Argentina Rugby

The Argentina national rugby team is organised by the Argentine Rugby Union (UAR, from the Spanish: Unión Argentina de Rugby). Nicknamed the Pumas (Los Pumas in Spanish), they play in sky blue and white jerseys, Argentina played its first international rugby match in 1910 against a touring British Isles team. As of 12 July 2017 they are ranked 9th in the world by the IRB, making them the highest-ranked nation in the Americas. They have competed at every Rugby World Cup staged since the first tournament of 1987, and the country are considered the strongest within the Americas, being undefeated against all but Canada, against whom they have suffered three losses. Although rugby union in Argentina is not as popular as association football, the Pumas' impressive results since the 1999 World Cup have seen the sport's popularity grow significantly. Argentina has achieved several upset victories, are tough contenders when playing in Buenos Aires, and are capable of regularly defeating Six Nations sides. A surprise victory over the hosts France in the first game of the 2007 World Cup took Argentina to fourth in the IRB World Rankings. The team were undefeated in their pool, and reached the semi-finals for the first time, beating Scotland 19–13 in their quarter-final. They were defeated 37–13 by eventual winners South Africa in the semi-finals, but followed this up with a second win over France to claim third place overall. By the end of the competition, the team had reached an all-time high of third in the World Rankings. After their advances in competitiveness and performance during the 2000s, coupled with their location in the Southern Hemisphere, Argentina was the only tier 1 nation that had no regular competition, and some, among them former Pumas captain Agustín Pichot, had even spoken of them joining the Six Nations. Argentina officially joined The Rugby Championship in a meeting in Buenos Aires on November 23, 2011. In their first tournament in 2012, Argentina secured a 16–16 draw with The Springboks in only their second game. The 2014 Rugby Championship saw the first Championship-match win for Argentina who defeated Australia 21–17. 2015 proved to be a very successful year for Argentine rugby, as the last match of the 2015 Rugby Championship was Argentina's first ever win over South Africa, where the Pumas defeated the Springboks 37–25 in Durban, and they reached another semifinal at the 2015 Rugby World Cup. In the 2016 Rugby Championship, the Pumas split the first two games with the Springboks, winning the second game 26-24 at Salta on August 27, 2016. While they were winless during the 2017 Rugby Championship, the Pumas achieved two wins in their 2018 campaign, defeating both South Africa and Australia for the first time in a single calendar year.