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Argentina change six for England from victorious XV over the Lions
By Josh Raisey
Argentina head coach Felipe Contepomi has made six changes to his starting XV to take on England on Saturday in La Plata from the one that triumphed over the British & Irish Lions two weeks ago in Dublin.
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Three changes have been made in the pack, with alterations in the front-row, second-row and back-row. Tighthead Joel Sclavi has been replace by Pedro Delgado, while Lucas Paulos has come in for Franco Molina in the engine room. Toulon No.8 Facundo Isa, who was unavailable to face the Lions with his club playing in the Top 14 semi-finals, has taken Joaquin Oviedo’s place at the back of the scrum.
In the backline, Gonzalo Bertranou has replaced Gonzalo Garcia at scrum-half, Santi Cordero will start on the left wing instead of Ignacio Mendy and Bristol Bears’ uncapped 21-year-old Benjamin Elizalde will start at full-back with Santi Carreras shifting to fly-half and Tomas Albornoz dropping out of the squad.
There are three uncapped players on what is an inexperienced bench – hooker Bautista Bernasconi, half-back Simón Benítez Cruz and wing Nicolás Roger. With that said, both Bernasconi and Benitez Cruz featured against the Lions in what was an uncapped fixture. Tighthead Francisco Coria Marchetti and flanker Joaquín Moro both have one cap, while centre Matías Moroni will provide some experience on the bench with 89 caps to his name.
Argentina XV
1. Mayco Vivas (28 caps)
2. Julián Montoya (105 caps) – captain
3. Pedro Delgado (2 caps)
4. Lucas Paulos (14 caps)
5. Pedro Rubiolo (20 caps)
6. Pablo Matera (109 caps) – vice-captain
7. Juan Martín González (40 caps)
8. Facundo Isa (51 caps)
9. Gonzalo Bertranou (67 caps)
10. Santiago Carreras (53 caps) – vice-captain
11. Santiago Cordero (54 caps)
12. Justo Piccardo (1 cap)
13. Lucio Cinti (32 caps)
14. Rodrigo Isgró (7 caps)
15. Benjamin Elizalde (uncapped)
Replacements
16. Bautista Bernasconi (uncapped)
17. Thomas Gallo (35 caps)
18. Francisco Coria Marchetti (1 cap)
19. Santiago Grondona (20 caps)
20. Joaquín Moro (1 cap)
21. Simón Benítez Cruz (uncapped)
22. Nicolás Roger (uncapped)
23. Matías Moroni (89 caps)