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It is time for Los Pumas to deliver or go home. Their Pool C match against England simply must be a victory. Performances thus far have been mixed from Argentina while England are among the best teams in the tournament.
Argentina Head Coach Mario Ledesma has made one change to the starting line-up against Tonga. It comes at N8 with Javier Ortega Desio back in the side in place of Tomás Lezana.
The decision for continuity sees Julián Montoya preferred over Agustín Creevy at hooker; Benjamín Urdapilleta over Nicolás Sánchez at fly half; and Matías Moroni continuing to play on the right wing.
The lack of modifications does not come without a massive call however as Ledesma has dropped Sánchez altogether. Named instead as the replacement inside back is Lucas Mensa. With just one test cap to his name, Mensa will cover inside center and fly half.
The big call for Mensa over Sánchez comes following erratic performances from Sánchez as well as the malfunctioning Pumas mid-field. Mensa offers an injection to the match with a different style of center, something that can act as an offensive weapon of note considering Jerónimo de la Fuente and Matías Orlando are both direct-running mid-fielders.
England Head Coach Eddie Jones has made nine changes from the team that defeated the USA in Kobe. In the forwards Joe Marler, George Kris, Tom Curry, and Billy Vunipola have been retained; while in the backs only George Ford, and Elliot Day retain their places.
Marler starts ahead of a fit-again Mako Vunipola at loose head. He will join Jamie George, and Kyle Sinckler in the front-row. Mark Itoje is back to lock the scrum together with Kruis as Joe Launchbury drops out of the 23.
In the backs Ben Youngs starts inside Ford who will re-form the impressive double fly half attack with Owen Farrell playing inside center. Manu Tuilagi is outside Farrell, a selection which will even test the excellent defense of Orlando.
The rivalry of capped test match rugby between Argentina and England dates back to 1981. The first ever match was a 19-19 draw in Buenos Aires. In total there have been 23 matches between the sides with Argentina winning three and England 18. Argentina’s last win was in Salta in June 2009.
For Ledesma RWC 2019 has come one year too early. His cleaning-out of the Daniel Hourcade players has seen a new side taking shape though he is up against a highly settled England side. The Europeans are favorites to win a low-scoring fixture by 4 points. Such a result would eliminate Argentina from RWC 2019 with one pool match yet to play.
TEAMS
ARGENTINA
1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2 Julián Montoya, 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 Santiago Carreras, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente, 13 Matías Orlando, 14 Matías Moroni, 15 Emiliano Boffelli
Replacements: 16 Agustín Creevy, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Matías Alemanno, 20 Tomás Lezana, 21 Felipe Ezcurra, 22 Lucas Mensa, 23 Bautista Delguy
ENGLAND
1 Joe Marler, 2 Jamie George, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 George Kruis, 6 Tom Curry, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Billy Vunipola, 9 Ben Youngs, 10 George Ford, 11, Johnny May, 12 Owen Farrell (capt.), 13 Manu Tuilagi, 14 Anthony Watson, 15 Elliot Daly
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Courtney Lawes, 20 Lewis Ludlam, 21 Willi Heinz, 22 Henry Slade, 23 Jack Nowell
Date: Saturday, October 05
Kick-Off: 17:00 local (01:00 Pacific, 04:00 Eastern, 05:00 Rio de la Plata)
Venue: Tokyo Stadium, Tokyo
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistants: Angus Gardner (Australia), Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
