NANTES: Nicolas Sanchez will win his 100th cap for Argentina when he lines up at fly-half against Chile in Nantes on Saturday in the first Rugby World Cup clash between two South American teams.
The Pumas’ all-time leading points scorer, Sanchez won his 99th cap off the bench in the 19-10 win over Samoa last week but will start the match at Stade de la Beaujoire.
The only other Argentine to have made a century of test appearances, hooker Agustin Creevy, will also get a rare start as coach Michael Cheika rests some of his regular starters after the Samoa win and a loss to England.
Centre Jeronimo de la Fuente will captain the side in the absence of Julian Montoya, while Sanchez will take over the place-kicking duties from the rested Emiliano Boffelli.
Starting winger Rodrigo Isgro and full-back Martin Bogado will get their first taste of Rugby World Cup action, while hooker Ignacio Ruiz and loose forward Joaquin Oviedo could make their tournament debuts off the bench.
“This group is ready to play. All the training sessions are hard and there is a lot of competition among the 33 players in the squad,” Cheika told a press conference.
“The changes were not planned in advance. What we believe is that this is the team that is ready to play this important match for us”.
Argentina will be expected to make light work of a Chile side that was crushed 71-0 by pool leaders England last week as they seek a return to the knockout stages after missing out in 2019.
Argentina, however, will not take the game lightly in a very tight Pool D.
“The match with Chile is very important, it’s a final as we say. That’s why it’s key that the whole team is well-focused to continue working for this World Cup,” De La Fuente said.
Argentina are fourth on four points, one behind second-placed Samoa and third-placed Japan, who face each other today.
Group leaders England will take on Samoa and Argentina will face Japan in the last round of pool matches.
Argentina squad
15-Martin Bogado, 14-Rodrigo Isgro, 13-Lucio Cinti, 12-Jeronimo de la Fuente (C), 11-Juan Imhoff, 10-Nicolas Sanchez, 9-Tomas Cubelli, 8-Facundo Isa, 7-Marcos Kremer, 6-Juan Martin Gonzalez, 5-Pedro Rubiolo, 4-Guido Petti, 3-Eduardo Bello, 2-Augustin Creevy, 1-Thomas Gallo
Replacements: 16-Ignacio Ruiz, 17-Mayco Vivas, 18-Francisco Gomez Kodela, 19-Matias Alemanno, 20-Joaquin Oviedo, 21-Lautaro Bazan Velez, 22-Santiago Carreras, 23-Juan Cruz Mallia
