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Test exile over for Creevy as Cheika names first Argentina squad

By Liam Heagney

01 Jun 2022

(Photo by Daniel Jayo/Getty Images)

Veteran Agustin Creevy has had his wish granted regarding a Test level recall as new Argentina coach Michael Cheika has named the 89-cap hooker in a 33-man squad for the upcoming home series versus Scotland. The 37-year-old, who last represented his country at the 2019 World Cup in Japan, had never given up hope of getting another look-in and he has now earned selection with Cheika succeeding Mario Ledesma as boss.

It was October 2021 when Creevy sent Ledesma a message via RugbyPass when asked if was now officially retired from the international scene. “No, no, no, I would like to play but at the moment the coaches have other priorities. I don’t know. You need to ask them.”

Frech from a stellar season at London Irish where he scored 14 tries in 21 Gallagher Premiership appearances and another four tries in four Challenge Cup games, Cheika has now summoned Creevy to Argentina for the three-match July series versus the touring Scots.

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“I’m very satisfied with our first squad for the Los Pumas season,” said Cheika after naming a squad containing two uncapped players, Velez Bazan and Ignacio Ruiz. “There was great competition for each of the positions and in our discussions about each player selection, we have taken into account both the series of matches with Scotland and the long-term plans towards the 2023 World Cup.

“With this goal in mind, the designation we made of players to put together the Argentina XV squad for the tour of Europe is also very important for us. All this will give us the opportunity to see the 60 best players in Argentina playing at a high level. What is also valuable for everyone is that we will be able to see the Los Pumas jersey again on Argentine grounds after almost three years.

Creevy is one of three London Irish players selected as Lucio Cinti and Juan Martin Gonzalez were also included, while Facundo Gigena was named in the Argentina XV squad. Los Pumas face Scotland at home on three successive Saturdays in July while the XV has away games scheduled versus Georgia and Portugal.

Argentina squad (vs Scotland)
ALEMANNO, Matías (73 caps)
BAZÁN VÉLEZ, Lautaro (0 caps)
BOFFELLI, Emiliano (38 caps)
BRUNI, Rodrigo (14 caps)
CARRERAS, Santiago (19 caps)
CHOCOBARES, Santiago (11 caps)
CINTI, Lucio (7 caps)
CORDERO, Santiago (44 caps)
CREEVY, Agustín (89 caps)
CUBELLI, Tomás (82 caps)
DE LA FUENTE, Jerónimo (65 caps)
DELGUY, Bautista (22 caps)
GALLO, Thomas (4 caps)
GARCÍA, Gonzalo (3 caps)
GÓMEZ KODELA, Francisco (11 caps)
GONZÁLEZ, Juan Martín (8 caps)
GRONDONA, Santiago (6 caps)
IMHOFF, Juan (37 caps)
ISA, Facundo (37 caps)
KREMER, Marcos (44 caps)
LAVANINI, Tomás (68 caps)
MALLÍA, Juan Cruz (13 caps)
MATERA, Pablo (80 caps)
MONTOYA, Julián (captain – 75 caps)
ORLANDO, Matías (47 caps)
PAULOS, Lucas (5 caps)
PETTI, Guido (66 caps)
RUIZ, Ignacio (0 caps)
SÁNCHEZ, Nicolás (93 caps)
SCLAVI, Joel (0 caps)
TETAZ CHAPARRO, Nahuel (67 caps)
URDAPILLETA, Benjamín (16 caps)
VIVAS, Mayco (12 caps)

