Argentina Squad for June

Santiago ´Tati´ Phelan

The UAR´s announcement of the first senior squad for 2012 took place yesterday afternoon. It was highlighted by the inclusion of the veteran pair of loosehead prop Rodrigo Roncero and flyhalf and captain Felipe Contepomi, veterans of four Rugby World Cup´s. Both players are not going to be playing for their country after 2012. Their selection, however, was more about experience than anything else as Santiago Phelan named a squad than can be described as nothing other than under strength. Phelan has rested World Cup players with Contepomi and Roncero only being joined by Julio Farías Cabello, Genaro Fessia, Agustín Gozio and Leonardo Senatore to give Los Pumas just six players from the squad that competed at Rugby World Cup 2011.
     
In place of the European professionals, Phelan has taken the bold step of naming 16 players from Los Pampas XV. No players from the play-offs of the Top 14 and the Aviva Premiership have been included which would appear to reflect the negotiations between the UAR and European clubs to not over play players. It also creates a problem, however, with players participating in The Rugby Championship sseemingly entering the international season without playing other tests. Martín Bustos Moyano, for instance remains a strong contender to be Argentina´s starting winger despite only having ever played one international four years ago. While he has been let out due to the Top 14 barrage, Phelan has gone for Top 14 players from Agen, Biarritz, Brive and Stade Français as well as Aviva Premiership players from Exeter, the Harlequins and Sale. The most notable inclusion being Ignacio Mieres who had a tremendous season at flyhalf for Exeter seeing the club qualify for the 2012-2013 Heineken Cup. He now looks set to form a 10-12 combination with Felipe Contepomi and is likely to also be the goalkicker. The pair are likely to be backed up by Benjamin Urdapilleta who played in the centre for the Harlequins over the past two seasons.

But, not all players from outside the leading Top 14 sides have been selected. While Contepomi is in there is no Marcelo Bosch or Martín Rodríguez Gurruchaga with the World Cup pair both being rested ahead of The Rugby Championship. Neither Biarritz not Stade Français will compete in the Top 14 play-offs which suggests firmly that the June internationals should indeed be the end of the road for Contepomi who is set to pass the torch. Of course, Phelan could very well make changes during June to field an entirely different team for the French tests. However, neither Italy nor France will be at full strength, suggesting that the squad Phelan has named is actually not as weak as it may appear to be. To the contrary, the June tests are going to be far from what they could be.

Curiously there is no place in the squad for Brive scrumhalf Agustín Figuerola, Bordeaux winger Rafael Carballo or Agen centre Miguel Avramovic. The non-selection of these players appears to suggest that their international careers are over with Phelan opting to give high-performance players a chance to shine with the impressive Tomás Cubelli likely to be the starting scrumhalf and both Gabriel Ascárate and Matías Orlando picked ahead of Avramovic. The make up of the squad also suggests that Los Pampas XV captain, Julio Farías Cabello is now considered a secondrower rather than a backrower. He should start in the number 4 shirt. 

Suggested XV to face Italy:
15 Joaquín Tuculet
14 Belisario Agulla
13 Agustín Gozio
12 Felipe Contepomi
11 Manuel Montero
10 Ignacio Mieres
9 Tomás Cubelli
8 Leonardo Senatore
7 Tomás de la Vega
6 Tomás Leonardi
5 Santiago Guzmán
4 Julio Farías Cabello
3 Francisco Gómez Kodela
2 Andrés Bordoy
1 Rodrigo Roncero

Bench: 16 Bruno Postiglioni, 17 Francisco Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 18 Rodrigo Baez, 19 Genaro Fessia, 20 Martín Landajo, 21 Benjamin Urdapilleta, 22 Gabriel Ascárate

The clash vs Italy will take place in San Juan on Saturday June 09 and will  be followed by two matches against France on the two subsequent Saturday´s. The first taking place in Córdoba and the second in Tucumán. 

