Rugby Championship 2017 – Argentina vs South Africa Preview

Round two of the 2017 Rugby Championship sees Argentina at home to South Africa on Saturday. Taking place in the northern city of Salta, it is to be the third time the teams have met at the Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena. The teams have traded victories in the previous games.

Argentine Head Coach Daniel Hourcade has made a major overhaul to his starting line-up. A massive six players who started in Port Elizabeth will not do so in Salta. Two changes come in the backs and four in the pack.

The two different backs are to be at scrum-half and fly half. Tomás Cubelli and Juan Martín Hernández will be the starting combination, replacing Martín Landajo and Nicolás Sánchez. This sees the pair which took Argentina to victory over South Africa in Durban in 2015 being reunited.

Changes in the forwards come in all of the front-row, second-row and back-row. Up front it is a double change at prop. Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro and Enrique Pieretto make way for Lucas Noguera Paz and Ramiro Herrera. The former is motivated by injury.

The change in the second-row is also based on injury. Guido Petti’s spot in the starting line-up goes to Matías Alemanno with Marcos Kremer to again be the specialist replacement. This sees two bulky second-rowers as Alemanno partners-up with Tomás Lavanini.

Also missing out through injury is Leonardo Senatore. This sees a return for Juan Manuel Leguizamón at No 8. Leguizamón did not travel to Port Elizabeth due to family reasons. He joins Pablo Matera and Tomás Lezana in the back-row.

Hourcade has also made one change to the replacements. With Tetaz Chaparro unavailable though injury, Santiago García Botta has been included on the bench. Dropped players Landajo and Sánchez are to also be replacements on Saturday.

Coming off a fantastic home performance South African Head Coach Allister Coetzee has few reasons to change his side. The one alteration is injury motivated. François Hougaard comes into the side, replacing the injured Ross Cronje. The Lions scrum-half was injured last Saturday in Port Elizabeth. The change sees an opportunity for Rudy Paige who takes the spot of Hougaard on the bench.

The remaining places in the Springboks are identical to that from Port Elizabeth. This underlines the confidence that Coetzee has in his team. It also signifies that the team will treat the match the same, looking to reproduce the same rugby that overpowered Los Pumas.

Twelve months ago Argentina won the corresponding fixture. It took place at the same venue with Hourcade fielding nine of the same players. Those not starting who did in 2016 are Landajo, Sánchez, Tetaz Chaparro, No 8 Facundo Isa and wingers Santiago Cordero and Manuel Montero.

The settled nature of the Springboks and performances in 2017 thus far make South Africa favorites. As such Argentina enters the match looking to lose for the 11th consecutive time against Tier 1 opposition.

ARGENTINA
1 Lucas Noguera Paz, 2 Agustín Creevy (Capt.), 3 Ramiro Herrera, 4 Matías Alemanno, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 6 Pablo Matera, 7 Tomás Lezana, 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 9 Tomás Cubelli, 10 Juan Martín Hernández, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente, 13 Matías Orlando, 14 Ramiro Moyano, 15 Joaquín Tuculet

Replacements: 16 Julián Montoya, 17 Santiago García Botta, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Marcos Kremer, 20 Javier Ortega Desio, 21 Martín Landajo, 22 Nicolás Sánchez, 23 Matías Moroni

SOUTH AFRICA
15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Raymond Rhule, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 François Hougaard, 8 Uzair Cassiem, 7 Jaco Kriel, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth (Capt.), 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Tendai Mtawarira

Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20 Jean-Luc du Preez, 21 Rudy Paige, 22 Curwin Bosch, 23 Damian de Allende

Date: Saturday August 26
Venue: Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena, Salta
Kick-off: 4:40pm (Argentina)
Referee: Pascal Gaüzère (France)
Assistants: Romain Poite (France), Nic Berry (Australia)
TMO: Glenn Newman (New Zealand)