Match Preview – Italy vs Argentina

Week two of the November Internationals sees Italy at home to Argentina. The teams are set to build upon their rivalry in the historic city of Florence. They are to do so on the back of different results. Last weekend Italy completed a 19-10 victory while Argentina fell 21-8 in London.

Coming off a home win in Sicily over Fiji, Italy are full of confidence. This is reflected in the naming of the team to face Argentina. Head Coach Conor O’Shea has kept the faith, naming an unchanged side for Los Pumas.

The only personal changes come among the replacements. The two alterations are both in the backs. Federico Ruzza replaces Marco Lazzaroni as the replacement lock while at scrum-half Edoardo Gori makes way for Tito Tebaldi.

Daniel Hourcade, meanwhile, is going into the game with four changes. Missing for the remainder of the tour is Tomás Lezana. His spot at No 8 has gone to veteran Juan Manuel Leguizamón.

The three remaining alterations are all in the backs. A first start has been awarded to Sebastián Cancelliere. Despite being a natural scrum half he will play right wing. He has played in both positions this year for the Argentina XV. Cancelliere takes over from Ramiro Moyano.

In the mid-field Matías Moroni makes way for Matías Orlando while Nicolás Sánchez is back at fly half, replacing Juan Martín Hernández.

Both Moroni and Hernández have been named on the bench. The additional change sees Guido Petti named ahead of Leonardo Senatore.

The fixture is to be the 50th under Hourcade. The Tucumán coach has a record of 14 wins and 35 losses. Featuring in all matches has been Martín Landajo. The player with the most starts is Joaquín Tuculet who will earn his 50th cap in Florence.

Saturday’s match is to be the 23rd test match between Italy and Argentina. Los Pumas have 15 wins and Italy 5. The teams competed to an 18-18 draw in 1997 as part of the Latin Cup.

Under Hourcade Argentina have won all three matches against Italy. The previous outings saw Argentina winning 19-14 in Rome in 2013, 20-18 in Genova in 2014 and 30-24 in Santa Fé in 2016.

The line-ups named and the history between there sides gives Argentina the advantage. Yet with Hourcade’s troops now on a 16-match losing streak against Tier 1 opponents. In 2017 they have 1 win and 9 losses.

ITALY
1 Andrea Lovotti, 2 Luca Bigi, 3 Simone Ferrari, 4 Marco Fuser, 5 Dean Budd, 6 Francesco Minto, 7 Braam Steyn, 8 Sergio Parisse (capt.), 9 Marcello Violi, 10 Carlo Canna, 11 Mattia Bellini, 12 Tommaso Castello, 13 Tommaso Boni, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 15 Jayden Hayward

Replacements: 16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Federico Zani, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Giovanni Licara, 21 Tito Tebaldi, 22 Ian McKinley, 23 Matteo Minozzi

ARGENTINA
1 Santiago García Botta, 2 Agustín Creevy (capt.), 3 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 4 Matías Alemanno, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 6 Pablo Matera, 7 Marcos Kremer, 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 9 Martín Landajo, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 12 Santiago González Iglesias, 13 Matías Orlando, 14 Sebastián Cancelliere, 15 Joaquín Tuculet

Replacements: 16 Julián Montoya, 17 Lucas Noguera Paz, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Benjamín Macome, 21 Gonzalo Bertranou, 22 Juan Martín Hernández, 23 Matías Moroni

Date: Saturday, November 18
Venue: Stadio Artemio Franchi, Firenze
Kick-Off: 14:00 local (12:00 Argentina)
Referee: Jaco Peyper (SARU)
Assistants: Glen Jackson (NZRU) & Pierre Brousset (FFR)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (IRFU)
Broadcasts: ESPN, DMAX