Argentina U20 captain joins senior squad for Tests against All Blacks

Talented second-rower Efrain Elias has been called into Argentina’s senior squad for the first time as Los Pumas prepare to take on the All Blacks in two blockbuster Tests to start their Rugby Championship campaign.

Elias captained Argentina at the recent World Rugby U20s Championship in South Africa and also played a key role in some memorable performances at the U20 Rugby Championship on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia, earlier this year.

The Los Pumitas skipper joins the likes of 101-cap backrower Pablo Matera, veteran Test hooker Julian Montoya, and Argentina enforcers Juan Martin Gonzalez and Marcos Kremer in the 31-man squad to travel to New Zealand.

Argentina are coming off a successful end to their three-match July series which saw them beat France and Uruguay after losing their first Test of the year to Les Bleus. They’ll be looking to extend their winning streak against the All Blacks in Wellington and Auckland.

New Zealand won the last match between the two sides, which was a one-sided semi-final at last year’s Rugby World Cup in France. But fans will of course remember Argentina’s historic 25-18 triumph in Christchurch two years ago.

Head coach Felipe Contepomi has made it clear that the Los Pumas squad may change ahead of Test matches against Australia and Sout Africa. This group is only locked in for the two-Test series against the All Blacks in New Zealand.

“After meeting up with the squad for the three weeks of the July Window, we now have the enormous challenge of starting a new Rugby Championship and continuing to build and evolve as a team” Felipe Contepomi said in a statement.

“For the first two matches with New Zealand we have a list of 31 players, and something important to note  is that this list is not definitive for the rest of the competition, but may be modified as the tournament progresses.

“On the other hand, we want to thank the Argentine public for their enormous support in the first three matches of the year and we are looking forward to meeting again in La Plata, Santa Fe and Santiago del Estero in the coming week.”

Argentina will come up against an All Blacks squad which only includes one uncapped player in the 36-man group. Hurricanes playmaker Ruben Love will hope to debut at international level during the Rugby Championship.

Halfback TJ Perenara has made the grade after suffering a knee injury during the first Test of the year against England, and both Sam Cane and David Havili are among those who have been called into the national side.

The first Test between New Zealand and Argentina at Wellington’s Sky Stadium will be held on Saturday, 10 August. Those same sides with go head-to-head for a second time one week later at Auckland’s Eden Park.

Los Pumas squad to take on the All Blacks

ALBORNOZ, Thomas (8 caps) BAZAN VELEZ, Lautaro (15 caps) BELLO, Eduardo (24 caps) BERTRANOU, Gonzalo (60 caps) BOGADO, Martin (4 caps) BOTH, Matthew (20 caps) BOTH, Santiago (45 caps) CHOCOBARES, Santiago (21 caps) CINTI, Lucio (23 caps) LAMB, Santiago (52 caps) CREEVY, Agustin (108 caps) DELGUY, Bautista (27 caps) ELIAS, Ephraim (Without caps) GALLO, Thomas (26 caps) GARCÍA, Gonzalo (4 caps) GONZALEZ, Juan Martin (31 caps) KREMER, Marcos (67 caps) LAVANINI, Tomás (86 caps) MALLÍA, Juan Cruz (33 caps) MATERA, Pablo (101 caps) MOLINA, Franco (3 caps) MONTOYA, Julian (97 caps) MORONI, Matías (82 caps) ORLANDO, Matías (61 caps) OVIEDO, Joaquín (5 caps) PEDEMONTE, Baptist (1 cap) RUBIOLO, Pedro (12 caps) RUIZ, Ignacio (10 caps) SCLAVI, Joel (18 caps) SORDONI, Lucio (7 caps) VIVAS, Mayco (24 caps)