Cape Town - Australian Rugby Union (ARU) CEO Bill Pulver is wary of Argentina’s Jaguares, who will join the expanded Super Rugby competition next year.

The Super Rugby tournament will be expanded to 18 teams in 2016, with the Jaguares, South Africa’s Southern Kings and Japan’s Sunwolves set to join the fray.

There will be two South African conferences - with the Kings and Jaguares in one conference and the Sunwolves in the other - as well as one conference each from New Zealand and Australia.

Argentina performed well in this year’s Rugby World Cup in England where they claimed fourth spot.

Many of those players will feature for the Jaguares, leaving the Australian rugby boss a tad worried.

"We're nervous that Argentina could win the damn thing," Pulver told Australian Associated Press (AAP).

"They have a lot of their Test players in this Super Rugby team and they will be seriously competitive."

Pulver also said the Sunwolves shouldn’t be written off.

"They've done a good job signing up their players so they are going to be fine. I actually think they're going to be surprisingly competitive."

2016 Super Rugby Conferences:

Australian Conference: Brumbies, Waratahs, Reds, Western Force, Melbourne Rebels

New Zealand Conference: Highlanders, Hurricanes, Crusaders, Chiefs, Blues

Africa 1 Conference: Stormers, Bulls, Cheetahs, Sunwolves

Africa 2 Conference: Sharks, Lions, Kings, Jaguares