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In the second of three rounds of play the Argentina XV and the Fiji Warriors meet in the Nations Cup in Montevideo on Wednesday. The sides do so after both having disappointed in their opening matches on Saturday.
The Argentina XV were their worst enemies against Emerging Italy. In a performance dominated by unforced errors the South Americans were forced to make a late come-back to claim a 19-8 victory.
In the following fixture the Fiji Warriors took on Uruguay. A tremendous performance from the home side saw Uruguay winning 29-10. Central to the win was keeping the Fiji Warriors pointless in the second half.
In search of a much improved performance Felipe Contepomi has made wholesale changes to face the Fiji Warriors. This starts with the captaincy which has gone to his RWC 2007 and 2011 teammate Juan Manuel Leguizamón.
Leguizamón joins Rodrigo Bruni and Santiago Portillo in the back-row with the latter being the only surviving forward from Saturday. Additional players to also retain their starting spots are Matías Moroni and Facundo Cordero.
The remaining twelve players are all different to those from Saturday’s match. Both Manuel Montero and Joaquín Díaz Bonilla are close to being in Los Pumas and may yet join the roster to face Scotland. Tomás Cubelli’s comeback has taken a minor hit with him featuring from the bench on Wednesday as Gregorio del Prete starts instead.
There is also inexperience in Contepomi’s line-up. The World Rugby Hall of Famer has handed Argentina XV debut appearances to tighthead prop Marco Ciccioli and fullback Tomás Jorge.
The Fiji Warriors have also named a much different side to that from Saturday. In the forwards Jiuta Takubu moves from flanker to No8 and Vasikali Mudu has been elevated from the bench to start at flanker. Jone Navori completed the back-row which sees Temo Mayanavanua moving to lock the scrum with Samu Saqiwa.
The backline also features movement. Asaeli Atunaisa moves from the left wing to the right to start opposite Manuel Montero. The battle on the other wing will be between Asaeli Atunaisa and Facundo Cordero.
In the mid-field there is also a double change. Eroni Vasiteri moves from inside to outside center while Apete Daveta makes the move from the right wing to start at inside center.
The Fiji Warriors will again be captained by Mesulame Dolokoto from hooker. He is to have an interesting battle against Gaspar Baldunciel.
The teams crossed paths in the 2016 Americas Pacific Challenge. On that occasions a thriller saw the Argentina XV winning 27-26. The Fiji Warriors side was notably stronger on that occasion.
The Argentina XV enter the match as favorites. They are expected to perform notably better than they did so against Emerging Italy. They also have a rested pack, unlike the Fiji Warriors. A win by a margin of 15 points is likely in Montevideo.
ARGENTINA XV
15 Tomás Jorge, 14 Facundo Cordero, 13 Matías Moroni, 12 Lucas Mensa, 11 Manuel Montero, 10 Joaquín Díaz Bonilla, 9 Gregorio del Prete, 8 Santiago Portillo, 7 Rodrigo Bruni, 6 Juan Manuel Leguizamón (capt), 5 Franco Molina, 4 Jerónimo Ureta, 3 Marco Cicciloi, 2 Gaspar Baldunciel, 1 Nicolás Solveyra
Replamcents: 16 Diego Fortuny, 17 Franco Brarda, 18 Agustín Maceiras, 19 Federico Gutiérrez, 20 Lautaro Bavaro, 21 Tomás Cubelli, 22 Tomás Granella, 23 Santiago Resino
FIJI WARRIORS
15 Aporosa Tabulawaki, 14 Asaeli Atunaisa, 13 Eroni Vasiteri, 12 Apete Daveta, 11 Orisi Erenavula, 10 Enele Malele, 9 Sakiusa Gavidi, 8 Jiuta Takubu, 7 Vasikali Mudu, 6 Jone Navori, 5 Temo Mayanavanua, 4 Samu Saqiwa, 3 Mosese Ducivaki, 2 Mesulame Dolokoto (capt.), 1 Joeli Veitayaki
Replacements: 16 Seru Cakobau, 17 Timoci Sauvoli, 18 Luke Tagi, 19 Sailosi Dawai, 20 Filimoni Seru, 21 Peniasi Ratu, 22 Kavekini Varo, 23 Ifereimi Tovilevu
Date: Wednesday June 06
Kick-off: 12:30pm
Venue: Carrasco Polo, Montevideo
Referee: Francisco González (Uruguay)
Assistant Referees: Mike Adamson (Scotland) and Rodrigo Goyret (Uruguay)
Streaming: World Rugby