Argentina XV (Summer tour squad)
Tomás Albornoz (Benetton Treviso)
Bautista Bernasconi (CASI)
Manuel Bernstein (Ateneo Inmaculada –CRAI–)
Gonzalo Bertranou (Newport Dragons)
Martín Bogado (Jockey Club Córdoba)
Facundo Bosch (Stade Rochelais)
Ignacio Calles (Section Paloise)
Sebastián Cancelliere (Glasgow Warriors)
Mateo Carreras (Newcastle Falcons)
Facundo Cordero (Exeter Chiefs)
Javier Coronel (Universitario de La Plata)
Tomás Cubilla (Alumni)
Julián Domínguez (Austin Gilgronis)
Rodrigo Fernández Criado (Belgrano)
Facundo Gigena (London Irish)
Jerónimo Gómez Vara (Rosario)
Francisco Gorrissen (captain, Vannes)
Federico Lavanini (Hindú/Cafeteros Pro)
Tomás Lezana (Scarlets)
Santiago Medrano (Western Force/Worcester)
Lucas Mensa (Stade Montois)
Franco Molina (Jockey Club Córdoba/Selknam)
Eliseo Morales (Universitario de Salta/Cafeteros Pro)
Matías Moroni (Leicester Tigers)
Joaquín Oviedo (Perpignan)
Enrique Pieretto (Glasgow Warriors)
Gerónimo Prisciantelli (CASI/Jaguares XV)
Santiago Ruiz (Regatas Bella Vista)
Agustín Segura (Jockey Club Córdoba)
Santiago Socino (Gloucester)

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Comments on RugbyPass

GrahamVF 11 minutes ago

'Not a normal rugby team' - The Leinster flex that floored Jake White

Yea - your dislike for South Africans must make you feel sick. We are the only nation ever to hold the RWC and WTC trophy simultaneously - oh and throw in the 7’s title for good measure. You are welcome to your sickly existence in. whatever pothoie you call home.

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JW 18 minutes ago

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Planet Rugby’s is not really a rating, it is more of a ‘most relevant category’ type system. 4 means he made errors, that was the thing that stood out, where is for this author it still might have been the strength of his d and carry he thought was really important. Eg, both ratings can be valid at the same time.

27 Go to comments

Cantab 24 minutes ago

Will Jordan on the ‘important’ aerial duel with Barrett’s kicking game

He will be just as vital against the Chiefs this week especially as it seems likely they may be without Stevenson through concussion protocol. He is also Crusaders most penetrative back as well as a key defender against DMac and his kicking game.

11 Go to comments

JW 28 minutes ago

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Haha yeah, he’s got a style made for an England backline (or perhaps a Jacques Nienaber backline!) all safety no enterprise, several times choosing not to risk a pass inside the 22 (and elsewhere) and taking contact instead.

He might limit your teams scoring again Japan but he’d be exactly what most teams want in a WC final.

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BA 30 minutes ago

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Yea bro for sure …just reckon he could do with adding some soft skills around like pass catch and a little bit of footwork Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone

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Icefarrow 34 minutes ago

'Not a normal rugby team' - The Leinster flex that floored Jake White

Always new excuses from White, but the same old choking. Brumbies, Sharks, and Bulls can all attest to that.

3 Go to comments

JW 36 minutes ago

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Yeah I don’t really think Blackadder was being a grub (he’s just slow and cumbersome, trying to join the disintegrating maul), but we have known Barrett to do the occasional thing and of course we (the players, todays players) should have all learnt from Whitelocks brain explosion at the WC. A lot of teams/players are better these days, as you say, but then just like the plethora of Springboks and other teams players getting red cards in domestic footy just after they had been praised for their discipline leading upto and during the last WC, we had a Leinster player do just the same thing as Sotutu to a Bulls player this morning and all anyone talked about was the Bulls hand slipping from the opponents chest to his chin, and they also gave him a yellow card, basically for falling over in a scuffle!

Look, don’t get me wrong, I think SRP stance of not tolerating any retaliation is the better way to go, but it’s nonsense to think it would normally require discipline (it was made to be worse by Blackadder ducking Tava’o’s slap across the face at the same time) and that it’s the standard for international players.

27 Go to comments

JW 53 minutes ago

Will Jordan on the ‘important’ aerial duel with Barrett’s kicking game

He was pretty flawless in the air all right. Tele’a gave him a good run for his money for a while then the Blues lost shape and some possession I think, kick accuracy/contestability.

