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The Sudamericano 6 Naciones A continues on Saturday. Winners from the opening round clash in Buenos Aires with the Argentina XV hosting Brazil.
Argentina XV Head Coach Felipe Contepomi has made nine changes to his starting line-up. Of those who started against Paraguay in Asunción two forwards and four backs will also run-out against Brazil.
Moving from flanker to second-row is Benjamín Macome. Retained at no 8 is Santiago Portillo with Mariano Romanini filling the void left at flanker by Macome. Completing the back-row will be Lautaro Bavaro who is back as skipper.
In the front-row it is all change with Franco Brarda, Diego Fortuny and Benjamín Espinal starting. Federico Guttiérez completes the forwards, joining Macome in the engine room. Guttiérez will make his first appearance for the Argentina XV.
Passing the captain’s arm-band back to Bavaro is Tomás Cubelli. He retains his spot in the team and will again for a Super Rugby halves combination with Joaquín Díaz Bonillo. Also retained is Santiago Resino at outside center and Manuel Bustinduy on the right wing.
Resino starts despite having been set to sit out the match. Jaguar Juan Cruz Mallía had been named for the match but was called back by Mario Ledesma for training on Wednesday.
Brazil’s Head Coach Rodolfo Ambrosio has largely stuck with the side that defeated Chile in São Paulo. Twelve of the starters remain. Notably back is Lucas Duque who is straight into the team to start at scrum-half.
Outside right winger Stefano Giantorno makes way this weekend. A reconfigured line-up sees de wet van niekerk playing right wing against the Argentina XV and Ariel Rodrigues promoted from the bench to start on the left.
In the forwards the one change sees a return for veteran Lucas Piero. He replaces Mauricio Canterle in the engine room.
Brazil and Argentina have a long history. It is one in which Argentina has dominated. Whether it be Los Pumas or the Argentina XV Brazil has never won against their neighbors. The closest they came to winning was earlier this year in the Americas Rugby Championship (ARC) when the Argentina XV won 28-8 in São José dos Campos.
The Argentina XV are expected to win by a large margin on Saturday. The final result is not in question, rather is how many points the home side can put on the board. A win over 60 points is expected.
ARGENTINA XV
15 Tomás Videla, 14 Manuel Bustinduy, 13 Santiago Resino, 12 Nicolás Cantarutti, 11 Francisco Liotta, 10 Joaquín Díaz Bonilla, 9 Tomás Cubelli, 8 Santiago Portillo, 7 Lautaro Bavaro (capt.), 6 Mariano Romanini, 5 Federico Gutiérrez, 4 Benjamín Macome, 3 Benjamín Espinal, 2 Diego Fortuny, 1 Franco Brarda
Replacements: 16 José Luís González, 17 Julián Martín, 18 Felipe Arregui, 19 Nahuel Milán, 20 Rodrigo Fernández Criado, 21 Gregório del Prete, 22 Juan Cruz González, 23 Facundo Ferrario
BRAZIL
15 Lucas Tranquez, 14 De Wet van Niekerk, 13 Felipe Sancery, 12 Moisés Duque, 11 Ariel Rodrigues, 10 Josh Reeves, 9 Lucas Duque, 8 Matheus Claudio, 7 João Luiz da Ros, 6 Arthur Bergo, 5 Gabriel Paganini, 4 Lucas Piero, 3 Jardel Vettorato, 2 Yan Rosetti (capt.), 1 Lucas Abud
Replacements: 16 Endy Willian, 17 Wilton Rebolo, 18 Matheus Rocha, 19 Caíque Silva, 20 Michael Moraes, 21 Will Broderick, 22 Rafael Morales, 23 Valentin Garcia
Date: Saturday, May 12
Venue: Club Newman, Buenos Aires
Kickoff: 12pm local
Referee: Joaquín Montes (Uruguay)
Broadcasts: ESPN Scrum
