Pumas put their faith in Phelan

The Argentine Rugby Union (UAR) have shown faith in coach Santiago 'Tati' Phelan, who guided the Pumas to the World Cup quarterfinals, by extending his contract by a further two years.

The 37-year-old former international centre will lead the Pumas into the Rugby Championship next year, an extended version of the Tri-Nations in which they will play the southern hemisphere giants recently-crowned World Cup winners All Blacks, the Springboks and the Wallabies.

Phelan has retained his coaching staff made up of fellow former Pumas Fabian Turnes, Mauricio Reggiardo and Marti Gaitan.

Phelan, who replaced Marcelo Loffreda after the 2007 World Cup when they reached the semifinals, will prepare for the tournament with a home test against Italy on June 9 and two against World Cup finalists France on June 16 and 23.

They open their Rugby Championship campaign against two-time world champions South Africa on August 18 in Durban.

"Tati's appointment as trainer confirms our interest in ratifying his tenure, which was extremely satisfactory from various points of view," said UAR president Luis Castillo.

"Now is the time to continue working to improve day by day and face a new calendar with a lot of activity," he said in a statement issued by the UAR on Wednesday.

The Pumas face a watershed year in 2012 with 12 Test matches scheduled, which is double the usual amount. In the past they have been forced to look on as the other top nations competed in the Tri-Nations and Six Nations tournaments while they had to make do with three tests in each of the two Test windows set aside by the IRB.