Argentina v Scotland - Teams and Prediction
PREVIEW: Los Pumas will welcome Gregor Townsend’s Scotland to the city of Cordoba in Round One of the Nations Championship.
The hosts enter this clash as outright favourites according to the bookmakers, but have made several changes to the team that lost 23-27 to England in November 2025, with only six players retaining their spots in the matchday squad.
One of the surviving six players is Matias Alemanno, who will run out in Los Pumas colours for his 100th Test cap.
Captain and veteran hooker Julian Montoya expressed his delight for his fellow tight forward teammate’s milestone.
“I’m very happy for him,” Montoya told reporters.
“It’s great for him. I don’t have the words to describe what it means.
“Hopefully we can put in a good performance for him.”
Scotland might enter this clash with some mental scars.
During the 2025 November Internationals, Scotland found themselves 21-0 up against Los Pumas, only to lose 24-33 after letting Felipe Contepomi’s team back in during the final quarter.
These sides are locked in the head-to-head stats, having played 26 times, with each team having won on 13 occasions.
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¡Juntos! ¡Tres días para volvernos a encontrar! 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/rIe9LkcGPH
— Los Pumas (@lospumas) July 1, 2026
On the Scotland side, there will be special milestones that they will hopefully be able to celebrate with a win.
South African-born prop Pierre Schoeman and Scott Cummings will run out for their 50th Scotland caps.
Schoeman qualified to represent Scotland in 2021 under World Rugby’s residency rule, which was three years at the time after joining Edinburgh from the Bulls in 2018.
He’s been an instrumental figure in their front row and formed part of last year’s British and Irish Lions squad that toured Australia.
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Players to watch:
For Argentina: Santiago Carreras at fullback is one of the most dangerous counter-attacking players in the game, with a deadly accurate boot to the posts as well. There will be eyes on debutant Faustino Sanchez Valarolo at inside centre, but he will have the calmness and experience of Lucio Cinti outside of him. Tomas Albarnoz and Gonzalo Garcia’s game management will be crucial against the attacking mindset Scotland will bring, whilst captain Pablo Matera will be key for his leadership and ability to slow down quick ball, which Scotland thrives off.
For Scotland: The entire backline is littered with stardom and X factor, but two players to be singled out is captain Sione Tuipulotu and Kyle Steyn. Tuipulotu will lick his lips coming up against debutant Valarolo with his imposing frame and ability to break tackles and get over the gainline. That ability creates space for the likes of Steyn, who has been in sensational form for Glasgow Warriors all season. Up front, Schoeman, in tandem with hooker Ewan Ashman and Elliot Milliar Mills, will be key to laying the foundation for their star-studded backline.
*See the teams and prediction below!
Prediction:
Rugby365: Scotland by five points
Teams:
Argentina: 15 Santiago Carreras, 14 Rodrigo Isgro, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Faustino Sanchez Valarolo, 11 Mateo Carreras; 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Gonzalo Garcia, 8 Joaquin Oviedo, 7 Santiago Grondona, 6 Pablo Matera (captain), 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Guido Petti; 3 Pedro Delgado, 2 Julian Montoya, 1 Mayco Vivas
Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Boris Wenger, 18 Tomas Rapetti, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Joaquin Moro, 21 Agustin Moyano, 22 Matias Morono, 23 Bautista Delguy
Scotland: 15 Kyle Rowe, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Rory Hutchinson, 12 Sione Tuipulotu (captain), 11 Jamie Dobie, 10 Tom Jordan, 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Jonny Gray, 3 Elliot Millar Mills, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Gregor Hiddleston, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Zander Fagerson, 19 Alex Samuel, 20 Gregor Brown, 21 George Horne, 22 Fergus Burke, 23 Darcy Graham.
Date: Saturday, July 4
Venue: Estadio Mario Alberto Kempes, Córdoba
Kick-off: 16.10 (20.10 BST; 19.10 GMT)
Predicted weather: Cool with a high of 11 degrees Celsius and wind gusts of 35 kilometres per hour and no chance of rainfall.
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Assistant referees: Paul Williams (New Zealand), Jordan Way (Australia)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)
