Argentinian head coach Mario Ledesma has made 10 changes to his starting XV for his side’s second test against the Springboks on Saturday.
The game will be the Pumas final test
before heading over to Japan for the Rugby World Cup and Ledesma has given some
players a chance to prove they should be included in his final 31-man squad for
the tournament.
There are no survivors in the first five
positions following last weekend’s 46-13 thrashing at the hands of the South Africans.
That means that there is starts for Mayco
Vivas, Julian Montoya and Santiago Medrano in the front-row with Guido Petti
and Tomas Lavanini slotting in behind in the second-row.
It will be Vivas’ international debut and
after the Pumas scrum struggled during this year’s shortened Rugby Championship
it could be an ideal opportunity for him to force his way into Ledesma’s World
Cup plans.
In the back-row Javier Ortega Desio is at
No 8, with Pablo Matera and Marcos Kremer on the flanks.
There is an inexperienced half-back duo in
Felipe Ezcurra and Joaquin Diaz Bonilla, with a combined three caps, but it
allows Nicolas Sanchez some rest.
Lucas Mensa comes in at inside-centre for his debut meaning Jeronimo de la Fuente moves to outside-centre, while there is a back-three of Ramiro Moyano, Sebastian Canelliere and Joaquin Tuculet.
The Pumas may have suffered a poor Rugby
Championship campaign, but they will want to gain some momentum ahead of the
World Cup in their last game.
While they will also want to gain some valuable
points in the world rankings as they have fallen to 11th behind both
Japan and Fiji.
Although it is only a warm-up game this
could be a make or break moment in the Pumas international season.
Check out the Full 23-Man Squad Below.
Starting XV:
Joaquin Tuculet, Sebastian Cancelliere,
Jeronimo de la Fuente, Lucas Mensa, Ramiro Moyano; Joaquin Diaz Bonilla, Felipe
Ezcurra; Javier Ortega Desio, Marcos Kremer, Pablo Matera (capt); Tomas
Lavanini, Guido Petti; Santiago Medrano, Julian Montoya, Mayco Vivas.
Replacements:
Agustin Creevy, Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, Juan
Figallo, Matias Alemanno, Tomas Lezana, Gonzalo Bertranou, Benjamin
Urdapilleta, Santiago Carreras.