As I said in another post, he was always going to be the key point of difference, and it was pretty predictable how he was the one reeking havoc. I was really disappointed Foster removed him, and contestable kicks in general, as a weapon after he got carded against France. We put South Africa under huge pressure at Mt Smart with high kicks but they were none existent for the rest of the WC due to the lottery they can be (which like not risking having only one or two back subs, was not a smart or statistically sound choice).

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GrahamVF 55 minutes ago

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South Africa is producing a slew of world class coaches.

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Cantab 59 minutes ago

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The Brumbies actually played well enough to worry the Chiefs and exposed a couple of areas that the Crusaders may well be able to exploit in the final.

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Cantab 1 hour ago

Will Jordan on the ‘important’ aerial duel with Barrett’s kicking game

May the Force be with him!!!!

11 Go to comments

JW 1 hour ago

Will Jordan on the ‘important’ aerial duel with Barrett’s kicking game

He has been, yep, but he took a step back and allowed Fihaki (who hasn’t been there a lot of the time) to provide most of the extra kicking, Havili too I think, as I noticed that Jordan had only the one kick to his name this game.

So from an AB perspective that is a bit disappointing, as I don’t think he’s going to have someone to do it for him, but I’m really happy with the frequency he runs it back instead anyway.

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GrahamVF 1 hour ago

'Not a normal rugby team' - The Leinster flex that floored Jake White

Well played Leinster. An amazing match. Surely Leinster are the best club in the world. Can’t understand how they can’t beat the top French clubs. Certainly there is no club in SH rugby that could live with them.

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JW 1 hour ago

Will Jordan on the ‘important’ aerial duel with Barrett’s kicking game

Very, Tinny.

Or Jedi powers to force PT to the side so he glide over the line.

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Cantab 1 hour ago

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Nothing would suit the Crusaders better than to be regarded as the underdogs. The Chiefs did beat them convincingly in their two earlier meetings but it should be noted that the Crusaders did lead in both games before fading badly in the 2nd half. Expect them to be competitive for the full 80 minutes this time round which would mean a close match is in prospect.

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JW 1 hour ago

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Yeah nar, but that’s kinda the thing, I don’t think the old approach was working either!

You might have it right though, leading up, in all rugby/competitions mean, to the last WC it did feel like there had been better discipline/less than the normal amount of cards. Well, at least a certain demographic of teams improved at least, but not so much NZ ones is my point.

I bet you also think going harsher would be the best way to go reducing head contact and the frequency of concussions?

I would hate to have your theory tested as it requires subjective thinking from the officials but..

AI Overview
In Super Rugby Pacific, a red card means the player is sent off for the rest of the match, but with a 20-minute red card, the team can replace the player after 20 minutes of playing with 14 men. If the foul play is deemed deliberate and with a high degree of danger, a full red card is issued, and the player cannot be replaced. A second yellow card also results in a 20-minute red card with a replacement allowed.

is there to stop that from happening. The whole subjective thing is why we have 20min cards, and I worry that the same leniency that stopped them from red carding a player who ran 30 meters and still didn’t get his head low enough would stop them straight redn them too.

Back to the real topic though, right after that WC we saw those same angles getting red carded all over the show. So do some players actually have control over their actions enough to avoid head collisions (and didn’t gaf after the WC?), or was it pure luck or an imaginary period of good discipline?

So without a crystal ball to know the truth of it I think you’ll find it an immeasurably better product with 20m red cards, there just does not appear to be any appropriate amount of discipline added to the back end, the suspensions (likely controlled by WR), yet.

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John 1 hour ago

The inches the Brumbies must win to buck the trend of semi-final crash outs

I agree, when he comes back from Chiefs in the Prem he will be a monster and a hardened player ready for the tussle in 2027.

12 Go to comments

John 1 hour ago

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Can you imagine Samisoni in that Brums’ frontrow, Pollard is good but the bulk of Samisoni would be epic, cause their scrum looks strong for another 60 minutes last night.

It was tough losing Lolesio early for the Brums, it ruined their systems and flow.

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John 1 hour ago

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