29 Man Pumas Squad

Belisario Agulla (Agen, France)
Gabriel Ascárate (Los Pampas XV)
Rodrigo Báez (Los Pampas XV)
Facundo Barrea (Los Pampas XV)
Andrés Bordoy (Pau, France)
Rodrigo Bruno (Los Pampas XV)
Felipe Contepomi (Stade Français, France)
Tomás Cubelli (Los Pampas XV)

Tomás de la Vega (Los Pampas XV)
Julio Farías Cabello (Los Pampas XV)
Genaro Fessia (Los Pampas XV)
Francisco Gómez Kodela (Biarritz, France)
Agustín Gozio (London Scottish, England)
Eusebio Guiñazú (Biarritz, France)

Santiago Guzmán (Los Pampas XV)

Pablo Henn (Brive, France)

Martín Landajo (Los Pampas XV)

Tomás Leonardi (Los Pampas XV)

Benjamin Macome (Los Pampas XV)

Ignacio Mieres (Exeter Chiefs, England)

Román Miralles (Los Pampas XV)

Manuel Montero (Los Pampas XV)

Matías Orlando (Los Pampas XV)

Bruno Postiglioni (Los Pampas XV)

Rodrigo Roncero (Stade Français, France)

Leonardo Senatore (Los Pampas XV)

Francisco Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro (Stade Français, France)

Joaquín Tuculet (Sale Sharks, England)
 Benjamin Urdapilleta  (Harlequins, England)

Update on players from the Americas for 2012/2013

Here is a roundup on the futures of the Argentines and other players from the Americas next season.

Gonzalo Tiesi has had a season
plagued with serious injuries and
has been released by Stade Français

Gonzalo Tiesi has had an enormously injury disrupted season, after getting injured during Argentina's opening match at the World Cup in New Zealand he was ruled out for the remainder of the tournament, he returned in November in the Amlin Challenge Cup to play his only match of the season for Stade Français, only to get back injured again.

He has been released by Stade for next season, and the 27 year old centre looks to be out of the equation regarding Pumas selection for this season due to injuries and lack of game time, and is now looking for a new club, which may be hard to find until he proves his fitness.

Belgian born Argentine lock Esteban Lozada was named on the list of departures from Edinburgh recently, and is going to join Agen, another Argentine on their list of departures was 36 year old prop Ulyses Gamboa who was never expected to stay long with them anyway.

Versatile back Matías Viazzo, previously a centre but now a scrum half or fly half, has left Tarbes after one season and re-joined financially troubled Bourgoin after just one season away from them. However Tarbes are bringing in another Argentine, in prop Carlos Muzzio from Fédérale 1 side Vannes.

The Chilean lock Pablo Huete who was signed last season for the Castres Espoirs squad, hasn't got a minute of action this season, and has left for Pau, who are currently third in Pro D2, and Huete should get more game time there. Another Chilean Francisco de la Fuente has left Auch after being sparsely used this season, just playing 98 minutes. The lack of game time for these two players must be considered a disappointment for Chilean rugby.

The all time most capped USA player, Mike MacDonald has left Leeds after seven years with the club, Leeds announced a mass clearout which also includes Americans scrum half Robbie Shaw after failing to achieve promotion back to the Premiership this season.

Confirmed movements for 2012-13 so far

Argentines
Carlos Muzzio, prop, Vannes (Fédérale 1) to Tarbes (Pro D2)
Ulyses Gamboa, prop, Edinburgh (Rabo Pro12) released
Guillermo Roan, prop, Wasps (Aviva Premiership) released (looking for a team in Pro D2)
Rodrigo Roncero, prop, Stade Français (Top 14), retired (unconfirmed whether he will play in the inaugural Rugby Championship)
Esteban Lozada, lock, Edinburgh (Rabo Pro12) to Agen (Top 14)
Leandro Cédaro, lock, Mont-de-Marsan (Pro D2) to La Rochelle (Pro D2)
Manuel Carizza, lock, Biarritz (Top 14) released (is rumoured to have interest from the Scarlets and also from some Super Rugby sides)
Matías Viazzo, fly half, Tarbes (Pro D2) to Bourgoin (Pro D2)
Benjamín Urdapilleta, centre, Harlequins (Aviva Premiership) to Oyonnax (Pro D2)
Gonzalo Tiesi, centre, Stade Français (Top 14) released
Horacio Agulla, wing, Leicester (Aviva Premiership) released
Agustín Gosio, wing, London Scottish (Championship) released (had an offer from the Cornish Pirates but rejected it)

