Argentina Team to Face France: How the Fans Voted

All rugby fans have their own choice of players they want to be running out on the field at the World Cup. To obtain a collective sample of opinion I ran pools across all positions on twitter. Each position had two options which meant that where there are additional players I pre-determined which two players are the logical top two choices in the mind of Mario Ledesma.

The final results overwhelmingly demonstrated common thought. Seven of the positions had one player winning 90% or more of the votes while five others received 70% or more of the votes. The closest vote was in the position of right wing.

 

ARGENTINA TEAM TO FACE FRANCE: HOW THE FANS VOTED

1 Mayco Vivas (55%) Jaguares rookie Mayco Vivas was favored over veteran Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro as the starting loose head. With a winning margin of 10 points it was a decision to notably favor the 21-year-old. It should be noted that his one test start thus far was against South Africa in Pretoria where the scrum was improved.

2 Agustín Creevy (70%) Ledesma is taking three hookers to Japan. Two are returnees from RWC 2015 and the third is Santiago Socino who debuted this year and whose two caps are both from the bench.  Creevy scored a 40 point win over Julián Montoya to be the overwhelmingly popular choice to start against France.

3 Juan Figallo (79%) Three tight head props are on the roster though with Enrique Pieretto not having played a test match since 2017 the choice was always going to be between Juan Figallo and Santiago Medrano. Voters expect Figallo to be the starter to the extent that he won the vote by 58 points.

4 Guido Petti (94%) Three second-rowers are in the RWC roster with Marcos Kremer acting as the fourth. Based on selections by Ledesma the third is seemingly Matías Alemanno and the fans voted to replicate this behavior. All but 6% voted for Guido Petti over Matías Alemanno.

5 Tomás Lavanini (83%) Joining Petti in the view of the fans is Tomás Lavanini. In missing out to Guido Petti there was a second opportunity for Matías Alemanno though he was again comfortably behind the popular choice of Lavanini.

6 Pablo Matera (95%) If one position did not require a poll at all it was this one. With Pablo Matera being the captain his place is assured. However in search of consistency and legitimacy the positioned was polled with Tomás Lezana up against the captain. The results confirm the popular support for the Pumas captain.

7 Marcos Kremer (92%) Before polling the second-row positions I polled Marcos Kremer vs Tomás Lezana for flanker. This was by design due to Kremer having started in both positions this year for Argentina. The result showed a clear preference for the 22-year-old on the side of the scrum and thereby he won his place in the side in this position.

8 Javier Ortega Desio (94%) The non-selection of Facundo Isa continues to be talked about. Ledesma made it clear that others are ahead of him in being assured of a place in the 23. Of those selected Javier Ortega Desio and Rodrigo Bruni were the poll options. The former dominated in a no-contest victory. It should be noted that with him at the back the lineout is notably improved.

9 Tomás Cubelli (95%) Injury saw Gonzalo Bertranou lack sufficient rugby this year while Felipe Ezcurra impressed in Super Rugby as back-up to Tomás Cubelli. 95% of the votes for the starting scrum half went to Cubelli. This places little doubt as to who is expected to be playing 9 against France.

10 Benjamín Urdapilleta (54%) The first position open to votes was fly half. Nicolás Sánchez has been Ledesma’s first choice 10 though his form in 2019 has not been ideal. Ledesma has admitted as much while the fans who voted agree. Benjamín Urdapilleta was a replacement in two tests with the latter having left a lasting impact which saw him winning the vote by a margin of 8 points.

11 Ramiro Moyano (70%) Ledesma did not selected Santiago Cordero or Juan Imhoff for the World Cup. Instead he opted for Jaguares’ players. The regular starter has been Ramiro Moyano though Bautista Delguy has had limited opportunities due to injury. The voting results show that 70% favor Moyano to wear the 11 shirt against France.

12 Jerónimo de la Fuente (90%) Ledesma is taking two inside center to France. One is Los Jaguares’ captain, Jerónimo de la Fuente and the other is Lucas Mensa who debuted in Argentina’s final pre-RWC match. Mensa impressed on debut to win his spot on the roster but de la Fuente is widely expected to start ahead of him as the votes demonstrate.

13 Matías Orlando (72%) The vast majority expect de la Fuente to be joined by Matías Orlando in the mid-field. The Tucumán outside center was preferred to Matías Moroni by a massive margin which corresponds to the scenario of him playing wing instead. Juan Cruz Mallía is also on the roster though is yet to start a test match.

14 Matías Moroni (52%) Having lost out to Orlando the right wing poll was between Moroni and Bautista Delguy. The voting was the closest of all positions and had both players leading at different times. Ultimately Moroni would receive a winning margin of 4 points.

15 Emiliano Boffelli (93%) Ledesma named a roster with multiple fullback options – Emiliano Boffelli, Santiago Carreras, Juan Cruz Mallía and Joaquín Tuculet. The clear two players in contention for the 15 shirt are Boffelli, and Tuculet. The votes were one-sided with Boffelli being the undisputed fans choice.

 

ARGENTINA FANS CHOICE
1 Mayco Vivas, 2 Agustín Creevy, 3 Juan Figallo, 4 Guido Petti, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 6 Pablo Matera (capt.), 7 Marcos Kremer, 8 Javier Ortega Desio, 9 Tomás Cubelli, 10 Benjamín Urdapilleta, 11 Ramiro Moyano, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente, 13 Matías Orlando, 14 Matías Moroni, 15 Emiliano Boffelli

Replacements: 16 Julián Montoya, 17 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Matías Alemanno, 20 Tomás Lezana,  21 Felipe Ezcurra, 22 Nicolás Sánchez, 23 Bautista Delguy

For complete details of Argentina’s 31-man roster for RWC 2019 click here.