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In the final round of the 2019 ARC Chile play host to the Argentina XV. The winless Cóndores are up against this year’s champions, the Argentina XV. Having wrapped up the title last weekend away to Canada the Argentina XV are now a bonus point victory away from their first ever ARC Grand Slam.
Chilean Head Coach Pablo Lemoine almost took Chile to a win over Brazil last weekend. The 15-10 defeat saw the Brazilian unable to score a try and Chile were very close to winning with a disallowed try called late in the piece.
Against the Argentina XV Lemoine has named an entirely new front-row. Vittorio Lastra, Claudio Iturra, and Nicolás Ovalle make way for Santiago Garrido, Augusto Böhme, and Matías Dittus. The remaining five starting forwards are unchanged.
In the backs there is one alteration. Missing is Tomás Ianiszewski who was forced off injured against Brazil. Replacing him on the right wing will be Beltrán Vergara, an experienced player but one normally found at scrumhalf.
Argentina XV Head Coach Ignacio Fernández Lobbe has gone for five changes from the side which defeated Canada. Two of the alterations come in the pack with Lucas Santa Cruz replacing Jerónimo Ureta in the second-row, and Benito Ortíz de Rozas taking over from Santiago Portillo at the back of the scrum.
In the backline Martín Elias replaces Domingo Miotti at fly half, Agustín Segura replaces Tomás Cubilla in the mid-field while Facundo Cordero makes way for Santiago Carreras at fullback.
The Argentina XV is a relatively new entity. Prior to the creation of the ARC in 2016 Argentina used to play test matches against Chile every year. The ARC has changed this with the Argentina XV instead of Los Pumas being the team to face Los Cóndores.
Of the three prior ARC matches the Argentina XV has been comfortable winners on all occasions. Chile has also fallen short in additional matches against the Argentina XV outside of the tournament. The Argentina XV enter as heavy favorites.
CHILE
1 Santiago Garrido, 2 Augusto Böhme, 3 Matías Dittus, 4 Francisco Garrido, 5 Javier Eissmann, 6 Eduardo Orpis, 7 Thomas Orchard, 8 Martín Sigren (capt.), 9 Domingo Saavedra, 10 Francisco González Moller, 11 Gonzalo Lara, 12 Vicente Ayarza, 13 José Ignacio Larenas, 14 Beltrán Vergara, 15 Christian Huerta
Replacements: 16 Claudio Zamorano, 17 Nicolás Ovalle, 18 Mauricio Gómez, 19 Augusto Sarmiento, 20 Javier Richard, 21 Jaden Laing, 22 Juan Pablo Perrotta, 23 Santiago Videla
ARGENTINA XV
1 Nicolás Solveyra, 2 Diego Fortuny, 3 Martín Fernández Segurotti, 4 Carlos Repetto, 5 Lucas Santa Cruz, 6 Francisco Gorrissen, 7 Lautaro Bavaro (capt.), 8 Benito Ortíz de Rosas, 9 Felipe Ezcurra, 10 Martín Elías, 11 Julián Domínguez, 12 Lucas Mensa, 13 Agustín Segura, 14 Matías Osadczuk, 15 Santiago Carreras
Replacements: 16 José Luis González, 17 Javier Corvalán, 18 Lucas Favre, 19 Santiago Portillo, 20 Nicolás Sbrocco, 21 Gregorio del Prete, 22 Domingo Miotti, 23 Tomás Cubilla
Date: Saturday, March 9
Venue: Estadio Santiago Bueras, Maipú
Kickoff: 17:00 local (12:00 Pacific, 15:00 Eastern)
Referee: Francisco González (URU)
Broadcasts: ESPN (Brazil), ESPN+ (South America), FloRugby (USA), TSN.ca (Canada), World Rugby
