Los Pumas get their 2025 Rugby Championship campaign underway on home soil with a clash against the Kiwis in Cordoba. The South Americans have managed a couple of wins over the All Blacks in recent years, although they are yet to beat the Kiwis in front of their own fans with their wins coming in Australia and New Zealand.
Argentina v New Zealand | Saturday 16 August | Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes
To Win (80 Mins)
Argentina | Draw | New Zealand
Handicap
Argentina | New Zealand
Los Pumas may be quietly confident headed into this one. While they are yet to bag a win over the Kiwis in Argentina, they have registered three wins over their much vaunted opponents over the past half decade with their latest being last year’s 30-38 victory in Wellington.
Felipe Contepomi’s men haven’t had the greatest start to the year, going down twice to an England outfit that was missing a couple big guns during the July Tests. Los Pumas took a battering in the first of those Tests going down 12-35. They then bounced back somewhat with a narrow 17-22 defeat to the Red Roses.
Like their opponents for Saturday, the Kiwis also faced understrength European opposition during the July Test window, and while they did manage to go three from three against a weak French side, they were far from flawless as they just edged the first Test (31-27) before delivering more composed showings in the second (43-17) and third (29-19).
Looking at the team news for this one and the All Blacks dealing with something of a crisis at scrum half with Noah Hotham and Cameron Roigard ruled out of the trip to Argentina leaving Scott Robertson with Finlay Christie, Cortez Ratima and Kyle Preston to choose from. The Kiwis will also be missing prop Taimati Williams and flanker Wallace Sititi, with the duo recovering from long-term injuries. There is some good news for the All Blacks mentor with Scott and Beuaden Barrett both fit to tour.
For Los Pumas, there are a couple big name absentees in their squad with Matias Moroni, Facundo Isa and Tomas Lavanini all excluded while Benjamin Grondona, Emilino Boffelli and Thomas Gallo miss out through injury. They have been reinforced somewhat with Juan Cruz Mallia, Santiago Chocobares, Marcos Kremer, Bautista Delguy, Mateo Carreras and Ignazio Ruiz returning to the squad having missed out on the two Tests against the English.
Verdict: Argentina (+)
I’m expecting a narrow run thing here. The Pumas have shown they can mix it with the Kiwis in recent years and if they can get off to a fast start, I reckon their crowd could well guide them to a famous win. While I’ll be having a cheeky dabble on the home team for a win, most of my money will be on them to stay within a smallish plus handicap.
