Buenos Aires, November 28 (NA) -- The start of the 2025/26 SVNS Series season in Dubai, the venue for the first circuit event, will be the moment when Los Pumas 7’s renew their hopes of defending their league title as two-time champions. According to the Argentine News Agency, the national team has completed a week of preparation in the Emirati capital and is ready to begin a new campaign that will take place this Saturday, November 29, and Sunday, November 30. The team, coached by Santiago Gómez Cora, is in Group A alongside Fiji, France, and South Africa and will debut against the Fijian team at 06:10 Argentina time. The regular season will consist of six tournaments with the participation of eight national teams: Argentina, Australia, Spain, Fiji, France, Great Britain, New Zealand, and South Africa. Following that phase, three final events will be contested with twelve teams: the eight that played in the regular season and four from the SVNS qualification. In parallel, the schedule for Las Yaguaretés was determined, who will compete in SVNS 3 on January 17-18 in Dubai with the goal of finishing in the top two to advance to SVNS 2, which will have three stops: Nairobi on February 14-15, Montevideo on March 21-22, and São Paulo on the 28th and 29th of the same month. If they reach Division 2, the women's team will aim to finish in the top four to qualify for the three World Championship stages. Dubai continues to hold significant importance in the recent history of Los Pumas 7’s. The team has accumulated five medals at this venue, with the most recent being bronze in the last season. They also achieved third place in 2021 in both editions held there and in 2004, while their best performance was in the 2023/2024 campaign, when they won the silver medal. In the current squad, four players made their debut at this venue: Santiago Álvarez Fourcade first played on November 29, 2013, against South Africa, Lautaro Bazán Vélez did so on December 2, 2016, against Wales, and Matteo Graziano and Santiago Vera Feld played their first match on November 26, 2021, against Spain. The continuity of the sports project is also marked by the statistics of the coaching staff. They will continue their journey the following weekend in Cape Town, competing on December 6 and 7. The new format pushed by World Rugby defines a different scenario for this edition. Since their arrival in 2013, starting with the Gold Coast Sevens, the duo of Gómez Cora and Leonardo Gravano has accumulated 98 tournaments and 555 matches on the World Circuit, with 329 wins, 213 losses, and 13 draws.
Los Pumas 7’s squad: ÁLVAREZ, Santiago (jersey 6) ARRIETA, Martiniano (jersey 5) BATAC, Juan Patricio (jersey 15) BAZÁN VÉLEZ, Lautaro (jersey 7) DUBUC, Sebastián (jersey 12) GONZÁLEZ, Luciano (jersey 11) GRAZIANO, Matteo (jersey 1) MALDONADO, Valentín (jersey 20) MARE, Santiago (jersey 10) MONETA, Marcos (jersey 13) MORALES, Eliseo (jersey 8) PELLANDINI, Joaquín (jersey 14) VERA FELD, Santiago (jersey 2) ZANGARA, Santino (jersey 3)
Dubai Seven Schedule (November 29): Argentina vs Fiji (at 6:10 am) Argentina vs France (at 9:38 am) Argentina vs South Africa (at 1:34 pm)
