Six of the forwards and two of the backs that helped Los Pumitas to the bronze medal at the World Rugby U20 Championship in 2016 have been named in the squad for this year's tournament in Georgia from 31 May to 18 June.
Aiming to repeat and hopefully even better that performance, Argentina U20 coaches Gastón Conde, Agustín Ezcurra and former Puma Maximiliano Bustos, have included wing/full-back Bautista Delguy (main picture), who competed in a second Americas Rugby Championship for Argentina XV earlier this year, and Tomás Malanos in their backline.
Vicente Boronat, Facundo Domínguez Nahuel Milan, Franco Molina, Santiago Pulella and Bautista Stavile all return in the forwards.
One of the finds of Pumas Sevens this season, Matías Osadczuk was unavailable for selection due to injury, and Marcos Kremer, who made his test debut last year, will be with Los Pumas during the June international window.
Twelve of the squad will be competing in Georgia a year young, meaning they will still be eligible to play in 2018. As such, scrum-half Gonzalo García and Juan Pablo Castro could play in three tournaments.
“Naming the squad is always a difficult moment but this is a solid group of players. They spoke about what it meant to be selected, which shows the spirit of the team,” said head coach Conde.
“We can now focus on what lies ahead. The moment we’ve been waiting for, for the best part of a year, is nearly upon us.”
Los Pumitas will open their campaign against hosts Georgia, followed by games against France and South Africa. Argentina beat France 24-15 on the opening day in Manchester last year before twice defeating South Africa, initially in the pool stages and then in the third-place play-off.
Argentina squad:
Backs: Tomás Albornoz, Santiago Carreras, Teo Castiglioni, Juan Pablo Castro, Juan Bautista Daireaux, Bautista Delguy, Facundo Ferrario, Gonzalo García, Luciano González, Félix Luna, Tomás Malanos, Matías Sauze
Forwards: Vicente Boronat, Facundo Domínguez, José Luis González, Alejandro Luna, Rodrigo Martínez, Agustín Medrano, Nahuel Milan, Franco Molina, Leonel Oviedo, Lucas Paulos, Santiago Pulella, Santiago Ruiz, Bautista Stavile, Jeremías Tarter, Mayco Vivas, Nicolás Walker
