Argentina team: Juan Martin Gonzalez starts against All Blacks but star wing misses out
Juan Martin Gonzalez and Mateo Carreras start for Argentina against New Zealand.
Argentina head coach Felipe Contepomi has made two changes to his starting XV for their Rugby Championship rematch with the All Blacks in Buenos Aires on Saturday.
There is one alteration to both the forward pack and backline as Los Pumas look to respond from a Round One defeat in Cordoba that saw them go down to a 41-24 loss.
A scorer last week, Rodrigo Isgró, is missing from the matchday 23 entirely and has been replaced by Mateo Carreras, with Bautista Delguy swapping wings in the move.
Two changes
The other tweak to Contepomi’s XV sees Juan Martin Gonzalez promoted from bench duty in place of Marco Kremer in a straight swap from last week’s opening meeting.
That means Gonzalo García and the impressive Tomás Albornoz continue as the half-back combination while Santiago Chocobares and Lucio Cinti are the midfield pairing.
Juan Cruz Mallía continues in the full-back jersey and will look to provide a spark to Los Pumas attack in what is a must-win match for their Rugby Championship hopes.
Up front it’s the same front-row of Mayco Vivas and Pedro Delgado either side of hooker and captain Julián Montoya with Franco Molina and Pedro Rubiolo the two locks.
Joining the tireless Gonzalez in the back-row is the hulking Pablo Matera and Joaquín Oviedo, who will pack down on the blindside flank and at number eight respectively.
Kremer is set to emerge off the bench alongside Ignacio Ruiz, Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, Joel Sclavi, Guido Petti, Simón Benítez Cruz, Santiago Carreras and Justo Piccardo.
Argentina squad to face All Blacks
Argentina: 15 Juan Cruz Mallía, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Tomás Albornoz, 9 Gonzalo García, 8 Joaquín Oviedo, 7 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Franco Molina, 3 Pedro Delgado, 2 Julián Montoya (c), 1 Mayco Vivas
Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Marcos Kremer, 21 Simón Benítez Cruz, 22 Santiago Carreras, 23 Justo Piccardo
Date: Saturday, August 23
Venue: Estado Velez Sarsfield, Buenos Aires
Kick-off: 18:10 local (09:10 NZST, 22:10 BST, 21:10 GMT)
Referee: Nic Berry (RA)
Assistant referees: Pierre Brousset (FFR), Morné Ferreira (SARU)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU)
FPRO: Damon Murphy (RA)