Italy and Argentina to get physical
Italy coach Nick Mallett and his Argentina counterpart Santiago Phelan are clearly expecting a bruising encounter among the forwards when the teams meet at Turin's Olympic stadium on Saturday.
Italy coach Nick Mallett and his Argentina counterpart Santiago Phelan are clearly expecting a bruising encounter among the forwards when the teams meet at Turin's Olympic stadium on Saturday.
Mallett has beefed up his pack with two changes in hooker Fabio Ongaro and prop Matias Aguero replacing Leonardo Ghiraldini and Salvatore Perugini respectively.
Furthermore on the bench he has selected a second prop in the veteran Andrea Lo Cicero, so that he has a full front row to call on later in the game.
Ongaro was starting hooker the last time the sides met in June, with Italy prevailing 13-12 in Cordoba, a match that was attritional in the extreme.
It is a match he remembers well.
“In June I was first choice hooker for the win in Cordoba. The scrum will be the key,” Ongaro told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
He also feels that Italy will be helped by him and Aguero playing together on a regular basis for English side Saracens, a move that has raised the performance levels of the pair.
“It's a question of understanding,” said Ongaro.
“As it was for me three years ago his first season was difficult. Now we often play together.”
Argentina second row Patricio Albacete will be at the forefront of winning the forward battle, as he was in the Pumas' march to last year's World Cup semi-finals.
Having just come off a 12-6 loss to France in Marseilles, Albacete told ESPN he expects no let up when they visit Turin.
“Honestly, I think it'll be just as demanding. They played against Australia and only lost in the last 10 minutes. It's going to be very tough,” he said.
“We know each other very well. They have great size and I think this match will be as tough as it was against France or even tougher.”
One player who is using Argentina's autumn series to cement his place in the starting XV is scrum-half Nicolas Vergallo, who until recently was in the unenviable position of being Agustin Pichot's understudy.
However, he said that he feels that training alongside the former captain has only been to his benefit, as has playing alongside the mercurial Juan Martin Hernandez.
“Everytime I spoke with Pichot he told me I need to stay calm, the way I've always done. It was a great advice from him and I appreciate it,” said Vergallo.
“Playing alongside Juan Martin Hernandez makes it easier on me. But our rivals mark him a lot more than other players so you need to look at other alternatives.”