Federico Méndez. Mario Ledesma. Agustín Creevy. Julián Montoya.
Over the last three decades, Argentine Rugby has been blessed with world-class hookers, so much that in an ideal national XV it would be hard to choose one above the other. Many of them have been considered in World XVs in their heyday.
Read the Official Wallabies v Argentina Test Program here!
The latest in that line is Julián Montoya, who skippers Los Pumas again in Australia. Méndez was first capped as a tighthead prop at 18.
He missed the end of his final year at school to be with the national team in the UK. His career has seen him play three Rugby World Cups – he missed Rugby World Cup 1999 with an Achilles tendon injury – win the Currie Cup, be a finalist in Super Rugby and win the European Cup.
That injury in 1999 opened the door to Mario Ledesma, another converted hooker. Ledesma made his name as an age-grade player as backrower but to crack the big time he had to move to hooker.
Such was his promise that he basically learnt the role mostly playing international Rugby. In RWC 1999, he was arguably the tournament’s best hooker.
After his third RWC as a player in 2011, he became assistant coach to Michael Cheika’s Wallabies four years later, having coached with the current Pumas coach at Stade Français and the Waratahs.
He became Pumas’ coach in 2017 and went to his fifth Rugby World Cup in Japan.
Taking a leaf from Ledesma’s book, Creevy also moved from the backrow to hooker to pursue his international dream. First capped as a flanker in 2005, in 2008 he was told in no uncertain terms that any Test future would be at hooker.
He got working and by 2011, played in his first Rugby World Cup. Captain in England in 2015, he did not see eye-to-eye with Ledesma who eventually dropped him after the opening game in RWC 2019. He is only two caps from becoming Argentina’s first centurion.
His understudy since 2014 was the able Julián Montoya, who made his international debut at 19. A hooker all his adult life, he eventually became the team captain.
He took the opportunity with his two safe hands and has become a true leader of a team that has to readdress their goals after a dismal start to The Rugby Championship. The clear goal is certainly in France later this year.
Hailing from the Newman Club, he was one of those players making a name for himself after two years in Los Pumitas. Despite his young age, he was soon elevated to the national team and on June 7, 2014, played the final 22 minutes in the home loss against Ireland in his first cap.
Very few games for his club’s First XV still fills him with pride, and the year ended when he was involved in the team that beat France in Paris in the November window.
Playing only a couple of Tests from the start in his first 50 caps, he was, is, delighted with whichever role he has to play.
“We all have a role to play in the team,” he said in Mendoza as he was preparing for what was a hurtful loss against the All Blacks last week.
“I never counted how many Tests there were, as it was what the team needed.”
The way he behaved when he was not in the starting XV showcased his personality.
Former Puma coach Daniel Hourcade, who gave him his first start, was clear when I spoke to him about Montoya for this piece.
“I only have very positive things to say about ‘Juli’,” he opened, stating: “He is a great guy and an extraordinary player.
“He had come through the representative ladder playing in Los Pumitas for two seasons, then Los Pampas. He always stood out, both as a player and a human being. It was a luxury having him in our teams.” It wasn’t so much that Montoya had a clear future – he was ready from early on.
“We all knew that he would reach the highest of heights. He not only had technical capacities, but also the way he was committed and made every effort to be a better player,” Hourcade added.
In saying this, he played a role for many years as the starting hooker Creevy was also the team’s captain.
“When he came on board, ‘Juli’ accepted his role and was an honest competitor.
“The way Creevy is behaving now that he is the reserve hooker is only a reflection of how ‘Juli’ behaved when he was aiming for the No.2 jersey.”
Hourcade, who leads Sudamérica Rugby’s High Performance program, finishes: “When he was named captain, I was overjoyed as he had worked very hard always enjoying the role he had.”
COVID-19 hit Argentine Rugby really hard and the Jaguares, finalists the previous year and having enjoyed playing in Super Rugby for four complete seasons, were suddenly out of the competition.
Players were basically told to find greener pastures. Today’s Los Pumas squad, with the exception of two Pumas Sevens players that were included in the XVs set-up, are all based overseas.
Montoya was expected to join the Western Force, but paperwork never arrived in time and he has been a resident of the English Midlands since 2021.
A Premiership champion with Leicester Tigers with four other Pumas, only the hooker remains at the club where they love a gnarly, hard-working player. He is a much-loved Tiger, playing 44 games for them, at times being the skipper.
Scoring five tries in his first six games, at one stage he had 12 out of 13 Premiership games, the best strike rate in the competition in a long time.
“As a coach, I want to try and help players improve, achieve all their ambitions,” said England coach Steve Borthwick, when Montoya joined the Tigers he was coaching.
“I think the thing with Julian, is that he is coming already one of best players in his position around the world and he wants to get better. And if he sets that example for the rest of our squad, that’s terrific.
“For me as a coach, it challenges me, because then, if he is that good already, right, how do I make him better? So it’s a great exercise for me to try and help him.”
Borthwick’s England will be the first big hurdle at the Rugby World Cup.
“We are looking at one game at a time,” said Montoya, knowing that the next game is the focus.
Australia and Argentina need to comeback after humbling losses in Pretoria and Mendoza.
“We have to be strict with our criticism. I don’t believe in excuses or shortcuts. We need to get better, see what each one of us needs to get better and with that the team,” he said after the 41-12 loss.
“When we are connected, we are a dangerous team, but today we were not the team we wanted to be.”
A reflection of who Montoya is, is in his final reflection.
“We can’t double guess us. It is dangerous if as a team you ask yourself ‘what would have happened if?’ We must continue to work.”
