Argentina coach Michael Cheika has made three changes to his starting line-up for Saturday’s Rugby Championship test against the All Blacks from the team who thrashed Australia 48-17 in their last outing.
Two of the changes and a bench overhaul were forced by Cheika’s decision to leave front-row forwards Francisco Gómez Kodela, Agustín Creevy and Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro out of the squad, as well as winger Juan Imhoff for the trip to New Zealand.
Although Argentina leads the Rugby Championship standings after the first two rounds, Cheika knows she must manage the playing time of her more experienced players with an eye on next year’s World Cup.
Joel Sclavi steps up from the bench to replace Gomez Kodela at right prop, and Lucio Cinti, nominally a centre, will start at left wing instead of Imhoff, adding a bit more volume to the Pumas’ Christchurch backline.
The third change was an enforced tweak to the midfield, Matias Orlando coming in at inside centre to partner Matias Moroni in place of Jeronimo de la Fuente, who pulled a hamstring in the act of scoring a try against the Wallabies.
On the bench, Santiago Socino will back up skipper Julian Montoya at hooker and props Mayco Vivas and Eduardo Bello have come in to cover the other spots in the front row.
Lock Guido Petti replaces Facundo Isa, Santiago Grondona has been selected to back up the loose forwards instead of Rodrigo Bruni, and winger Santiago Cordero covers the outside backs.
Cheika was an advisor to the team when the Pumas earned their first win over New Zealand in Sydney two years ago and said he would like nothing better than to lead Argentina to their maiden victory over the All Blacks in their backyard.
Having been on the losing side more often than not against New Zealand when he was Australia’s coach, including in the 2015 World Cup final, Cheika knows that will be easier said than done.
“Realistically, everyone expects them to dust us in the two games at home,” he told New Zealand’s Sky TV this week.
“The only people who have got to think the opposite is us, and we’ve got to try and win small battles along the way. We’ve got to try and work out how can we put them under pressure and make them have to deal with the challenge from us …”
Team: 15-Juan Cruz Mallia, 14-Emiliano Boffelli, 13-Matias Moroni, 12-Matias Orlando, 11-Lucio Cinti, 10-Santiago Carreras, 9-Gonzalo Bertranou, 8-Pablo Matera, 7-Marcos Kremer, 6-Juan Martin Gonzalez, 5-Tomas Lavanini, 4-Matias Alemanno, 3-Joel Sclavi, 2-Julian Montoya (captain), 1-Thomas Gallo
Replacements: 16-Santiago Socino, 17-Mayco Vivas, 18-Eduardo Bello, 19-Guido Petti, 20-Santiago Grondona, 21-Tomas Cubeli, 22-Tomas Albornoz, 23-Santiago Cordero.