Mario Ledesma sticks to his guns for France showdown
Gonzalo Bertranou is the only new face in Argentina’s starting XV for Saturday’s clash with France at Stade Pierre-Mauroy.
Los Pumas were beaten 28-17 by Ireland last weekend, but coach Mario Ledesma has nevertheless stuck to his guns. After all, 2018 has largely been a successful year for his outfit.
Ledesma will be hoping that his players can rediscover the formula which led to victories over Australia and South Africa during the Rugby Championship.
Having been promoted from the bench, Bertranou trades places with Tomas Cubelli, who started at scrum-half against Ireland. Another alteration to the replacements sees Mariano Galarza replace Joaquin Diaz Bonilla.
[playbuzz-item item=”28892029-7832-48a5-a98c-8777b3ee5507″ info=”false” shares=”false” undefined=”bookmark” wp-pb-id=”85627″]
France and Argentina have been grouped together in Pool C for next year’s World Cup, and Ledesma has revealed that he is looking to use Saturday’s clash to gain a psychological advantage.
“If you win this meeting at this time of the year, it will give the boys confidence and doubt for the French,” he has been quoted as saying by France Info.
“Next year at the World Cup, we will be in the same conditions and the best will win.”
Argentina: 15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Jeronimo De La Fuente, 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 7 Guido Petti, 6 Pablo Matera (c), 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Matias Alemanno, 3 Santiago Medrano, 2 Augustin Creevy, 1 Santiago Garcia Botta
Replacements: 16 Julian Montoya, 17 Juan Pablo Zeiss, 18 Lucio Sordoni, 19 Mariano Galarza, 20 Rodrigo Bruni, 21 Tomas Lezana, 22 Tomas Cubelli, 23 Matias Moroni
Date: Saturday, November 17
Venue: Stade Pierre Mauroy
Kick-off: 21:05 local (20:05 GMT)
Referee: Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Matthew Carley (England), Ian Davies (Wales)
TMO: David Grashoff (England)