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Match-starved Argentina name rookie midfielder for Puma's first test in 13 months
The All Blacks will take on the Pumas in their first meeting of the Tri Nations on Saturday – the first test for the Argentineans since last year’s Rugby World Cup.
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Argentina have been one of the hardest hit teams in world rugby by the pandemic, with several players and coach Mario Ledesma contracting the virus this year.
It means the Argentineans will be a relatively unknown prospect heading into their first test of the year.
Here’s all you need to know about the team to face the All Blacks and everything the South Americans have gone through to get here.
Argentina team to face the All Blacks
Ledesma has named three new faces in the side to face the All Blacks at Bankwest Stadium.
Flanker Pablo Matera captains the side, while Santiago Chocobares will make his debut at centre.
Santiago Grondona and Lucio Cinti are also set to make their test debuts from the bench.
Argentina team: 1. Nahuel Tetaz Chapparo, 2. Julian Montoya, 3. Francisco Gómez-Kodela, 4. Guido Petti, 5. Matias Alemanno, 6. Pablo Matera (c), 7. Marcos Kremer, 8. Rodrigo Bruni, 9. Tomas Cubelli, 10. Nicolas Sánchez, 11. Juan Imhoff, 12. Santiago Chocobares*, 13. Matias Orlando, 14. Bautista Delguy, 15. Santiago Carreras.
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Reserves: 16. Facundo Bosch, 17. Mayco Vivas, 18. Santiago Medrano, 19. Santiago Grondona*, 20. Tomas Lezana, 21. Gonzalo Bertranou, 22. Lucio Cinti*, 23. Santiago Cordero.
Preparations ahead of Tri Nations
Having not played a test in over a year, the Argentineans will be coming into the clash relatively cold compared to the All Blacks who have played four tests against the Wallabies in five weeks.
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After undergoing a two-week quarantine in Australia last month, the Pumas faced an Australia XV twice in warm-up matches, winning both.
Ledesma’s side beat the Australian team featuring several fringe Wallabies 19-15 in the first clash, then went on to beat the Aussies again in a sensational 57-24 victory, a game that consisted of three 30-minute periods.
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There was probably not a lot to learn from the warm-up games but don’t rule out a strong and hungry side rushing off the blocks against the All Blacks.
While the two victories were a good sign for the Argentineans, facing a battle-hardened All Blacks team looking to bounce back from a loss will be a daunting task.
Pandemic challenges
Pumas No 8 Rodrigo Bruni said his side are motivated to put on a strong performance for the fans in Argentina, where the pandemic has hit hard.
“The key to this week is to give up everything for this jersey,” Bruni said at training.
“The thing I highlight most about this group is that they never give up.
“A few months ago we were training and didn’t know whether we were going to play.”
It’s been a long road to Australia for the Pumas, with more than a dozen players and staff, including head coach Ledesma, testing positive for Covid-19 at a training camp in Argentina.
No favours given to Argentina as Foster names his side. #NZLvARG #TriNations2020 https://t.co/F7phoTFJ1J
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 12, 2020
The Springboks, who didn’t report any positive tests, withdrew from the Rugby Championship anyway due to worries about player safety from a lack of match practice.
However, the Argentineans were determined to make it to Australia for the tournament despite the challenges they’ve faced. The Argentine union’s financial situation also probably put more pressure on the need to join the competition at all cost.
The return of Michael Cheika
The familiar face of Michael Cheika will be amongst the Pumas coaching staff, with the former Wallabies coach joining Ledesma’s team as an assistant helping with logistics and tactical advice.
Cheika, who reunited with his former scrum coach Ledesma, says he’s been impressed with the spirit and work ethic in Pumas camp in the face of adversity.
“They are hungry to get a feeling of the jersey and to play at the next level,” he said.
“(They are) also very mindful because there are a lot of people in Argentina who don’t have this chance so they want to be well prepared.”
Cheika, of course, was replaced by Kiwi Dave Rennie after a disappointing World Cup campaign.
Comments on RugbyPass
This just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
16 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
16 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
4 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
4 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
16 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
16 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
4 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
16 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
16 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
16 Go to comments