Considering the battle Los Pumas have faced simply reaching the starting line in Sydney, they arrive with a solid looking 22. The problem for Mario Ledesma is it has been over a year since Argentina’s last international fixture, and eight months since the Jaguares turned out in Super Rugby, so there’s bound to be some ring rust.
Three debutants have been handed a baptism of fire, but only centre Santiago Chocobares is in the starting side with Santiago Grondona and Lucio Cinti entering from the bench.
Ledesma can rely on 30-somethings Tomás Cubelli and Nicolás Sánchez to provide quality and experience in the 9 and 10 jerseys, while the typically formidable pack features five players with at least 50 caps, including Guido Petti, the lock who won the most lineouts in last year’s Rugby Championship.
Ledesma is keen to hit the ground running but is aware match practice deficit compared to the Bledisloe-hardened All Blacks. “New Zealand and Australia have had friction and intensity, we have already seen that in Super Rugby and the first games of the Tri Nations,†he said. “We would have preferred to play more games during our preparation but that’s what we had to do and we will not make excuses. We are capable of running ball back at opponents, it is a strength of this team and of Argentine rugby generally. The three players at the back are specialists in aerial play.â€
1.Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2.Julián Montoya, 3.Francisco Gómez Kodela, 4.Guido Petti, 5.MatÃas Alemanno, 6.Pablo Matera (c), 7.Marcos Kremer, 8.Rodrigo Bruni; 9.Tomás Cubelli, 10.Nicolás Sánchez, 11.Juan Imhoff, 12.Santiago Chocobares, 13.MatÃas Orlando, 14.Bautista Delguy, 15.Santiago Carreras.
Bench: 16.Facundo Bosch, 17.Mayco Vivas, 18.Santiago Medrano, 19.Santiago Grondona, 20.Tomás Lezana, 21.Gonzalo Bertranou, 22.Lucio Cinti, 23.Santiago Cordero.