Americans
Mike MacDonald, prop, Leeds (Championship) released
Hayden Smith, lock, Saracens (Aviva Premiership) to New York Jets (NFL)
Todd Clever, flanker, Suntory Sungoliath (Top League) to NTT Shining Arcs (Top League)
Robbie Shaw, scrum half, Leeds (Championship) released
Kevin Swiryn, wing, Agen (Top 14) retired

Canadians
Chauncey O'Toole, flanker, Ospreys (Rabo Pro12) released
Connor McCann, fly half, Ontario Blues (Canadian Rugby Championship) to Clermont Espoirs (Top 14)

Chileans
Pablo Huete, lock, Castres Espoirs (Top 14) to Pau (Pro D2)
Francisco de la Fuente, centre, Auch (Pro D2) released

An update on the situation of Horacio Agulla

Despite having a fantastic season
with Leicester, Horacio Agulla has
been given zero chance by coach
Richard Cockerill of a negotiation
for a new deal for next season

Meanwhile despite some immense form from Horacio Agulla, who has won over many critics, and fans (there is a Facebook campaign for him to stay at Leicester) won player of the season at Leicester, and has been admired as one the best wingers of the season in the Premiership, a position that Argentina now have the luxury of having a back three of Imhoff, Agulla and Amorosino containing three players who are amongst the best in their leagues, never before has Argentina had such depth in their wingers.

The continued form of Agulla made people think it was possible he could negotiate a new deal with Leicester who have said they no longer want him, due to unavailability whilst with Argentina.

however that was just speculation and the Leicester coach Richard Cockerill (the idiot who totally ignored Amorosino for two years) ended it confirming there would be no new deal and hit out at the Argentine governing body (the UAR), saying  "The Argentine Rugby Union have not helped their players and have just thought that the (northern hemisphere) clubs would subsidise their players from June to December, they are going to have difficulties because, I imagine, only the top French clubs could afford to do that."

However I can't imagine Agulla on current form will have many difficulties finding a new club.

Stade Français pay tribute to Rodrigo Roncero

The loss of Rodrigo Roncero to global rugby is comparable to reent retirement of Welsh Wizard Shane Williams or South Africa´s Victor Matfield. Such is the talents of Roncero who had the drafts of loosehead prop play understood perfectly and was extremely well regarded and respected by the global rugby public. However, the true measure of a player is often not what is seen on tv but what occurs behind the scenes. The off-field things which usually never get revealed. It is the respect that ones teammates have for a player which are at the heart of the true values of rugby and Roncero was respected by his peers in the highest regard. 

The following video was posted on the official site of Stade Français. Merci Rorro!

Merci Rodrigo Roncero - Stade TV
 Les joueurs ont tenu à remercier Rodrigo Roncero pour l'ensemble de sa carrière au Stade Français Paris.

Mots-clés : stade français paris rugby hommages messages rodrigo roncero

Video de adminstade

Merci Rodrigo Roncero - Stade TV

Rodrigo Roncero scores in final appearance in Paris

Roncero leaves with captain Parisse for the last time in Paris. rugbyrama.fr

The professional future of Rodrigo Roncero is coming to a close. This season will be his last as a professional and appropriately he scored the first try of the match for Stade Français vs Perpignan in Paris on Saturday. The try was scored from an overthrown Perpignan lineout which Roncero caught and dived over to the delight of his teammates. Fellow Argentine internationals, Martín Rodríguez Gurruchaga and Felipe Contepomi were quick to congratulate him as was the Argentine-Italian, Sergio Parisse but it was a try celebrated by all Stade Français players and supporters. Coach Michael Cheika was ful of compliments before and after the match and was wearing a Merci Rorro t-shirt during the match to pay tribute to the 35 year old Puma.

