Pumas

'A fascinating look at one of the world's most intriguing rugby countries' - Alan Pearey, Rugby World

'Few have a better feel for Argentine rugby than Rex Gowar. He has followed the Pumas for decades and his experience oozes from every paragraph. A fascinating, educational read . . . pour yourself a glass of Malbec and enjoy' - Robert Kitson, The Guardian

Argentine rugby is a unique - and often mysterious - beast.

In Pumas, veteran journalist Rex Gowar digs to the heart of rugby in Argentina to reveal a history like no other in the sport. Passionate, gregarious, colourful, controversial, violent, shocking, beautiful - these are just some of the words to describe the stories that emerge in these hair-raising pages as some of the biggest characters in the game are profiled, famous matches relived and painful history scrutinised.

In the first book in English to examine rugby in Argentina in any depth, Gowar explores how the roots of the game in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century produced a twisting, astonishing history that has flowered in the twenty-first century as the Pumas have established themselves as one of the world's powerhouse rugby nations.

Auteur

Rex Gowar, born and brought up in Argentina, reported on the Pumas for the Buenos Aires Herald English-language daily from 1979 and Reuters from 1985.

In a career that included spells as Reuters sports correspondent in Rome and Paris in the 1990s, he covered 10 consecutive FIFA World Cups from Argentina 1978 and four Rugby World Cups. Having been told he ought to write a book about the Pumas after their bronze medal in 2007, he finally got around to it in retirement and near isolation due to the Covid-19 pandemic.