Mid-year internationals Team Tracker: Argentina ring the changes for England clash while Saracens star to make Scotland debut
Argentina star Pablo Matera and Saracens and Scotland fly-half Fergus Burke (inset).
Check out the teams ahead of the second weekend of the mid-year international action, which is headlined by New Zealand’s clash with France and Argentina’s game against England.
Los Pumas head coach Felipe Contepomi has rung the changes to his starting line-up for his side’s rematch with the Red Rose in San Juan on Saturday, after they lost the corresponding Test in La Plata last weekend.
There are seven alterations in all, with vice-captain Pablo Matera shifting from the flank to number eight, where he replaces Facundo Isa, one of the most notable changes, while Argentina stalwart Guido Petti comes in for Lucas Paulos in the second row.
Meanwhile, Saracens fly-half Fergus Burke will make his first Test appearance for Scotland when they take on Fiji in Suva.
Former New Zealand U20 representative Burke, who qualifies for Scotland through his Edinburgh-born grandfather, was also involved in his country’s narrow victory over the Maori All Blacks last weekend.
Saturday
Fiji v Scotland
HFC Bank Stadium, Suva
Fiji: 15 Salesi Rayasi, 14 Kalaveti Ravouvou, 13 Sireli Maqala, 12 Josua Tuisova, 11 Jiuta Wainiqolo, 10 Caleb Muntz, 9 Simione Kuruvoli, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Elia Canakaivata, 6 Lekima Tagitagivalu, 5 Temo Mayanavanua, 4 Isoa Nasilasila, 3 Mesake Doge, 2 Tevita Ikanivere, 1 Eroni Mawi
Replacements: 16 Samuel Matavesi, 17 Haereiti Hetet, 18 Samuela Tawake, 19 Mesake Vocevoce, 20 Albert Tuisue, 21 Sam Wye, 22 Isaiah Armstrong-Ravula, 23 Vilimoni Botitu
Scotland: 15 Kyle Rowe, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Cameron Redpath, 12 Tom Jordan, 11 Kyle Steyn, 10 Fergus Burke, 9 Jamie Dobie, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge (c), 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Marshall Sykes, 3 Elliot Millar Mills, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Rory Sutherland
Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Max Williamson, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 George Horne, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Ollie Smith
Japan v Wales
Kobe Misaki Stadium, Kobe
Japan: 15 Ichigo Nakakusu, 14 Kippei Ishida, 13 Dylan Riley, 12 Shogo Nakano, 11 Halatoa Vailea, 10 Lee Seungsin, 9 Naoto Saito, 8 Faulua Makisi, 7 Jack Cornelsen, 6 Michael Leitch (c), 5 Warner Dearns, 4 Epineri Uluiviti, 3 Keijiro Tamefusa, 2 Mamoru Harada, 1 Yota Kamimori
Replacements: 16 Hayate Era, 17 Sena Kimura, 18 Shuhei Takeuchi, 19 Waisake Raratubua, 20 Ben Gunter, 21 Shinobu Fujiwara, 22 Sam Greene, 23 Kazuma Ueda
Wales: 15 Blair Murray, 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Johnny Williams, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Josh Adams, 10 Dan Edwards, 9 Kieran Hardy, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Josh Macleod, 6 Alex Mann, 5 Teddy Williams, 4 Freddie Thomas, 3.Archie Griffin, 2 Dewi Lake (c), 1 Nicky Smith
Replacements: 16 Liam Belcher, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Christian Coleman, 19 James Ratti, 20 Taine Plumtree, 21 Tommy Reffell, 22 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 23 Keelan Giles
New Zealand v France
Sky Stadium, Wellington
New Zealand: 15 Will Jordan, 14 Emoni Narawa, 13 Billy Proctor, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Christian Lio-Willie, 7 Ardie Savea (c), 6 Tupou Vaa’i, 5 Fabian Holland, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu, 3 Fletcher Newell, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot
Replacements: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 Ollie Norris, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Samipeni Finau, 20 Du’Plessis Kirifi, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Timoci Tavatavanawai, 23 Damian McKenzie
France: 15 Léo Barré, 14 Théo Attissogbe, 13 Nicolas Depoortère, 12 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 11 Émilien Gailleton, 10 Joris Segonds, 9 Nolann Le Garrec, 8 Esteban Abadie, 7 Jacobus Van Tonder, 6 Pierre Bochaton, 5 Matthias Halagahu, 4 Joshua Brennan, 3 Georges-Henri Colombe, 2 Gaëtan Barlot (c), 1 Baptiste Erdocio
