Argentina Profile

Colours: White and light blue hoops
Nickname: Pumas
Honours: RWC'99 Quarter-finals

Coach: Argentinas recent good form may have a lot to do with their coach Marcelo Loffreda, the former Puma captain with 33 Test caps to his name. There are no arguments about what he does and his side is certainly the biggest present improver in international rugby.

Captain: Scrum-half Agustin Pichot assumes the captaincy following the injury to Lisandro Arbizu. Having captained the national side on numerous occasions in the past Pichot is more than an able deputy, and the live-wire Stade Francais player will be able to call on his years of experience and his reputation as one of rugby's true game-breakers.

Player(s) to watch: Beyound the talents of Felipe Contepomi there are some young flyers - Ignacio Corleto on the wing or at fullback, hard-working Diego Albanese and the exciting 21-year-old Juan Hernandez who can play anywhere beyond scrum-half. And then there is Pichot, one of the best rugby players in the world, the first Puma to become a national hero after 1999 when Argentina beat Ireland to the 1999 World Cup quarter-final.

Profile: Despite rugby being the poor relation to the round ball game in soccer mad Argentina, 'Los Pumas' - as the national team are known - emerged from 1999 Rugby World Cup with great pride from their best-ever finish.

It is in the scrummage where Argentina traditionally excel and the country has produced more than its fair share of world-class front row men down the years, but Pichot has found some able assistance in the backline in recent years, with flyhalf Felipe Contepomi and wing Diego Albanese both proving to be world-class players in their positions.

With increasing numbers of their players signing up on professional contracts at clubs around the world - particularly France and Britain - many previously amateur Pumas now have the chance to train and play full-time which should reap dividends in the future and help Argentina become a genuine world power in rugby.

The 2001 season was a fantastic year for Argentina, winning six of their eight Tests. The year began with winning their fourth Pan Am Championship title, with victories against Uruguay, the USA and Canada. A trip to New Zealand saw Los Pumas lose 19-67 to the All Blacks in Christchurch, but less than a month later they bounced back to beat Italy 38-17 at home.

Argentina managed wins over Scotland and Wales, both away from home, at the end of 2001, while another memorable win for them came in 2002 against France (the newly-crowned Six Nations champions), this time at home.