Released Pumas Sevens quintet lighting up Super Rugby Americas

Argentina’s success on the HSBC SVNS World Series stage is rubbing off on the South American game, with five of their stars released to join their Super Rugby Americas sides, already making their presence felt across the competition.

The Pumas Sevens program has undergone rapid change over the last three years. The men’s side have topped the league in the last two years, while the women’s side currently leads the SVNS 2 competition, and are on the verge of joining the men in the World Series.

The men’s side has brought in new blood for the 2025-26 series in Eliseo Morales, Sebastián Dubuc, Valentín Maldonado, Martiniano Arrieta and Juan Batac.

Maldonado is a recent U20s graduate, while Dubuc and Batac were among the Argentine’s most impressive stars at the Pan American games.

Arrieta earned four Super Rugby Americas caps for new side Tarucas in 2025, the winger also scoring a try against New Zealand U20s before injury sidelined him for the World Championship.

All five debutants have retained their positions in the side, having been named in Los Pumas Sevens squad for the final fortnight of the regular season in Vancouver and New York.

However, the cross-pollination between the Pumas Sevens program and its new fifteens competition is set to grow in 2026, with five more players released to join three of Argentina’s franchises.

Tobias Wade, Alejo Lavayen and Agustin Fraga are set to link up with Buenos Aires’ side Pampas XV, while Tomas Elizalde will join Tarucas and Facundo Pueyrredon in the lineup for Dogos XV.

Wade has already impressed for Pampas, starring in their two-point loss against the Dogos XV and being named in the team of the week, while Lavayen and Fraga have transitioned into the longer format in scrumhalf and centre, respectively.

In addition to Sevens, Wade and Fraga have also been on the radar of the national side, being called into training camps by Los Pumas coach Felipe Contepomi.

Elizalde, meanwhile, has started on the wing for Tarucas, building a regular partnership with Pumas centre Matías Orlando.

Pueyrredon has linked up on the wing with former Benneton star Giuliano Avaca, Jaguares alumni Agustín Segura and recent Pumas debutant Faustino Sánchez Valarolo, who played against the British & Irish Lions and Uruguay in 2025.

Argentina will face a difficult pool campaign in the Vancouver SVNS as they look to try and mount a late charge in the final fortnight, drawing Fiji, Australia and France in Pool B.