Emiliano Boffelli misses South Africa Test as Argentina boss Michael Cheika rings the changes

Colin Newboult

Emiliano Boffelli in action for Argentina v Australia in 2023.

Argentina head coach Michael Cheika has made five changes to the starting XV for their final Rugby Championship encounter against South Africa.

That includes full-back Emiliano Boffelli, who is presumably being rested by the Pumas boss, having played in every game under Cheika until now.

Juan Cruz Mallia is selected in his place, joining Mateo Carreras and Juan Imhoff in the back three, which means Rodrigo Isgro is out of the 23.

Carreras moves over to the right wing to accommodate Imhoff, who is in his favoured left wing position.

Jeronimo de la Fuente also misses out

At centre, Santiago Chocobares comes into the midfield, replacing Jeronimo de le Fuente, and he partners the impressive Lucio Cinti in the centres.

There is also a chance at half-back for Lautaro Bazan Velez as he and Santiago Carreras combine in the decision-making positions.

Up front, Cheika has largely kept faith with the forward eight, with Lucas Paulos at lock as the only alteration.

He comes in for Matias Alemanno, who drops out of the squad completely, with Pedro Rubiolo the second-row cover.

On the bench, Ignacio Ruiz gets his first chance of the Rugby Championship after replacing Agustin Creevy, who is likely to feature next week in Argentina in what will be his 100th appearance for the side.

Ruiz is joined by Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro and Joel Sclavi as the other front-row replacements.

Facundo Isa, Gonzalo Bertranou, Tomas Albornoz and Matias Moroni complete the 23-man squad to face South Africa.

The team

Argentina: 15 Juan Cruz Mallia 14 Mateo Carreras, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 8 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7 Santiago Grondona, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Lucas Paulos, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Julian Montoya, 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Pedro Rubiolo, 20 Facundo Isa, 21 Gonzalo Bertranou, 22 Tomas Albornoz, 23 Matias Moroni

Date: Saturday, July 29
Venue: Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg
Kick-off: 17:05 local (16:05 BST, 15:05 GMT)
Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia), Chris Busby (Ireland)
TMO: Joy Neville (Ireland)

READ MORE: Springboks make nine changes as Duane Vermeulen returns as captain