Los Pumas squad training in northern Argentina before the Australia tests in Jujuy and Mendoza 2026
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Los Pumas Squad vs Australia: The 12 Players English Clubs Did Not Have to Release

ByIgnacio Basaldua

The Los Pumas squad named for Argentina’s two home tests against Australia contains a detail most previews will skip past: Argentina were not entitled to select twelve of these players, and asked for them anyway. Guido Petti, Rodrigo Isgró, Santiago Carreras, Lucio Cinti and eight others are in Jujuy this week because their British clubs agreed to release them — not because any regulation compelled it. Understanding why is the most revealing thing about Argentine rugby in 2026.

Los Pumas squad training in northern Argentina before the Australia tests in Jujuy and Mendoza 2026

Why Argentina Had No Right to Any of These Players

There is no Rugby Championship in 2026. It was cleared from the calendar to accommodate the four-test Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series between South Africa and New Zealand. That decision had a consequence nobody discussed at the time: Argentina’s home tests against Australia on 29 August and 5 September now fall outside World Rugby’s mandatory international release window.

Inside that window, clubs must release contracted internationals. Outside it, they simply do not have to. Which means Felipe Contepomi spent the weeks before this series on the phone, negotiating club by club, player by player, for permission to pick his own national team. Every European or Japanese name in the Los Pumas squad represents an individual negotiation that went Argentina’s way. Every name on the unavailable list represents one that did not.

Inside the Los Pumas Squad: 12 Players From British Clubs

Twelve members of the Los Pumas squad are contracted to clubs in Britain, carrying 395 Argentina caps between them — comfortably the largest single bloc in the squad:

  • Harlequins — Guido Petti (102 caps), Rodrigo Isgró (18), Pedro Delgado (11), Boris Wenger (9)
  • Bristol Bears — Matías Moroni (98), Benjamín Grondona (3)
  • Newcastle Red Bulls — Franco Molina (21), Simón Benítez Cruz (13)
  • Bath — Santiago Carreras (68)
  • Saracens — Lucio Cinti (43)
  • Leicester Tigers — Joaquín Moro (6)
  • Dragons — Rodrigo Martínez (3)

Harlequins alone released four internationals worth 140 caps, in the middle of their own pre-season, five weeks out from the start of the Gallagher Premiership on 25 September. No English club was obliged to do that. Quins did it anyway, and did it at a greater cost than anyone.

Who the Los Pumas Squad Is Missing

The absences tell the other half of the story. Regular captain Julián Montoya (Pau) will not face the Wallabies. Neither will Marcos Kremer (Clermont), Santiago Chocobares (Toulouse), Mateo Carreras (Newcastle Red Bulls), Tomás Albornoz, Matías Alemanno, Bautista Delguy, Gonzalo García, Santiago Grondona, Joaquin Oviedo, Justo Piccardo or Francisco Coria Marchetti.

That is twelve players missing from the Los Pumas squad through club commitments, on top of a separate injury list that removes Emiliano Boffelli, Thomas Gallo, Juan Martín González, Juan Cruz Mallía, Pedro Rubiolo and Joel Sclavi. Argentina face a Wallabies side that has just swept Japan 2-0 without their captain and without most of their first-choice pack.

This Is Not England Against France

It would be easy to read this Los Pumas squad as evidence that French clubs refused to cooperate. The numbers do not support it. Six players were released by Top 14 sides — Mayco Vivas (Oyonnax), Ignacio Ruiz (Perpignan), Tomás Rapetti and Efraín Elías (both Toulouse), Juan Martín Scelzo (Stade Français) and Gerónimo Prisciantelli (Racing 92). Toulouse released two players while keeping a third. Newcastle released two while keeping Mateo Carreras.

The pattern is not national. It is contractual, decided case by case, and it depends entirely on where a given club sits in its own pre-season. That is precisely the problem: a national team’s ability to field its best side should not rest on thirty separate commercial conversations. Until World Rugby delivers a genuine global season, this is the structural reality Argentina live with — and no other tier-one nation pays for it as heavily.

The Domestic Answer: 12 More From Super Rugby Americas

What fills the gap is the part of the Los Pumas squad that should worry Argentina’s rivals. Twelve players come from Super Rugby Americas — Pampas, Dogos, Tarucas and Capibaras — the domestic franchise system built specifically so that Argentina would stop depending on European goodwill. Several are uncapped. Fly-half Nicolás Roger, centre Faustino Sánchez Valarolo and full-back Mateo Soler are the kind of selections that only happen when a coach has no alternative, and the kind that occasionally produce a career.

Flanker Agustín Sarelli and hooker Martín Vaca have been called in on temporary deals after featuring for Argentina XV against the USA in Fort Lauderdale, where Argentina lost 25-24. Pablo Matera (125 caps, Honda Heat) and Mayco Vivas join the group late for personal reasons. See our report on that Argentina XV performance against the Eagles for a look at the players now stepping up.

The Australian Connection

Three players know the Wallabies environment from the inside. Franco Molina, back from the injury he suffered against Wales in July, played for Western Force in Super Rugby Pacific 2026 alongside Agustín Moyano and Leonel Oviedo — both of whom have since signed new deals with the Perth club. Molina is heading the other way, joining Newcastle Red Bulls after a season at Exeter Chiefs in 2024-25. Tomás Lavanini (92 caps) also plays Super Rugby Pacific, with the Highlanders.

Molina’s return came as a direct swap for uncapped lock Franco Carrera, who goes back to club duty at Zebre Parma.

Jujuy and Mendoza: What to Expect

The Los Pumas squad open the series at Estadio 23 de Agosto in San Salvador de Jujuy on 29 August, the second at Estadio Malvinas Argentinas in Mendoza on 5 September. Australia arrive in form after a 56-17 demolition of Japan in Townsville, having found the cohesion under Les Kiss that was missing in their nervy 35-32 win in Osaka a week earlier. Read our full Wallabies match report for the detail.

Argentina, for their part, pushed South Africa to 17-10 on 8 August with a similarly depleted group, a penalty striking the upright with Los Pumas ahead. According to World Rugby, Argentina sit seventh in the global rankings, one place above Australia. That ranking was built by squads assembled exactly like this Los Pumas squad — by asking, and hoping the answer is yes.

Follow the Series

📺 Amazon Fire TV Stick — stream the Jujuy and Mendoza tests without a satellite subscription.

📖 Pumas: A History of Argentine Rugby — how Argentina built a tier-one team without a domestic professional league.

🍺 Craft beer hampers on Amazon UK — for a Saturday night kick-off from northern Argentina.

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