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Argentina hosts New Zealand in a Rugby Championship match on Saturday. The South Americans go into the match looking to make history. Never before have Los Pumas recorded a win over the All Blacks.
The record is such that New Zealand is the only country that Los Pumas have, in fact never beaten. Saturday’s match will b the 30th between the countries. New Zealand has a 29-1-0 record. The 1985 draw remains the one spot preventing New Zealand from perfection.
Argentine Head Coach Daniel Hourcade has made four changes. Following the performance in Canberra the alterations each have their own reasoning. Having missed out by design, Tomás Lavanini is back to start. His return sees him reuniting in the second-row with Guido Petti. The pairing started in the World Cup match against New Zealand two year ago.
Having not been at 100% in training Matías Alemanno drops out this week. He also misses out on a spot on the bench with 20-year-old Marcos Kremer named instead. Kremer had solid time earlier this week training in the starting lineup.
The remaining change in the pack sees Juan Manuel Leguizamón returning at No 8. He has one start from the four Rugby Championship rounds thus far. His return means Tomás Lezana is back to his natural position of flanker while Javier Ortega Desio drops to the bench.
In the backs there is again movement at scrum-half as Tomás Cubelli is back in place of Martín Landajo. Nicolás Sánchez and Jerónimo de La Fuente have been retained as the 10-12 combination despite veteran Juan Martín Hernández having trained at inside center this week.
The remaining change comes at fullback. Having missed out on facing Australia, the new father that is Joaquín Tuculet is back to start. This sees Emiliano Boffelli returning to the wing, doing so in place of the injured Ramiro Moyano.
New Zealand Head Coach Steve Hansen has also opted for changes. Anton Lienert-Brown returns to the side, starting art outside center. Fijian flier Waisake Naholo is another returning and will play on the right wing.
A talking point is Hansen’s naming of David Havili on the bench. The Crusaders play-maker will earn his test debut should be receive game time. The explosive Ngani Laumape joins him as cover for the backs.
The remainder of the backs resembles familiarity. Beauden Barrett, Rieko Ioane, Damian McKenzie, Aaron Smith and Sonny Bill Williams all start.
Kieran Read captains the side from No 8. He is to be joined by Dan Coles as the one regular All Blacks starting forward. Outstanding performances see Vaea Fifita and Scott Barrett both starting. Elsewhere Kane Hames, Nepo Laulala, Luke Romano, Matt Todd get opportunities.
A first ever Argentine victory is unlikely this weekend. Not only do Argentina had many unsolved problems but New Zealand were simply extraordinarily strong in two of their three matches against South Africa and Australia this year. Moreover an unimpressive All Blacks display in New Plymouth was still 17 points better than Argentina who were approaching their best.
ARGENTINA
15 Joaquín Tuculet, 14 Matías Moroni, 13 Matías Orlando, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Tomás Cubelli, 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 7 Tomás Lezana, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2 Agustín Creevy, 1 Lucas Noguera Paz
Replacements: 16 Julián Montoya, 17 Santiago García Botta, 18 Ramiro Herrera, 19 Marcos Kremer, 20 Javier Ortega Desio, 21 Martín Landajo, 22 Juan Martín Hernández, 23 Santiago Cordero
NEW ZEALAND
15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (Capt.), 7 Matt Todd, 6 Vaea Fifita, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Luke Romano, 3 Nepo Laulala, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Kane Hames
Replacements: 16 Codie Taylor, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Ngani Laumape, 23 David Havili
Date: Saturday September 30
Venue: Estadio Vélez Sarsfield, Buenos Aires
Kick-off: 7:40pm
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistants: Mathieu Raynal (France) and Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
