Argentina Australian coach Mikhail Cheika did seven changes to his squad were announced on Thursday for the weekend clash with the world champions South Africa in Buenos Aires.
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Reeling from a painful 53-3 thrashing of New Zealand in their last clash, Cheika decided to change both props, with Eduardo Bello introduced on the field and Nahuel Tetaz Chaparo in the stands, while Tomas Gallo and Joel Scalvi dropped to the bench.
There are two more changes to the pack, with Mathias Alemanno recalled under lock and Juan MartÃn González, a blind pick.
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Gonzalo Bertrana is ahead of Tomaso Cubelli at scrum-half, Jeronimo De La Fuente returns from injury in the center and Lucio Cinti is selected on the left wing.
Bertranu, Cinti, Gonzalez and Alemanno started in the Pumas’ historic first win over the All Blacks in New Zealand three weeks ago but were dropped to the bench the following week as Argentina suffered the three-time world champions’ worst defeat since entering the Rugby Championship.
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With two wins – they also beat Australia 48-17 in San Juan last month – and two losses, Argentina remain in with a chance of winning the Rugby Championship for the first time.
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They face an unchanged South Africa side with a starting XV that kept their championship hopes alive two weeks ago with a 24-8 bonus-point win in Australia.
The match will be held at the Libertadores de America stadium. 21:10 (SA time) on Saturday after the original venue, the Jose Amalfitani Stadium, failed a pitch inspection earlier in the week.
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COMMANDS:
Argentina
15 Juan Cruz Malla; 14 Emiliano Bafelli, 13 Jeronimo De La Fuente, 12 Matias Orlando, 11 Lucia Cinti; 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Gonzalo Bertrand; 8 Pablo Matera, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez; 5 Tomáš Lavanini, 4 Matias Allemana; 3 Eduardo Bello, 2 Julián Montoya (captain), 1 Nauel Tetas Chaparro
Substitutes: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Thomas Gallo, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Guido Petty, 20 Rodrigo Bruni, 21 Thomas Kubelli, 22 Benjamin Urdapileto, 23 Mathias Maroni
South Africa
15 Willy le Roux, 14 Kanan Moody, 13 Jesse Creel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Jayden Hendrickse, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Sia Collisi (capt), 5 Lud de Jaeger, 4 Eben Etzebet, 3 Frans Mahlerb, 2 Malcolm Marks, 1 Stephen Kitzgoff
Subs: 16 Deon Fourier, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Trevor Nyakan, 19 Elri Louw, 20 Quagga Smith, 21 Faf de Klerk, 22 Andre Esterhuizen, 23 Frans Steyn
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Garin Lambley © Agence France-Presse
