Why Cheika picked Sevens star Isgro to debut against Wallabies

Sevens superstar Rodrigo Isgro, an Olympic bronze medallist in Tokyo 2020 and selected in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Team of the recently finished season, is one of four changes in a Pumas side to play the Wallabies in Parramatta on Saturday.

Having lost the first Rugby Championship game against the All Blacks five days ago, and having crossed the Pacific Ocean, coach Michael Cheika has selected Isgro ahead of more experienced wingers in the squad.

“I expect him to fulfil his role. It is an opportunity for him and he has been growing back as a fifteens player. He was close to selection last week, and every day is an opportunity for him.”

“We are not expecting anything extraordinary from him; we’ll be seeing how he performs during his first test,” said Cheika in explaining a selection that many believed would have been last weekend.

In the backs, Matías Moroni is dropped to the bench and Jerónimo de la Fuente comes in at 12 with Lucio Cinti moving to outside centre.

In the forwards, Frankie Gómez Kodela takes Lucio Sordoni’s place after the prop that scored against the All Blacks was not even on the plane to Sydney.

No 8 Rodrigo Bruni also drops to the bench with Santiago Grondona coming in as openside flanker and Juan Martín González taking Bruni’s position.

Juggling with players at different stages of preparation as they finished their overseas seasons at different times, “we are trying to help all of them to be ready.”

An example he gave was that “Facundo Isa (one of Toulon’s current stars) will be ready in a week’s time.”

After a below par start to the season, the panic button is not even being considered.

Obligatory rest was such that Cheika had to tell some players to take time off and hit the beach and rest, “because they wanted to keep training.”

From the team selected last week against the All Blacks, each player was on a different trajectory – “some hadn’t played for six, seven weeks; other longer.”

“I tell them to prepare for the day to day. What I can do today, and then things will happen rather than think what might happen and wait for that to happen.”

Dressed in the colours as the Waratahs but with a Puma badge, as the coach jokingly pointed out before the start of the press conference, Cheika spoke glowingly of his former Randwick teammate Eddie Jones and his Wallabies.

“I am really more focused on our game,” he said. “But having coached that team, they will always be turned on and it will be a very hard game; we need that challenge to be ready, to be in enemy territory and try to get a victory.”

“I haven’t spoken with Eddie this week, we’ll certainly get together after the game. He is a quality coach that can, and will, add a lot to the team. You always want to go against quality coaches.”

And he added: “It was a good call by Rugby Australia to bring him back.”

Los Pumas are aiming not so much on individual growth but “in a coordination of the team; not having played together for quite some time, we need to connect as team, in a match environment. Out attacking and defensive systems, our set pieces…”

The stated goal is not necessarily to win now, but to get the team ready for Rugby World Cup. The best possibly starting XV will only be known in the week before the England game in Rugby World Cup.

“There are two types of pressure: from outside and from within. I put myself in a pressure environment to get better and see what I can offer the team. I am very hard with myself, I’ve already asked a lot of questions.”

“If you’ve put yourself under pressure, then the external pressure you are ready for.”

“We want more connection on how we perform our individual roles and together as a team. We don’t want to bounce back (from the All Blacks), we want to grow. We don’t want to fix things this week that so that we are comfortable and feel better. We want to be uncomfortable so that when we get to the World Cup we are ready.”

Searching for balance in his squad, the pivotal number 10 jersey continues in the ownership of Santiago Carreras.

“What we are doing with all players including first five is to have a good balance, getting that connection and giving opportunities to players. Nico Sánchez played 30 minutes, the most we’ve had him for more than a year.”

Whilst Sanchez has 96 tests to his name, the newest of the three is Tomás Albornoz, probably a prospect for after France 2023.

“(Gonzalo) Bertranou (at nine) and Carreras is the combination we are going for.”

Both teams had to cross several time zones to arrive in Sydney. It took Los Pumas almost thirty hours to reach their Coogee headquarters.

“There is no science with jet-lag. We take as much information we can about how we all adapt to time change. It took us 26 hours to get here. First night we everybody slept well and in our first day, we took sun, did walk throughs. I believe that by Friday we’ll be ready to go.”

Ready and sorting some of the many problems the team had against the All Blacks will create the momentum Cheika wants ahead of Rugby World Cup.

Los Pumas side to play Australia:

1. Thomas Gallo (14 caps)
2. Julián Montoya (captain; 86 caps)
3. Francisco Gómez Kodela (28 caps)
4. Matías Alemanno (85 caps)
5. Tomás Lavanini (79 caps)
6. Pablo Matera (92 caps)
7. Santiago Grondona (11 caps)
8. Juan Martín González (21 caps)
9. Gonzalo Bertranou (50 caps)
10. Santiago Carreras (32 caps)
11. Mateo Carreras (8 caps)
12. Jerónimo de la Fuente (74 caps)
13. Lucio Cinti (13 caps)
14. Rodrigo Isgro (uncapped)
15. Emiliano Boffelli (51 caps)

Reserves

16.  Agustín Creevy (98 caps)
17. Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro (76 caps)
18. Eduardo Bello (11 caps)
19. Lucas Paulos (10 caps)
20. Rodrigo Bruni (19 caps)
21. Lautaro Bazán Velez (4 caps)
22. Nicolás Sánchez (96 caps)
23. Matías Moroni (70 caps)