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Argentina coach Daniel Hourcade has switched his wingers and replaced suspended lock Tomas Lavanini with Matias Alemanno for the Rugby Championship match against Australia on the Gold Coast on Saturday. |
Juan Imhoff has been promoted to right wing from the bench to replace Horacio Agulla with Manuel Montero coming in for Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino on the left in the team named yesterday.
Alemanno, named on the bench for Argentina’s 28-9 loss to New Zealand last week, will start against the Wallabies after Lavanini was banned for a week for charging into a ruck and making contact with All Blacks captain Richie McCaw.
Hourcade has shaken up his bench, bringing front rower Bruno Postiglioni, flanker Benjamin Macome and centre Jeronimo De la Fuente into the matchday 23 as Argentina bid to break their winless record in their third season of the four-nation southern hemisphere tournament.
Lavanini will be missed, centre Juan Martin Hernandez told reporters.
“He’s a great player, a lock who is like a tractor on the field, going forward all the time, he’s very aggressive, a big loss to the team,” he said of the two-metre 21-year-old.
Lavanini was preferred in the squad to Patricio Albacete, dropped by Hourcade whose revamp of the team now leaves only four survivors from the side that finished third at the 2007 World Cup, including Hernandez.
Hernandez said Australia were just as tough as New Zealand and South Africa, even if they are the only one of the three big southern hemisphere nations Argentina have beaten - four times between 1979 and 1997. The head-to-head record includes 16 wins for the Wallabies and a draw.
“They’ve just beaten South Africa when no-one thought they would and that means we must go into the match as we did against the other rivals,” Hernandez said.
“They are a very technical team, they have very good running lines and move the ball well. If you let them gain in confidence they can hurt you so we mustn’t let them have the ball, not let them get into the match.”
The Pumas are happier in dry conditions and Hernandez said he hoped the weather would be good on Saturday.
“The coaching staff give us the confidence to go and play and take the game to our opponents. Let’s hope the climate on Saturday allows us to show our game and we hope to have a better match than against the All Blacks.”
Team: 15-Joaquin Tuculet, 14-Juan Imhoff, 13-Marcelo Bosch, 12-Juan Martin Hernandez, 11-Manuel Montero, 10-Nicolas Sanchez, 9-Martin Landajo, 8-Leonardo Senatore, 7-Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe 6-Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 5-Matias Alemanno, 4-Mariano Galarza, 3-Ramiro Herrera, 2-Agustin Creevy (captain), 1-Marcos Ayerza
Replacements: 16-Matias Cortese, 17-Bruno Postiglioni, 18-Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 19-Benjamin Macome, 20-Rodrigo Baez, 21- Tomas Cubelli, 22-Jeronimo De la Fuente, 23-Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino
