Los Pumas' Rugby Championship record: positive indicators and areas for improvement as they look to reach the 2027 World Cup.

“We have to keep this inside,” said Los Pumas captain Julián Montoya just after the 29-27 defeat to South Africa . He wasn’t talking strictly about the result . The numbers, as they stand, tell us nothing. The same goes for a metric without context. That Felipe Contepomi ’s team finished last in the 2025 Rugby Championship standings is as true as the fact that if Australia and New Zealand were the best, they each lost once to Argentina .

This tournament, the most competitive since its inception in 2012 , saw Los Pumas on a level playing field until the midway point, losing their chances of contending with two-time champion South Africa only in the fifth of six scheduled matches. Felipe Contepomi's team had a good run of competition , despite a poor showing in the resounding 67-30 defeat to the Springboks in Durban and a second-half nap against Australia in Townsville that cost them the game.

Because with the stats in mind, Los Pumas were better than South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia in rucks . Ninety-seven percent of the time the ball was left on the ground after a tackle, the Argentine team recovered it.

There are more positive indicators: no other player has evaded more opponents than Mateo Carreras, nor has he gained more meters than the Tucuman native, much less than Juan Cruz Mallía, who leads the statistics with 309 meters gained.

Santiago Carreras' 40 points made him the top scorer in this edition, in which, in addition to regaining his starting spot at fly-half, he also excelled at fullback.

One of Los Pumas' hallmarks in this Championship was their ability to bounce back from the adversity of a poor first match. This happened in Argentina, when they lost to the All Blacks in Córdoba and then beat them in Buenos Aires a week later. The key lies in Contepomi and his team's understanding of the situation, focusing on improvements and selecting the best performers to combine that immediate adjustment.

They showed it in every third of the match, recovering in the second half after losing in the first match against Australia and finding victory. Although the defeat against South Africa was a double defeat, they managed to reduce the gap between Durban and London from 30 points to just two. “It was difficult to beat them. Argentina came out strong in the first half, and in the second, we gave it our all. They are a strong team, and they achieved that with many substitutions,” analyzed none other than Springbok captain Siya Kolisi.

In the contact trench, Los Pumas were a wall. They didn't always dominate possession, but when they defended, they did so with the ferocity of a committed team. This suggests Contepomi's team is the most effective in tackling.

They were also the strongest team in the air, with no one better than Los Pumas in the lineout, a pillar that explains part of the team's competitive leap. The old Argentine rugby, with its slow, controlled phases, gave way to a bolder approach, as metrics place Contepomi's team below South Africa and above New Zealand and Australia in offloads: it seems they dared to release the ball during contact.

Los Pumas definitely entered the conversation. On the field, but also on the stage. Because this was also the Championship in which Los Pumas complained about the officiating. The matches became so close that the details the referees make can be decisive in an outcome.

For the first time, Contepomi and assistant coach Juan Fernández Lobbe spoke of frustration over refereeing decisions that were so gross and absurd that they could be considered distractions. This sentiment was also heard from several players, including captain Julián Montoya.

But all of this was achieved through the broadened base proposed by Contepomi upon his arrival as coach. There were debuts for young players or players of a certain maturity who, after several training sessions, put on the national team jersey for the first time. And several are in contention for the 2027 World Cup.

Among young players, big players, established players, and hungry players, Contepomi showed several things in six matches. He showed that he can count on three clear options for the fly-half position and options in the defensive duo. He showed that the front line is already built with established players, and that not even Pablo Matera has a guaranteed starting spot. The goal is set on Australia 2027, and for that, perhaps Montoya proposes saving the good things from this Championship, in which the team bounced back after each defeat.