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Round four of the Rugby Championship will be played on Saturday. Both matches are to be in Oceania with New Zealand vs South Africa being followed by Australia vs Argentina. The second of these fixtures will see two relatively evenly matched teams playing on the Gold Coast.
A week in rugby can be a long time. In the case of Australia this has seen the pressure that was on Michael Cheika erode considerably. Having beaten the Springboks the Australians are notably better positioned for round four.
Cheika has recalled star players David Pocock and Israel Folau to face Argentina. Both missed last weekend’s match through injury. Pocock will start at no 8 while Folau will do so on the right wing. In the case of Folau it sees Dane Haylett-Petty retained at fullback.
Mario Ledesma has opted for three to the starting line-up and one positional switch. Set to earn his first test start is Santiago Medrano. He will plan tight head, a move which sees Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro reverting to loose head.
Medrano earns the start despite not having been involved against New Zealand last week. It is to be his 6th cap.
Additional changes from Ledesma come at flanker and scrum-half. Pablo Matera and Gonzalo Bertranou have been recalled in place of Tomás Lezana and Martín Landajo respectively. Lezana drops out of the 23 through injury with veteran Juan Manuel Leguizamón named on the bench for his first cap in 2018.
Left out of the match is Leicester Tigers tight head Gastón Cortés. Ledesma has instead named Jaguares Santiago García Botta and Juan Pablo Zeiss as his replacement props. Also missing is Matías Orlando with Ledesma instead opting for Bautista Ezcurra, and Juan Cruz Mallía.
The style of play of Ledesma’s Pumas is vastly different to that of former Head Coach Daniel Hourcade. Indeed Ledesma’s game is closer to that of Michael Cheika’s. This makes for an interesting contest in itself.
There are to be some key match-up’s on the Gold Coast. Will Genia and Gonzalo Bertranou will be charged with quick organization and distribution from scrum-half. The front-rows are evenly matched with a key battle set to be played out between Scott Sio and Santiago Medrano.
Australia and Argentina have played on 29 prior occasions. The Wallabies have the superior record with 23 victories over Los Pumas. Argentina has five wins while there has also been one draw.
Playing in Australia Los Pumas have one victory. That was an 18-3 triumph on July 31 1983 in Brisbane. It involved tries to Buenaventura Mínguez and Tomás Petersen in addition to two conversions, one penalty and one drop goal from Hugo Porta.
The four remaining Pumas wins over the Wallabies all took place in Argentina. The first was a 24-13 win in 1979 in Buenos Aires. The match was played at Ferro, the same setting for Argentina’s 24-13 win in 1997. Argentina also won 27-19 in 1987 in Vélez Sarsfield and 21-17 in Mendoza in the 2014 Rugby Championship.
Australia go into the game after having ended a losing streak. The Wallabies were 23-18 winners over South Africa in Brisbane last weekend. Argentina also defeated South Africa, doing so in round two by 32-19 in Mendoza.
In other Rugby Championship matches this year Los Pumas were outplayed first up by South Africa while Australia were no match for New Zealand home or away. The sides are well positioned to have an evenly fought test match. With greater depth on the bench and home advantage the Wallabies go in as favorites. Americas Rugby News predicts Australia to win by 5.
TEAMS
AUSTRALIA
15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Israel Folau, 13 Reece Hodge, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Kurtley Beale, 9 Will Genia, 8 David Pocock, 7 Michael Hooper (capt.), 6 Lukhan Tui, 5 Izack Rodda, 4 Rory Arnold, 4 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements: 16 Folau Faingaa, 17 Sekope Kepu, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Adam Coleman, 20 Pete Samu, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Bernard Foley, 23 Jack Maddocks
ARGENTINA
15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Matías Moroni, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente, 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Santiago Medrano, 2 Agustín Creevy (capt.), 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro
Replacements: 16 Julián Montoya, 17 Santiago García Botta, 18 Juan Pablo Zeiss, 19 Matías Alemanno, 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 21 Martín Landajo, 22 Bautista Ezcurra, 23 Juan Cruz Mallía
Date: Saturday, September 15
Kick-Off: 8:00pm (Local), 7:00am (Argentina)
Venue: Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Glen Jackson (New Zealand), Paul Williams (New Zealand)
TMO: Glenn Newman (New Zealand)
