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Argentina XV Head Coach Pablo Bouza has made eleven changes for Uruguay. There Argentina XV will playt away to Los Teros in a third round fixture of the Americas Rugby Championship, on Saturday evening in Punta del Este.
Roberto Tejerizo retains his spot at loosehead prop and as captain of the team. He is to be joined by Santiago Iglesias Valdez and Cristian Bartolini in an otherwise all changed front-row. Pedro Ortega retains his starting spot in the second-row while Marcos Kremer makes way for Ignacio Larrague.
In the back-row flankers Lautaro Bávaro and José Deheza have both been retained while Santiago Portillo earns a start ahead of Miguel Urtubey who drops to the bench.
Playing for the first time in the tournament will be Marcos Bollini who starts at scrum half. He joins Juan Novillo who had been used as a replacement in prior outings. It sees Bautista Ezcurra moving out on place from fly half to inside center in place of Joaquín Paz who, having run riot against Chile, is now in South Africa with Los Jaguares.
Juan Cappiello steps in to earn his first start of the campaign. He will do so at inside center, offering added pace to a back-three unit to feature Pumas Sevens fliers Segundo Tuculet (pictured) and Axel Müller. Completing the run-on side is Franco Cuaranta who will play right wing. Tuculet has been moved to his natural position of fullback in place of Pedro Mercerat who will feature on the bench.
After two rounds of the inaugural Americas Rugby Championship the Argentina XV lead the standings with 8 competition points. They are joined on top by the USA but have a lead based on points differential.
The Argentina XV competed to a 35-35 draw against the USA in the opening round in Houston, Texas. In round two the team completed a strong final quarter to defeat Chile 52-15 in San Juan. A win in Uruguay will keep the Argentina XV in place to push for the title.
Saturday’s fixture will take place at the Campus de Maldonado in the resort town of Punta del Este. It will be broadcast live in both countries on ESPN3, starting at 8:30pm. In 2015 Uruguay defeated the Argentina XV, albeit with a stronger lineup.
1 Roberto Tejerizo (c), 2 Santiago Iglesias Valdez, 3 Cristian Bartoloni, 4 Pedro Ortega, 5 Ignacio Larrague, 6 José Deheza, 7 Lautaro Bávaro, 8 Santiago Portillo, 9 Marcos Bollini, 10 Juan Novillo, 11 Axel Müller, 12 Bautista Ezcurra, 13 Juan Cappiello, 14 Franco Cuaranta, 15 Segundo Tuculet
16 Axel Zapata, 17 Facundo Gigena, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Gonzalo Paulín, 20 Miguel Urtubey, 21 Mauro Perotti, 22 Juan Cruz González, 23 Pedro Mercerat