Having played for the Parisian club since 2004, Roncero is now to return to Buenos Aires to raise his three daughters and to take up a career as a doctor. In Rocnero´s postmatch interview he was very emotional as held his two year old daughter and had his two elder daughters either side of him. Roncdro´s eight year stay in France has seen him win the French Championship with the dominant Stade Français team in 2006-2007. He was considered the best prop of Rugby World Cup 2007 and many also considered him to still be the best around in 2011. While his club future will end in May, unless Stade Français qualify for the Top 14 Orange Final, his international future remains unknown. In an interview with espnscrum Roncero said he will be talking with coach Santiago Phelan over the coming days to confirm whether or not he will play in The Rugby Championship. The same site also posted an interview with Roncero who talked (in Spanish) about his career in Paris.

French Top 14 - Round 24 Wrap

Rodrigo Roncero scores for Stade Français stade.fr

Round 24 of the 2012-2013 French Top 14 confirmed Lyon OU´s relegation back to the Pro d2 after the club lost its bottom of the table clash with Bayonne. The result means France´s second largest city´s stay in the elite of French rugby has been restricted to a single season. It is not yet clear as to which team will be joining Lyon OU in the second division next season but it would appear to be either Bayonne or Brive as the two clubs are tied on 42 points, with both Perpignan and Bordeaux-Begles three points ahead in the standings.  The two remaining rounds are going to be highly nervous times for these clubs with a key match taking place between Brive and Bordeaux-Begles. Bayonne have the tough prospect of facing Agen and then Castres in its final two matches. The highest likelihood would therefore be that Bayonne will be the team joining Lyon in the Pro d2. There is also the remote possibility that any team from the eighth ranked Agen to teams with fewer points being relegated as Bayonne and Brive could both win up to ten points from their remaining matches. 

Clermont 22-9 Montpellier

Yet another home win for the central French side sees Clermont go into its Heineken Cup Semi Final next weekend with confidence. Clermont will take on Irish province, Leinster in Bordeaux with the winner to face either Ulster or Edinburgh for Europe´s ultimate prize in Twickenham in May. Both Clermont and Montpellier were forced to field some second choice players. Clermont was without captain Aurelin Rougerie, Julien Malzieu and Canada´s Jamie Cudmore. Montpellier was missing François Trinh-Duc and  Georgia´s Mamuka Gorgodze. for the match Santiago Fernández played flyhalf rather than inside centre and left the field injured in the secondhalf. He had kicked two penalties after taking over the duties from Martín Bustos Moyano who after kicking an early penalty was also forced from the field with an injury. A third Argentine back started in the line with Lucas González Amorosino playing fullback. Montpellier´s three Pumas frontrowers also recieved game time with Agustín Creevy starting at hooker and Juan Figallo at loosehead prop. Maximilano Bustos came on at tighthead prop in the 62nd minute. USA centre, Seta Tuiveluka is set to return to the team shortly. He got married this weekend!

Bordeaux-Begles 29-15 Agen

A vital win in this derby match could well prove the difference for Bordeaux-Begles as the club has come to be threatened with relegation again following Bayonne´s surprizing two wins over the past two weeks. The club responded well by playing its best match in quite some time to score a bonus point win. Two former Pumas back featured in this match with Rafael Carballo playing the full 80 minutes on the right wing for Bordeaux-Begles and Miguel Avramovic coming off the bench in the 47th minute for Agen to play in the centres. Both are possibilities for Argentina in The Rugby Championship as injury covering players.

Lyon 19-20 Bayonne

Lyon never should have lost this match. Incredibly, Lyon held a 19-7 lead at halftime and failed to score a point after the interval. The teams lack of a quality flyhalf had a lot to do with the downfall of Lyon but the season has been a learning curve and the club should return to the Top 14 stronger after recruiting better players. The club has already confirmed the arrival of Sebastien Chabal. he is not the player he once was but he is certain to be highly influencial in the locker room. The match featured Argentine backrower, Juan Manuel Leguizamón who played the full 80 minutes for Lyon in the 8 shirt.