Replacements: 16 Pierre Bourgarit, 17 Paul Mallez, 18 Régis Montagne, 19 Romain Taofifenua, 20 Cameron Woki, 21 Bastien Vergnes-Taillefer, 22 Thibault Daubagna, 23 Antoine Hastoy
AUNZ v British & Irish Lions
Adelaide Oval
AUNZ Invitational XV: 15 Shaun Stevenson, 14 AJ Lam, 13 Ngani Laumape, 12 David Havili (cc), 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Tane Edmed, 9 Folau Fakatava, 8 Hoskins Sotutu, 7 Pete Samu, 6 Shannon Frizell, 5 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto (cc), 4 Angus Blyth, 3 Jeffery Toomaga-Allen, 2 Brandon Paenga-Amosa,
1 Aidan Ross
Replacements: 16 Kurt Eklund, 17 Joshua Fusitu’a, 18 George Dyer, 19 Matt Philip, 20 Joe Brial, 21 Kalani Thomas, 22 Harry McLaughlin-Phillips, 23 Jock Campbell
British & Irish Lions: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Ben White, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Jac Morgan, 6 Henry Pollock, 5 Tadhg Beirne (c), 4 James Ryan, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Andrew Porter, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Alex Mitchell, 22 Marcus Smith, 23 Owen Farrell
South Africa v Italy
Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Gqeberha
South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Salmaan Moerat (c), 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Thomas du Toit
Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Evan Roos, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Ethan Hooker
Italy: 15 Mirko Belloni, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Marco Zanon, 11 Jacopo Trulla, 10 Giacomo Da Re, 9 Alessandro Garbisi, 8 Ross Vintcent, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 Niccolò Cannone (c), 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements: 16 Pablo Dimcheff, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Muhamed Hasa, 19 Matteo Canali, 20 Alessandro Izekor, 21 David Odiase, 22 Stephen Varney, 23 Giulio Bertaccini
Portugal v Ireland
Estadio Nacional do Jamor, Lisbon
Portugal: 15 Nuno Sousa Guedes, 14 Simao Bento, 13 Vincent Pinto, 12 Tomas Appleton, 11 Manuel Cardoso Pinto, 10 Hugo Aubry, 9 Hugo Gomes Camacho, 8 Diego Pinheiro Ruiz, 7 Nicolas Martins, 6 David Wallis de Carvalho, 5 Pedro Ferreira, 4 Antonio Rebelo de Andrade, 3 Diogo Hasse Ferreira, 2 Luka Begic, 1 David Costa
Replacements: 16 Abel da Cunha, 17 Pedro Santiago Lopes, 18 Martim Souto, 19 Guilherme Costa, 20 Francisco Almeida, 21 Vasco Baptista, 22 Antonio Campos, 23 Gabriel Aviragnet
Ireland: 15 Jimmy O’Brien, 14 Tommy O’Brien, 13 Hugh Gavin, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Shayne Bolton, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey (c), 8 Cian Prendergast, 7 Alex Kendellen, 6 Ryan Baird, 5 Darragh Murray, 4 Tom Ahern, 3 Thomas Clarkson, 2 Gus McCarthy, 1 Jack Boyle
Replacements: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Michael Milne, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Cormac Izuchukwu, 20 Max Deegan, 21 Ben Murphy, 22 Ciaran Frawley, 23 Calvin Nash
Argentina v England
Estadio Bicentenario, San Juan
Argentina: 15 Benjamin Elizalde, 14 Matias Moroni, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Justo Piccardo, 11 Ignacio Mendy, 10 Santi Carreras, 9 Simon Benitez Cruz, 8 Pablo Matera, 7 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 6 Santiago Grondona, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Julian Montoya, 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Pedro Delgado, 19 Lucas Paulos, 20 Facundo Isa, 21 Benjamin Grondona, 22 Agustin Moyano, 23 Nicolas Roge
England: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Luke Northmore, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Will Muir, 10 George Ford (cc), 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Ben Curry, 5 Alex Coles, 4 Charlie Ewels, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Jamie George (cc), 1 Fin Baxter
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 19 Chandler Cunningham-South, 20 Guy Pepper, 21 Alex Dombrandt, 22 Jack van Poortvliet, 23 Cadan Murley