# 1978 Argentina rugby union tour of Britain, Ireland and Italy

The 1978 Argentina rugby union tour of Britain, Ireland and Italy was a series of nine matches played by the Argentina national rugby union team in September and October 1978.
Six of the nine matches were played in England, with the tourists going on to play one match each in Wales, Ireland and Italy. The tour featured the first ever test match between Argentina and Italy.
Argentina won five matches, lost three and drew one. The draw came against England, although England did not award full international caps for the fixture.
The tour captain, Hugo Porta, played all nine games, scored 94 of the team's 157 points on tour and, according to Rothmans Rugby Yearbook, "established himself as one of the world's great players" on the tour.

## Touring squad

Team Manager: Ángel Guastella
Full back
* Martín Sansot (Pueyrredón – Buenos Aires)
Three-quarters
* Marcelo Campo (Old Georgian)
* Adolfo Cappelletti (Banco Nación)
* Marcelo Loffreda (San Isidro Club)
* Rafael Madero (San Isidro Club)
* Alejandro Puccio (C.A. San Isidro)
* Javier Trucco (Universitario B.A.)
* Eduardo Sanguinetti (Universitario B.A.)
Half-backs
* Alejandro Cerioni (Pueyrredón)
* Alejandro Cubelli (Belgrano A.C.)
* Javier Escalante (Duendes
* Tomás Landajo (Pueyrredón)
* Hugo Porta (Banco Nación)
* Alfredo Soares Gache (San Isidro Club)
Forwards
* Alejandro Iachetti (Hindú)
* Hugo Nicola (Curupaytí)
* Ricardo Passaglia (La Tablada)
* Guillermo Paz (Alumni)
* Tomás Petersen (San Isidro Club)
* Topo Rodriguez (Tala)
* Ronaldo Seaton (Atlético del Rosario)
* Carlos Serrano (Hindú)
* Héctor Silva (Los Tilos)
* Gabriel Travaglini (C.A. San Isidro)
* Rodolfo Ventura (Newman)

## The matches

Complete list of matches played by Argentina:

### Southern Counties

* 27 September
| Southern Counties | 9–39 | Argentina |
| Pen: I. Gale (3) | | Try: Porta, Cappelletti, Cerioni Madero, Puccio, Petersen Con: Porta (3) Pen: Porta (3) |
* Iffley Road, Oxford Referee: Jean Pierre Bonnet (France)
Southern Counties: I.Gale. Clive Rees, B.Reynolds, D.Course-, R.Ellis Jones; J.Wright e I.George; G.Sharpe, R.Jackson, J.Coock, J.Mawle, John Orwin, Paul Rendall, A.Jenkins, Gary Pearce. Argentina: M.Sansot; A.Puccio, R.Madero, M.Loffreda, A.Cappelletti; H.Porta (capt.), R.Landajo; C.Serreno, H.Silva, T.Petersen; A.Iachetti, G.Travaglini; H.Nicola; R..Seaton, A.Cerioni.

### London Division

* 30 September
| London Division | 22–15 | Argentina |
| Try: Ripley, French, Preston Con: Bushell 2 Pen: Bushell 2 | | Try: Madero Con: Porta Pen: Porta Drop: Porta, Sansot |
* Twickenham, London Referee: Corris Thomas (Wales)
London Division: K.M.Bushell; R.O.Demming; N.R.French, Clive Woodward, Derek Wyatt; Nick Preston, M.R.Conner; T.C.Claston, P.d'A.Keith-Roach (capt.) A.J.Cutter, Neil Mantell, Maurice Colclough, A.C.Alexander, Bob Mordell, Andy Ripley. Argentina: M.Sansot; A.Puccio, M.Loffreda, R.Madero, A.Cappelletti; H.Porta (capt.), R.Landajo; H.Silva, T.Pe¬tersen, G.Paz; G.Travaglini, A.Iachetti; H.Nicola, A.Cubelli, A.Cerioni.

### Northern Division

* 4 October
| North of England | 20–6 | Argentina |
| Try: Slemen, Boyd, Horton, Penalty try Con: Young Pen: Boyd 2 | | Pen: Sansot Drop: Sansot |
* Bridge Road, Headingley Referee: A. Bryce (Scotland)
North of England: D.Boyd; Peter Squires, Tony Bond, W.Lyon, Mike Slemen; John Horton, Malcolm Young; Fran Cotton; K.Pacey, J.Bell, Bill Beaumont (capt.), J.Buttler, Peter Dixon, P.Moss, K.Higgins.
Argentina: M.Sansot; M.Campo, J.Trueco, R.Madero, A.Cappelletti; H.Porta (capt.), R.Landajo; T.Petersen, C.Serrano, H.Silva; A.Iachetti, R.Passaglia; H.Nicola, R.Sea¬ton, E.Rodríguez.