Stade Français 35-31 Perpignan

Stade Français gave a perfect home send-off to the long time serving loosehead prop, Rodrigo Roncero. The 35 year old turned down an offer to extend his contract with the club to instead return home to Argentina with his wife to raise his three daughters. It also appears that he will retire from all rugby, handing the Argentine number 1 shirt to Marcus Ayerza of Leicester. Roncero scored the first try of the match, going over in the 29th minute after he caught a Perpignan lineout which was overthrown. He was joined by his international captain, Felipe Contepomi who continued his 10-12 partnership with Martín Rodríguez Gurruchaga. All three started with Roncero being replaced in the 78th minute. The USA also had a player involved for the Parisians with Scott LaValla playing the final five minutes. The Argentine-Italian, Sergio Parisse played in the backrow too. At the start of the match Roncero and Dimitri Szarzewski entered the fieled together, both playing for the final time in a ome Stade Français match.

Toulouse 30-21 Brive

Brive had been leading 18-15 at half time and looking the goods for a victory but Toulouseps goalkicking got the underperfoming French powerhouses home in the end and prevented Brive from collecting a bonus point. As such Brive are now facing the reality of being relegated The club now must defeat Bordeaux-Begles next round or hope for a miracle away victory over Clermont in the final round. A strong candidate for the Pumas captaincy, Patricio Albacete put in another solid showing as he played the full 80 minutes in the secondrow for Toulouse. Pumas scrumhalf, Nicolás Vergallo did not feature for Toulouse and the chance of him facing his Argentine rival, Agustín Figuerola did not eventuate as Brive also left him outside of the match day 23. Former Pumas loosehead prop, Pablo Henn returned to start in the frontrow for Brive. The result means Toulouse and Clermont are confirmed in the Semi Finals and will have a bye round during the barrage play-off´s 

Biarritz 22-13 Racing Métro

After Racing Métro scored a try in the 52nd minute it looked as though this was going to be a Parisian victory. The relegation threatened Biarritz side dug deep, however, as the Basque side responded with a dropgoal to Damien Traille and the returning Marcelo Bosch then sealed the match with a perfect long pass to the USA´s  Taku Ngwenya in the 71st minute. Bosch came on as a replacement for Biarritz and played the final quarter of the contest. Ngwenya started and was playing against Argentine winger, Juan Imhoff. The battle of the two speedsters was interesting with Ngwenya having to, on two occassions in the second half, use all his speed to stop Imhoff from what would have otherwise been tries. Francisco Gomez Kodela continues to look more and more like a Puma as he played the full match at tighthead prop for Biarritz and was impressive at scrum time. The Argentine pair of Manuel Carizza and Eusebio Guiñazú were both unused from the bench for Biarritz. Racing Métro had five Argentine players with Imhoff being joined in the backs by Juan Martín Hernández who played the full 80 minutes at flyhalf. El Mago was let down by his inside centre as Fabrice Estebanez had a poor showing. Juan Orlandi came on in the 66th minute to play tighthead prop for the Parisians while Alvaro Galindo was a 60th minute replacement in the backrow.  The Argentine-Italian Santiago Dellapé started in the secondrow. 

Toulon 25-25 Castres
A strange performance from the home team may allowed Castres to collect a draw from this match and as such complicate matters greatly for Stade Français. Toulon had been leading the match 25-6 and looked in firm control but the team´s star imports failed to deliver and despite scoring three tries to one Castres managed to fight back to collect a draw as the Scotland of French rugby did it again. Jonny Wilkinson had a lot to do with Toulon´s failure as he landed only 4 of his 7 attempts at goal, missing a simple penalty for his tandards late in the match which would have meant a Toulon victory. The draw puts Castres on 61 points, two ahead of Racing Métro in 6th place and four points ahead of Stade Français. With only the top six making the play-off´s it would appear that Castres are now safe but the club faces Clermont next round. Los Pumas´ backrower, Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe continues his come back from knee surgery and came on in the 54th minute for Toulon. Uruguay´s Rodrigo Capó Ortega did not feature for Castres.

