The Australian Michael Cheika was officially presented, at a press conference, as the new coach of the Argentine men’s rugby team. The Sydney native spoke among other topics, about the objectives at the helm of Los Pumas, his staff and the formation of the squad for the next commitments.” I don’t think about anything other than winning the World Cup in France. When someone plays a match or a championship they only think about winning it, but we must not lose sight of the fact that Argentine rugby is not at the top of the international ranking,” said Cheika.
In a meeting at the headquarters of the Argentine Rugby Union (UAR), Michael Cheika, new head coach of the national team, shared his ideas and the objectives of his project, which aims at the World Cup in France 2023. pic.twitter.com/4ACriLkqNH — Argentine Rugby Union (@unionargentina)
May 3, 2022
Regarding the formation of his work team, the Australian confirmed that Juan Fernández Lobbe and Andrés Bordoy will be part of his staff. The former captain of Los Pumas, who comes from the previous process, will have another role in this new stage, while Bordoy, who worked with Jaguares between 2019 and 2020 and integrated the Los Pumas squad that participated in the Tri Nations 2020, will be in charge of the scrum. Regarding the squad of Los Pumas to face the three clashes against Scotland that will open the international competition, the coach said: “We will put the best players. No one will want to miss these games after three seasons out of the country and we will see how they are physically and mentally prepared for that opportunity.” The captain of the national team is a very important position. Obviously the Union council is always involved in the final decision of the captain’s appointment. This will be a talk we will have,” Cheika said of the appointment of the captain of the national team. On the other hand, the coach did not rule out the return of former captain and hooker Agustín Creevy: “Creevy is playing well, so I’m watching him.”