### North Midlands

* 7 October
| North Midlands | 14–22 | Argentina |
* The Reddings, Moseley Referee: David Burnett (Ireland)
North Midlands: P.J.Mumford.C.Perry, A.Watson-Jones, M.K.Swain, M.A.Hall; Les Cusworth, P.C.Bullock; T.F.Corless, G.N.J.Cox, J.J.Moore, B.Aire, N.J.Bekewell, J.C.White, T.Clarke, D.Nutt. Argentina: M.Sansot; M.Campo, M.Lofreda, R.Madero, A.Cappelletti; H.Porta (capt.), A.Soares Gache; G.Paz, C.Serrano, G.Travaglini; R.Passaglia, A.Iachetti; H.Nicola, R.Seaton, A.Cerioni.

### The English Students

* 10 October
| English Students | 9–15 | Argentina |
| Try: I. Wilkins Con: Rose Pen: Rose | | Try: Porta Con: Porta Pen: Porta 3 |
* Kingsholm, Gloucester Referee: Norman Sanson (Scotland)
English Students: Marcus Rose; J.Basnett, A.Harrower, Clive Woodward, P.Asquith; 1.Wilkins, M.Conner; S.Wilkes, M.Howe, J.Doubleday, Paul Ackford, Steve Bainbridge, Toby Allchurch, Nick Jeavons, Peter Polledri. Argentina: E.Sanguinetti; M.Campo, J.Escalante, R.Madero, A.Cappelletti; H.Porta (capt.), R.Landajo; G.Paz, G.Travaglini, H.Silva; R.Passaglia, A.Iachetti; H.Nicola, A.Cubelli, A.Cerioni.

### England

* 14 October
| England | 13–13 | Argentina |
| Try: Gifford, Squires Con: Bushell Drop: Horton | | Try: Campo, Passaglia Con: Porta Pen: Porta |
* Twickenham, London Referee: Clive Norling (Wales)

### Wales "B"

* 17 October
| Wales B | 14–17 | Argentina |
| Try: Lewis, Hutchings Pen: Barry 2 | | Try: Campo, Serrano Pen: Porta, Sansot Drop: Porta |
* Stradey Park, Llanelli Referee: Roger Quittenton (England)
Wales "B": I.Walsh; Elgan Rees, N.Hutchings, Peter Morgan, R.Ellis¬Jones; D.Barry, Gerald Williams; D.Jones, G.Davies, D.Lewis, Richard Moriarty, Steve Sutton, Gareth Williams, Ch.Seldon, Paul Ringer.
Argentina: M.Sansot; M.Campo, M.Loffreda, R.Madero, A.Cappelletti; H.Porta (capt.), A.Soares Gache; T.Peter¬sen, C.Serrano, G, Travaglini; R.Passaglia, A.lachetti; H.Nicola, A.Cubelli, A.Cerioni.

### Leinster

* 21 October
| Leinster | 13–24 | Argentina |
| Try: Andrucetti Pen: Quinn 3 | | Try: Travaglini Con: Porta Pen: Porta 4 Sansot Drop: Porta |
* Lansdowne Road, Dublin Referee: Laurie Prideaux (England)
Leinster: F.Ennis; Terry Kennedy, P.Andrucetti, Paul McNaughton, Freddie McLennan; M.Quinn, John Moloney (capt.); Phil Orr, John Cantrell, M.Fitzpatrick, Willie Duggan, E.O'Raffertty, Fergus Slattery, Shay Deering, Mike Gibson. Argentina: M.Sansot; M.Campo, J.Trucco, R.Madero, A.Cappelletti; H.Porta (capt.), Landajo; H.Silva, T.Petersen, G.Travaglini; R.Passaglia, A.lachetti; H.Nicola, A.Cubelli, A.Cerioni.

### Italy

* 24 October
| Italy | 19–6 | Argentina |
| Try: R Francescato, Ghizzoni Con: Zuin Pen: Zuin 2 Drop: Zuin | | Pen: Porta Drop: Porta |
* Mario Battaglini, Rovigo Referee: Sergio Tavelli (Italy)
Italy: 15.Rocco Caligiuri, 14.Massimo Mascioletti, 13.Nello Francescato, 12.Rino Francescato, 11.Serafino Ghizzoni, 10.Loredano Zuin, 9.Angelo Visentin, 8.Elio de Anna, 7.Fiorenzo Blessano, 6.Paolo Mariani, 5.Adriano Fedrigo, 4.Fulvio di Carlo, 3.Ambrogio Bona (capT.), 2.Claudio Robazza, 1.Anacleto Altigieri – Replacement: Narciso Zanella
Argentina 15.Eduardo Sanguinetti, 14.Martín Sansot, 13.Javier Escalante, 12.Rafael Madero, 11.Marcelo Campo, 10.Hugo Porta (cap), 9.Alfredo Soares Gache, 8.Gabriel Travaglini, 7.Tomás Petersen, 6.Carlos Serrano, 5.Ricardo Passaglia, 4.Alejandro Iachetti, 3.Alejandro Cerioni, 2.Alejandro Cubelli, 1.Rodolfo Ventura – Replacement: Adolfo Cappelletti, Hugo Nicola