Los Pumas announce Ledesma as new head coach

Mario Ledesma has been named as the new head coach of Argentina, replacing Daniel Hourcade.

The UAR confirmed that Ledesma's appointment this afternoon.

Hourcade announced his resignation on June 16th after Los Pumas lost 30-12 to Wales in Sante Fe, falling to a 2-0 series defeat. His final match was a 44-15 home loss to Scotland in Resistencia a week later.

Argentina have been in freefall since they reached the semi-finals of the 2015 World Cup, with Hourcade leading his side to just three victories in their last 23 matches, which were against Georgia, Italy and Japan.

When Hourcade made the decision to walk away he admitted “The message is no longer getting through and we feel that clearly this is a completed cycle. We talked previously with the UAR and agreed that the [June] window was decisive.

“We did everything possible and there are not responses from the team. The responsibility is entirely mine”.

Ledesma led the Jaguares to seventh in Super XV this season, with the team winning nine of their of their 16 matches before being beaten 40-23 at the quarter-final stage of the competition by eventual finalists Lions.

But turning around Argentina won’t be an easy task for the former Test hooker. Ledesma worked as a scrum coach for the Wallabies under Michael Cheika, who said he was “devastated” when the former Clermont Auvergne man announced he was leaving the Australian set-up at the end of 2017, having originally being signed up until the 2019 World Cup.

Now Ledesma will be at the World Cup with Argentina. They’ve been drawn in Pool C with England, France, USA and Tonga.

The UAR confirmed that Ledesma's appointment this afternoon.

His first match in charge would be the Rugby Championship match against South Africa in Durban on August 18th.