Argentina Change Four for Rugby Championship

Daniel Hourcade has gone for four changes for the Rugby Championship. The Los Pumas Head Coach has named a 33-man roster to begin training for the Southern Hemisphere’s toughest competition on July 31.

Scrum-half Tomás Cubelli has recovered from a knee injury. Having missed the majority of the Super Rugby season he was not fit to play for Argentina in June. He returned to play the final two matches of the regular season for the Brumbies and will play from the bench in a Quarter Final this weekend against the Hurricanes.

The uncapped Felipe Arregui returned to Argentina in early 2017 from Scotland. The 23-year-old played for Edinburgh as a medical joker and was considered for international duty last November in the U.K. With Ramiro Herrera reportedly leaving Argentina his inclusion comes as expected.

Second-rower Marcos Kremer is also back in the mix. The teenager was a standout in Super Rugby this season but was not considered for international duty in June. Instead, Kremer was playing for Los Pumitas in the Junior World Championship in Georgia.

Uncapped utility player Bautista Ezcurra has also been called-up. Argentina is in search of additional fly half and center options for Rugby World Cup 2019. Preparation for the competition began, according to Hourcade, in 2014. Ezcurra is notably younger than Juan Martín Hernández.

Los Pumas are to open their Rugby Championship campaign in South Africa. The round one fixture will be at Port Elizabeth on August 19. Seven days later Salta will host the return fixture. Following a one week break Argentina will travel to Oceania to play in New Plymouth and Canberra. Home fixtures follow in Buenos Aires and Mendoza on September 30 and October 07.

ARGENTINA
Forwards: Matías Alemanno, Rodrigo Báez, Agustín Creevy (Capt.), Santiago García Botta, Ramiro Herrera, Marcos Kremer, Tomás Lavanini, Juan Manuel Leguizamón, Tomás Lezana, Benjamín Macome, Pablo Matera, Julián Montoya, Lucas Noguera Paz, Javier Ortega Desio, Guido Petti, Enrique Pieretto, Leonardo Senatore, Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro

Backs: Gonzalo Bertranou, Emiliano Boffelli, Santiago Cordero, Tomás Cubelli, Jerónimo de la Fuente, Bautista Ezcurra, Santiago González Iglesias, Juan Martín Hernández, Martín Landajo, Manuel Montero, Matías Moroni, Ramiro Moyano, Matías Orlando, Nicolás Sánchez, Joaquín Tuculet