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Gonzalo Bertranou has been called-up by Argentina. He replaces Tomás Cubelli who suffered a fractured 5th vertebrae against New Zealand on Saturday. It is a first ever opportunity for Bertranou to play in a Rugby Championship match.
From Los Tordos club in Mendoza, Bertranou is literally going straight from club rugby to elite level. In having been in the roster but left out for test matches his rugby activity since Super Rugby ended has been in Los Tordos’ colors.
He will now be thrust into facing the might of Australia, Argentina’s final round opponents in the Rugby Championship. The teams meet this coming Saturday at the Estadio Malvinas Argentinas in Mendoza.
Bertranou is to train as deputy to Martín Landajo this week. Landajo will return to be the starting Argentine No 9 with Bertranou being his replacement. It is a return to that used in the June Internationals when Cubelli was unavailable through injury.
The 23-year-old Bertranou played against England in San Juan and Santa Fé in addition to Georgia in Jujuy as a replacement. Prior to that he had been tapped on two occasions. His debut was as a replacement for Landajo against Paraguay in 2015. In June 2016 he started against Chile in Santiago.
With Cubelli having been playing for the Brumbies, Bertranou was deputy to Landajo throughout 2017. He officially moved ahead of Felipe Ezcurra for the spot and was used as the starting option with Landajo injured early in the year.