Top 14 Orange Standings
1 Clermont 82
2 Toulouse 82
3 Toulon 65
4 Montpellier 62
6 Castres 61
6 Racing Métro 59
7 Stade Français 57
8 Agen 48
9 Biarritz 47
10 Bordeaux 45
11 Perpignan 45 
12 Brive 42
13 Bayonne 42
14 Lyon 31

* Play-off´s spots
* Threatened with relegation
* Relegation confirmed

Clermont vs Montpellier

ASM-Montpellier : Le Résumé por asm

Agen Tries (Bordeaux-Begles vs Agen)


Stade Français vs Perpignan

Résumé du match Stade Français USAP Avril 2012 por USAP_Communication

Toulouse vs Brive


Toulon vs Castres

Résumé Toulon-Castres por rctoulon

The Rugby Championship Players to Watch - Rodrigo Roncero

It is hard to find a more respected loosehead prop than Rodrigo Roncero. With a professional career spanning more than a decade, the 35 year old veteran is the last remaining member of the acclaimed frontrow that took Argentina to the Bronze Medal at Rugby World Cup 2007. His combination with Mario Ledesma and Omar Hasan was not only the leading frontrow of the tournament but the best of a generation. It was re-enforced significantly with Martín Scelzo and Marcos Ayerza both avaliable as replacements. The scrum that set the platform for Agustín Pichot and Juan Martín Hernández to run their magic at France 2007 had Roncero as a key component. He was not, however a long time starter for the team despite having had made his test debut in 1998. The depth of Argentine rugby in the frontrow was so strong that Roncero had only become a regular in 2004, six years after his test debut vs Japan. 

Roncero playing for Gloucester

His inernational debut was a good one with Argentina defeating Japan 44-29 in Tokyo. It was a one off appearance for Roncero, however, as his next appearance in international colors was four years latter as he was recalled to face Uruguay, Paraguay and Chile. He scored his first test try vs Chile. One year earlier, Roncero had become a professional player as he was signed from Buenos Aires´ Deportiva Francesca to play in England for Gloucester. His two year deal saw him make a name for himself and earn his place in Argentina´s squad for Rugby World Cup 2003. Before the tournament, he played one warm up match, in which Argentina defeated Fiji and had a memorable performance as he dominated his opponents and scored two tries in the 49-30 win at Córdoba. He played vs Namibia and Romania in Australia 2003 but was not selected for the key matches vs Australia and Ireland. 

Roncero for Stade Français

The following year saw momentous changes in Roncero´s career as he moved to France to play for Stade Français and became Argentina´s leading loosehead prop. He started tests vs France, Ireland, New Zealand and Wales with the key being Los Pumas´s victory in Marseilles which marked France´s first ever loss in the city. He has since held the position down as his own only rarely being replaced by Leicester and England´s leading loosehead prop, Marcos Ayerza. The strong competition from Ayerza only served for Roncero to ensure he continued to perform well. Ayerza put in a strong performance in Argentina´s history making 25-18 triumph at Twickenham in 2006 with Roncero unavaliable due to a broken jaw. He recovered to come back in better form and after helping Stade Français to the 2007 French Championship title, Roncero left his mark at the World Cup as he started the pool matches vs France, Namibia and Ireland and the knock-out matches vs Scotland, South Africa and France.  

Bronze Final Triumph

Roncero´s performances at Rugby World Cup 2007 earned him plenty of praise with many comentators calling him the best frontrower of the tournament. With Omar Hasan retiring, Roncero´s new partner was Martín Scelzo and the pair together continued the high standards of Pumas scrumaging. Both Roncero and Hasan had been nominated by the IRB as the best props in the history of the Rugby World Cup. Known as the Dream XV, Hasan was voted in by fans worldwide on the social networks of twitter and facebook as the best ever tighthead prop while Roncero was a finalist for loosehead. This reputation was a reminder of his talents and of all the props representing all twenty participants at Rugby World Cup 2011, only Roncero was amongst the nominated players. He went on to start against England, Romania, Scotland and New Zealand, forming a solid frontrow with the young Juan Figallo having been refered to Martín Scelzo.

Now, in his twlight at 35 years of age it is not likely that he will be around for much longer but he is, nonetheless, a player far from needing to be put on the shelf. He is yet to announce his international retirement and is highly likely to play this year for his country in the June Internationals as well as The Rugby Championship. The temptation of playing for Los Pumas in the teams debut season in The Rugby Championship is likely to be too strong for Roncero as the possibility of retirement continues to be a hot topic in Argentine rugby circles. His post-rugby future is known, however, as Roncero is a qualified doctor. 

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