Clarín's question to Mario Ledesma on the day of the announcement of the team that played the last World Cup match against the United States was concrete: "How many players of this team do you think will not reach France 2023?" The coach of Los Pumas replied: "For different factors, but especially for an age issue, it will be between 10 and 15. We were at the historical average between World and World and we brought 16 debuting players."
The New Zealander Alex Wyllie was the one who changed the most for the Puma squad of the 1999 World Cup, with 24 modifications compared to the list of South Africa 1995.
While Marcelo Loffreda was the one who least put a hand to his first World Cup experience in 2003: he barely had 11 new names compared to those who had passed the first phase of the Webb Ellis Cup for Argentina for the first time, with the remembered victory against Ireland from Lens.
One fact: on average, in the nine World Cup participations of the national team, there were 17 changes between tournament and tournament.
Going to the present, there is only one player on the 2019 squad who already knows that he will not play in France, simply because he said so himself. Santiago's Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 36, announced that the game against the United States was the last for him with the Los Pumas shirt.
Others let him glimpse, like Juan Figallo. The Pilar Salteño spoke after the painful defeat against England and with tears in his eyes said that at 31 years that could have been his last test with the selected one.
Those of 30 years or more are Creevy, Figallo, Leguizamón, Cubelli, Sánchez, Urdapilleta and Tuculet. Those of intermediate age (25 to 29) are Tetaz Chaparro, Montoya, Socino, Lavanini, Alemanno, Matera, Lezana, Ortega Desio, Bruni, Ezcurra, De la Fuente, Orlando, Moroni, Moyano and Bertranou himself. And those under 25 are Vivas, Medrano, Pieretto, Petti, Kremer, Mensa, Mallía, Delguy, Boffelli and Carreras. With that list in hand it is interesting to make some reflections.
First of all, we must highlight those who chose to continue playing abroad after the World Cup and there appear the names of Matera and Lavanini, two of the holders of the pack of forwards (the wing is the captain, even).
When Matera signed his contract with Stade Francais - he will be one of the best paid players of the Parisian club - and Lavanini with Leicester, they knew that they were somehow mortgaging their future in Los Pumas by that rule (flexible for Japan) to postpone those who choose to go to Europe and do not stay in the Argentine professional rugby system, which less money allows them to win. Isa, Imhoff and Lamb for example can attest to that.
By age, Creevy (34 years old) and Urdapilleta (33) will find it very difficult to repeat in 2023. In addition, the hooker and former captain already has Montoya at the same level for a while and who finished the World Cup as a starter in The position has the advantage of being nine years younger.
