Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
Los Pumas Head Coach Daniel Hourcade has handed scrumhalf Tomás Cubelli with the captaincy for Saturday’s Rugby World Cup warm-up match against the Leicester Tigers. The South Americans will face the most successful club in the history of the Aviva Premiership at Welford Road in Leicester.
In what is to be Argentina’s final match before the Rugby World Cup Cubelli will captain his country in place of Agustín Creevy who is one of only two World Cup members to miss the fixture. Creevy has earned a rest while Ramiro Herrera is the other non-involved player as he continues his recovery.
Daniel Hourcade’s approach to the fixture is a genuine training match ahead of the World Cup and has selected accordingly. “We have not applied any punctual strategy for this match, but we are to utilize our usual game plan.”
Hourcade also paid tribute to veteran loosehead prop Marcos Ayerza who is to be honored by the Leicester Tigers with the match being his testimony. “when a player serves such an important club like the Leicester Tigers for 10 years, that says it all. We are very happy to join this party for Marcos”.
The players named to start are close to being the same to that of the team likely to face New Zealand in Argentina’s opening Rugby World Cup fixture. Potential changes will see Agustín Creevy and Pablo Matera coming in for Julián Montoya and Javier Ortega Desio.
The match is to be the second of it’s kind. The teams have met once previously with Argentina winning 41-21 in the build-up to Rugby World Cup 2007.
Due to it being a non-capped international fixture there is no limitation to the number of substitutions. Kick-off is scheduled for 11am Argentine this Saturday.
Argentina
1 Marcos Ayerza, 2 Julián Montoya, 3 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 4 Guido Petti Pagadizabal, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 6 Javier Ortega Desio, 7 Juan Martin Fernández Lobbe, 8 Facundo Isa, 9 Tomas Cubelli (Captain), 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 11 Juan Imhoff, 12 Juan Martín Hernández, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 14 Santiago Cordero, 15 Joaquin Tuculet
16 Lucas Noguera Paz, 17 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 18 Matías Alemanno, 19 Mariano Galarza, 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 21 Martín Landajo, 22 Santiago González Iglesias, 23 Lucas González Amorosino, 24 Leonardo Senatore, 25 Pablo Matera, 26 Jerónimo De la Fuente, 27 Matías Moroni, 28 Juan Pablo Socino, 29 Horacio Agulla
Head Coach: Daniel Hourcade
