XV of France: “There is the sun, the weather is often nice, we are close to Spain”, De la Fuente, Ignacio Ruiz, Joaquim Oviedo, Pumas with a Catalan accent

Le trois-quarts centre argentin de l'Usap, Jeronimo de la Fuente. MAXPPP – MICHEL CLEMENTZ

Depuis 2000 et l'arrivée de Gonzalo Quesada, Perpignan a accueilli pas moins de 17 internationaux argentins. Une vraie réussite.  

The Argentinian Pumas, facing the French XV in two test matches on July 6 and 13, will rely on three Perpignan players, symbols of a shared history that dates back to the 2000s. Of the thirty-four players called up by the new Argentinian coach Felipe Contepomi to face France and then Uruguay (July 20), eleven play in the Top 14 or Pro D2. And three at USAP: hooker Ignacio Ruiz, third-row Joaquim Oviedo and center Jeronimo de la Fuente.

Alvarez-Kairelis, the essential link 

Between the USAP and the Pumas, two teams renowned for their hot blood, the connection took place in the 2000s. Since then, seventeen Argentine international players have worn the Blood and Gold colors. both sides, one man played a special role: former second row Rimas Alvarez Kairelis (44 caps). Nicknamed "El Flaco" ("The Skinny"), he wore the colors of the USAP from 2002 to 2011 before joining the technical staff a few years later and becoming one the team manager.

There is the sun, the weather is often nice, we are close to Spain, we adapt quickly and we like it

More than 20 years of presence which allowed him to identify the convergences between Argentina and the Pyrénées-Orientales: "There is the sun , the weather is often nice, we are close to Spain, we adapt quickly and we like it there". In Perpignan, a city he has never left since his arrival in 2002, Alvarez-Kairelis serves as a landmark. It facilitates exchanges between French leaders and Argentinian internationals.

Thus Diego Giannantonio (2004-2006), Sébastien Bozzi (2005-2009), Federico Martin Aramburu (2006-2008), Patricio Fernandez (2020-2023), Bautista Delguy (2021-2022), Martin Landajo (2021-2022) and now Jéronimo de la Fuente (2020-2026), Ignacio Ruiz (2023-2025) and Joaquin Oviedo (2021-2026) continue the Argentinian tradition at the USAP. And the club doctor Carlos Vela, a nephrologist at the Perpignan hospital, is also of Argentinian nationality.

De la Fuente, the "dad"

From Saturday, against the XV of France, De la Fuente (33 years old) will once again play the role of "dad" with his two teammates Ruiz (23 years old) and Oviedo (22 years old), who represent the future of the Pumas. The USAP captain and head of defense, with three World Cups under his belt (2015, 2019, 2023), has the confidence of the new coach to supervise the new generation.

From there to push until 2027 and the Australian edition? De la Fuente, who will then be 37 years old, excludes nothing: < em>"My goal is to be fit enough to compete and give my best for the next match and the same for the next one. This led me to be part of the Pumas for ten years and I don't think I have to change now", he assured.

Facing the Blues, who will present a rejuvenated team with more than twenty players without selection, he is already enjoying the pleasure of meeting two other players from Perpignan, the second line Posolo Tuilagi and the winger Lucas Dubois: "I hope to find them again and enjoy a great match!". They will perhaps evoke the last French champion title of the USAP, in 2009. That year, Rodrigo Bueno's song in tribute to Diego Maradona "La Mano de Dios" had become the anthem of the Catalan locker room under the leadership of Argentinian pillar… Sébastian Bozzi.