injuries are not too serious.

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34-30

Tries	Leonardi (3), Madero (20), Cubelli (59), Moyano (72), Barrea (75)	van Vuuren (1), Wagman (47), Bock (55), le Roux (78)
Conversions	Madero (21), González Iglesias (60, 75)	van Vuuren (1, 48)
Penalties	Madero (44)	van Vuuren (31, 38)

Pampas XV: 15 Román Miralles, 14 Facundo Barrea, 13 Juan Pablo Estelles (Rodrigo Bruno 64), 12 Gabriel Ascárate (Matías Orlando 42), 11 Ramiro Moyano; 10 Benjamín Madero (Santiago González Iglesias 57), 9 Tomás Cubelli (Martín Landajo 60); 1 Nahuel Lobo (Emiliano Coria 36), 2 Bruno Postiglioni, 3 Juan Gómez; 4 Juan Pablo Lagarrigue, 5 Mariano Galarza; 6 Julio Farías Cabello, 7 Tomás de la Vega (Germán Aráoz 36), 8 Tomás Leonardi

SWD Eagles: 15 Deroy Rhoode, 14 Alshaun Bock, 13 Wentsley Scott, 12 Elric van Vuuren, 11 Clinton Wagman; 10 Cecil Dumond (Jeff Taljard 60), 9 Johan Herbst (Mzo Dyantyi 60); 1 Jean Rossouw, 2 Dean Hopp, 3 Raoul Larson (Anton van der Westhuizen 38); 4 Lubabalo Mtyanda (Hein Potgieter 44), 5 Grant le Roux; 6 Shaun Raubenheimer, 7 Lyndon Hartnick, 8 Michael Vermaak

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Highlights

Preview: Pampas XV vs SWD Eagles

  VS 

The Pampas XV look to get their Vodacom Cup defence back on track as they take on the SWD Eagles in their second match of the campaign after the first round penalty infested loss to the EP Kings where the pack were mauled out of the game.

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Team News: As expected the Pampas XV have named a much rotated team for their second match of the Vodacom Cup following a disappointing loss to the EP Kings in their first, there are seven changes to the starting lineup in total. The changes are nothing to do with anybody being dropped, just the coaches want to give the entire 30 man squad a good amount of time on the pitch, the fully unrotated strongest side is only really expected if the Pampas XV reach the knockout rounds.

The very accurate goal kicker González Iglesias who had a perfect day with the boot in the last round, makes way for Benjamín Madero who was the CONSUR XV fly half against the Pumas last August. Tomás Cubelli also joins him to form a new half back pairing. Also in the backs, Facundo Barrea replaces the promising winger Manuel Montero and Gabriel Ascárate who was a key member of last year's side returns after missing the first match due to a minor injury.

In the forwards, the 32 year old Juan Pablo Lagarrigue is brought in ahead of Santiago Guzmán, Tomás de la Vega also gets a chance to play, whilst Nahuel Lobo replaces Francisco Piccinini at loosehead prop.

Nahuel Lobo

It is a concern that the young front row Lobo is being shifted about so much, he seems to be the latest casualty to what I have now dubbed "Guiñazu disease", it seems to be a lottery of which number between 1 to 3 he has on his back.

And just like Guiñazu it will hold him back if it continues, in the modern game there are very few versatility front rowers as teams now often with 23 man benches prefer specialists, since Federico Mendez retired it is hard to think of any players who were world class in all three front row position.

He will not be taken seriously to ever be a prolonged contender for the Pumas or more than unless moving forward he focuses on one front row position and sticks to it, only using his versatility if really needed. The same problem applied to Bruno Postiglioni, but fortunately for him this year he seems to be sticking at playing hooker.

It is hoped for a much much better performance from the pack than the last match, as it was this area which cost the Pampas XV the match not the backs, they conceded far too many penalties and were pushed about  by the Kings.

Pampas XV: 15 Román Miralles, 14 Facundo Barrea, 13 Juan Pablo Estelles, 12 Gabriel Ascárate, 11 Ramiro Moyano; 10 Benjamín Madero, 9 Tomás Cubelli; 1 Nahuel Lobo, 2 Bruno Postiglioni, 3 Juan Gómez; 4 Juan Pablo Lagarrigue, 5 Mariano Galarza; 6 Julio Farías Cabello (captain), 7 Tomás de la Vega, 8 Tomás Leonardi

Replacements: 16 Emiliano Coria, 17 Germán Aráoz, 18 Rodrigo Bruno, 19 Rodrigo Báez; 20 Martín Landajo, 21 Santiago González Iglesias, 22 Matías Orlando

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The Opposition: South Western District Eagles


The SWD Eagles are not expected to be as much of a test as the opening match against the EP Kings, whilst the Kings had several experienced players who have played Super Rugby, the Eagles have a total of just one start at Super Rugby level in their squad, and that player Braam Immelman (who also had a stint in the Top 14 with Montauban) isn't even in the matchday 22.

The matchday 22 in fact, doesn't have a single minute of Super Rugby experience within it. It is mostly made up of long time Vodacom Cup standard players, or rejects from the big South African teams who weren't getting a game in their Vodacom Cup side. One member of the side has appeared in a high profile tournament though, tighthead prop Raoul Larson won 3 caps at the recent World Cup with Namibia, and is one of the few Namibians lucky enough to be playing in the Vodacom Cup as the Namibian side the Welwitschias were pulled from the tournament through financial difficulty.

It would be highly embarrassing for the Pampas XV to lose to this side and quite frankly if they were to some members would have to look at themselves and face that they are simply not good enough for professional rugby not even lower divisions never mind the Pumas.

However this Eagles team shouldn't be taken for granted. They lost by just four points in their last match to the FS Cheetahs away, and have an unchanged side from that match. And last season notably beat the finalists the Blue Bulls away as well, albeit a weaker Bulls side than the one in the knockout stages

However whilst they may give the Pampas XV a good workout, you would expect the Argentines to come away with the win comfortably, like the sides last meeting in 2010 which was a 36-17 win for the Pampas XV, although the win should have been more than the score suggests, Martín Rodríguez had a kicking nightmare that day missing 6 from 9 kicks.

SWD Eagles: 15 Deroy Roode, 14 Alshaun Bock, 13 Wentsley Scott, 12 Elric van Vuuren, 11 Clinton Wagman; 10 Cecil Dumond, 9 Johan Herbst; 1 Jean Rossouw, 2 Dean Hopp, 3 Raoul Larson; 4 Grant le Roux, 5 Lubabalo Mtyanda; 6 Shaun Raubenheimer, 7 Lyndon Hartnick (captain), 8 Michael Vermaak

Replacements: 16 Wayne Khan, 17 Anton van der Westhuizen, 18 Hein Potgieter, 19 Buran Parks; 20 Mzo Dyantyi, 21 Jeffrey Taljard, 22 Kempie Rautenbach

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Date: Saturday the 17th of March
Venue: AF Markötter Stadium, Paul Roos Gymnasium, Stellenbosch
Kickoff: 16:00 (Local Time), 14:00 (GMT), 11:00 (Argentina Time)