Argentina national rugby league team

Argentina
Team information
Nickname	Jabalis (Wild boars)
Governing body	Argentina Rugby League
Region	Americas
Head coach	Pablo Aguilera - Emiliano Rodríguez
Captain	Juan Ignacio Cánepa
IRL ranking	49th
Team results
	First international
	Argentina 4–40 Australian Police ; (Buenos Aires, Argentina; 2005)
	Biggest win
	Argentina 36-6 Colombia ; (Los Ángeles, Chile; 17 November 2017)
	Biggest defeat
	Argentina 6–60 Australian Police ; (Buenos Aires, Argentina; 2005)
	World Cup
Appearances	0

The Argentina national rugby league team (formerly nicknamed the Penguins but now the Jabalis^[1]) represent Argentina in the sport of rugby league football.

History

Argentina first played rugby league in 2005 when the Australian Police Rugby League Association organised a tour to Buenos Aires. The Australian Police team played two games against Argentina. The first was a 40-4 win for the Australian Police, with a crowd of 87 people attending. The second game was a 60–6 win for the Australian Police with a crowd attendance of 71.^[2]

The sport then remained dormant in the country for over 10 years before being revived in 2016 amidst a number of other South and Central American nations taking up the sport. Argentina saw its first domestic activity for a decade in November 2016 when it hosted the Primer Torneo Sudamericano de Rugby League, a slightly modified 9-a-side tournament in Miramar involving the national teams of Argentina and Chile, as well as a number of select sides from around the region which were bolstered by the Latin Heat organization.^[3] The final of the event was between the Argentinian and Chilean national teams, with Argentina winning 16-0.^[4]

In 2017, with great effort from the players and coaching staff, Argentina traveled to Chile by bus, to be in the inaugural Latinoamericano Championship. This was the first time that a Latin American championship was played with 13 players a side, three referees and full RLIF tournament rules.^[5] This event gave Argentina their first chance to earn World Ranking points and debut in the International Rankings. Argentina's first match of the tournament was a 36-6 win over Colombia. This win earned a spot in the Final against Chile with Argentina losing 32-12 to a team sporting a number of heritage players from Australia. The Argentinian team for the tournament was wholly made up of players from development and social leagues and no heritage players.

2018 saw Argentina playing in the Confederação Brasileira de Rugby League Festival in São Paulo, beating Colombia 28-16 before losing to Brazil in the final by 22-20 despite leading 14-20 at one point.^[6]

In March 2024, Argentina was granted Observer Member status by the International Rugby League.^[7]

Current squad

Squad selected for 2018 South American Rugby League Cup;^[8]

Juan Ignacio Canepa
Marcelo Villalba
Emiliano Rodriguez
Ares Martinez
Ariel Cosso
Facundo Lizarzuay
Lucas Escobar
Gaston Barrera
Dario Moyano
Ulises Silva
Nahuel Lajmanovich
Leandro Donato
Sergio Espinola
Dylan Moreira
Juan Carlos Blumetti
Ernesto Di Nucci
Leandro Kwiczor
Brian Avejera

IRL Rankings

IRL Men's World Rankings v t e
Official rankings as of 30 June 2024
Rank	Change	Team	Pts %
1		Australia	100
2		New Zealand	82
3		England	80
4		Samoa	67
5		Tonga	49
6	1	Fiji	47
7	1	Papua New Guinea	46
8		France	28
9		Lebanon	22
10		Cook Islands	20
11		Serbia	19
12		Netherlands	17
13		Italy	15
14	1	Greece	15
15	1	Malta	14
16		Ireland	14
17		Wales	13
18		Jamaica	10
19		Scotland	9
20		Ukraine	7
21		Czech Republic	7
22		Germany	6
23	3	Chile	6
24		Poland	6
25	3	Norway	6
26	1	Kenya	5
27	4	Philippines	5
28	3	South Africa	4
29		Nigeria	4
30		Ghana	4
31	2	United States	4
32	4	Montenegro	4
33	2	Brazil	3
34	2	Turkey	3
35	7	North Macedonia	3
36	2	Bulgaria	3
37	2	Cameroon	2
38	1	Spain	2
39	1	Japan	1
40	1	Albania	1
41	5	Canada	1
42	2	Colombia	1
43	2	El Salvador	1
44	1	Morocco	1
45		Russia	0
46	2	Sweden	0
47	2	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0
48	2	Hungary	0
49	3	Argentina	0
50		Hong Kong	0
51	3	Solomon Islands	0
52	5	Niue	0
53	1	Latvia	0
54	1	Denmark	0
55	6	Belgium	0
56	1	Estonia	0
57	6	Vanuatu	0
Complete rankings at INTRL.SPORT