Argentina: Julian Montoya joins illustrious Los Pumas club as Felipe Contepomi beefs up his pack for second Australia Test
Julian Montoya will become the fourth Los Pumas player to reach 100 Test matches.
Argentina head coach Felipe Contepomi has made four changes to his Los Pumas matchday 23 for the second match against Australia.
Following the 19-20 defeat to the Wallabies in round three of the Rugby Championship, Contepomi has made key changes in the pack and an alternation at fly-half.
The Pumas still have a slim chance of winning the tournament provided that the Springboks do not claim a bonus point victory over the All Blacks in Cape Town.
They will however need to bounce back against Australia this weekend with a bonus point victory of their own.
Argentina team v Australia
The clash in Santa Fe will see captain and hooker Julian Montoya become just the fourth Los Pumas player to notch up 100 Test caps for Argentina following in the footsteps of recently retired legend Agustin Creevy, fly-half Nicolas Sanchez and back-rower Pablo Matera.
It will also be the 37th time that Montoya skipper the team and he starts in an unchanged front row that includes loosehead prop Thomas Gallo and tighthead Joel Sclavi.
There is a significant change in the second row as the experienced pairing of Gudio Petti and Tomas Lavanini replaces Pedro Rubiolo and Franco Molina as the starting locks. Rubiolo misses the second clash against Australia due to a concussion while Molina drops down to the bench.
Juan Martin Gonzalez, Marcos Kremer and Pablo Matera start in an unchanged loose trio while scrum-half Gonzalo Bertranou has a new halfback partner as Tomas Albornoz grabs the starting role after a stunning cameo off the bench in Buenos Aires.
Santiago Chocobares and Lucio Cinti retain their starting roles in the midfield while Bautista Delguy comes in for Santiago Cordero on the right wing. Juan Cruz Mallia is starting fullback once again with the brilliant Mateo Carreras on the left.
Creevy played his final game for Argentina last week as he hung up his Test boots and his void on the bench is filled by Ignacio Ruiz. Mayco Vivas and Eduardo Bello provide further front-row cover while Molina, Joaquin Oviedo and Santiago Grondona complete the six forwards named on the bench.
Lautaro Bazan Velez sustained a muscle strain last weekend and is replaced by Gonzalo Garcia as the replacement scrum-half with last week’s starting fly-half Santiago Carreras also included amongst the replacements.
Los Pumas v Wallabies
Argentina: 15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Gudio Petti, 3 Joel Sclavi, 2 Julian Montoya, 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Joaquin Oviedo, 21 Santiago Grondona, 22 Gonzalo Garcia, 23 Santiago Carreras
Date: Saturday, 7 September
Venue: Brigadier Estanislao Lopez Stadium, Santa Fe
Local kick-off: 16:00
GMT kick-off: 19:00
NZL kick-off: 7:00 (Sunday, 8 September)
AUS (AEST) kick-off: 5:00 (Sunday, 8 September)
RSA kick-off: 21:00
ARG kick-off: 16:00
Venue: Estadio Brigadier Estanislao Lopez, Santa Fé
Referee: Pierre Brousset (FFR)
Assistant Referees: Ben O’Keeffe (NZR), James Doleman (NZR)
TMO: Marius Jonker (SARU)
READ MORE: How the Springboks can win the Rugby Championship with two rounds to spare
