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Coming off losses in round one, the Argentina XV and Chile are looking for their opening wins of the 2018 Americas Rugby Championship. They will have the opportunity of playing at the bottom of the world in the iconic Ushuaia.
World Rugby Hall of Famer Felipe Contepomi has not held back in making personal changes. Only second-rower Jerónimo Ureta and fly half Juan Cruz González remain from the side which lost against the USA in Los Angeles.
Among the many who missing out is Lautaro Bavaro. This sees the captain’s armband being passed on to Tomás de la Vega this weekend. The highly promising Mariano Romanini will start on the other flank.
A total of seven players are to represent the Argentina XV for the first time. Diego Fortuny starts at hooker, doing so with Axel Zapata playing loosehead. Lucas Favre completes the front row, giving Contepomi’s line-up two ARC and Argentina XV debutants in the front-row.
In the backs there is room for an astounding five players with no prior Argentina XV experience. Facundo Nogueira starts at scrum-half, Lucas Mensa and Santiago Resino are to be the centers while Tomás Malanos and Tomás Videla are to play in the back-three.
Chilean Head Coach Mark Cross has made six changes from the side that lost 16-14 against Brazil. Prop Marco Díaz will earn his second cap as a starter. He replaces José Tomás Munita, who has been dropped by Cross for the match. Vittorio Lastra and Tomás Dussaillant join Díaz in the front-row.
In the second row the absent Nikola Bursic has been replaced by Manuel Dagnino. This sees a new-look combination locking the scrum as Dagnino packs down with Mario Mayol, a player to have started in Chile’s previous 17 test matches.
The back row is unchanged though with captain José Ignacio Larenas having been ruled out of the remainder of the ARC the skipper Javier Richard will now lead the side.
The halves pairing is new with Beltrán Vergara back into the team. He joins Benjamín Pizarro. Outside them Francisco de la Fuente continues at inside center but will be partnered by a fresh face in midfield. Lucca Avelli starts in place of Larenas. He does so having debuted from the bench against Brazil.
In the back three there is one change. Ítalo Zunino takes over from Mauricio Urrutia on the left wing. Matías Balbontín and Tomás Ianiszewski complete the line-up.
Cross has named four uncapped players among the replacements. They are prop José Tomás Baraona, Claudio Iturra, Thomas Orchard, and Diego Ramírez.
The teams are familiar with each other. In addition to playing in the ARC the teams also square off in additional annual activities. Chile has progressed notably in recent years but the Argentina continues to be the superior side. The Argentina XV are expected to pick up a big win in Ushuaia.
ARGENTINA XV
1 Axel Zapata, 2 Diego Fortuny, 3 Lucas Favre, 4 Jerónimo Ureta, 5 Diego Galetto, 6 Mariano Romanini, 7 Tomás de la Vega (capt.), 8 Santiago Portillo, 9 Facundo Nogueira, 10 Juan Cruz González, 11 Julián Domínguez, 12 Lucas Mensa, 13 Santiago Resino, 14 Tomás Malanos, 15 Tomás Videla
Replacements: 16 Gaspar Baldunciel, 17 Francisco Ferronato, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Nicolás Sbrocco, 21 Gregorio del Prete, 22 Tomás Granella, 23 Germán Schulz
CHILE
1 Vittorio Lastra, 2 Tomás Dussaillant, 3 Marco Díaz, 4 Manuel Dagnino, 5 Mario Mayol, 6 Javier Richard (capt.), 7 Alfonso Escobar, 8 Benjamín Soto, 9 Beltrán Vergara, 10 Benjamín Pizarro, 11 Ítalo Zunino, 12 Francisco de la Fuente, 13 Lucca Avelli, 14 Matías Balbontín, 15 Tomás Ianiszewski
Replacements: 16 Ignacio Guajardo, 17 Sebastián Otero, 18 Claudio Iturra, 19 Thomas Orchard, 20 Nicolás Garafulic, 21 Domingo Saavedra, 22 José Tomás Baraona, 23 Diego Ramírez
Date: Saturday, February 10
Venue: Estadio Agustín Pichot, Ushuaia
Kickoff: 17:30 local (15:30 Eastern, 12:30 Pacific)
Referee: Joaquín Montes (URU)
Broadcasts: TSN2 (Canada), ESPN 3 (South America)
