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New Zealand play their final test match of 2020 this Saturday. It will be no ordinary fixture; rather it will be a round five fixture of the Tri Nations. Los Pumas’s 25-15 win over New Zealand and 15-15 draw vs Australia means that Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand are all even on six competition points.
The match falls three days after the passing of Diego Maradona. His death has hit Argentina hard; President Alberto Fernández announced three days of mourning.
New Zealand have made three changes for the match; all three come in the forwards. Head Coach Ian Foster has named Nepo Laulala ahead of Tyrel Lomax at tight head prop. They trade places with Lomax named on the bench.
Scott Barrett is back in the mix. He will join Sam Whitelock in the second-row. It means that Patrick Tuipulotu drops to the bench, taking the spot occupied by Tupou Vaa’i in the prior test match.
The final change comes in the back-row. Akira Ioane has been preferred to Shannon Frizell at flanker. Cover will come in the form of the highly promising Hoskins Sotutu. Sam Cane captains the side from the other flank.
The same backline from the defeat two weeks ago has been retained. It means that Foster will continue with Jordie Barrett out of position on the wing and his brother, Beauden Barrett out of position at fullback. Argentina was able to shut down them and other lethal runners such as Caleb Clarke, and forwards Dane Coles, Sam Whitelock, and Ardie Savea last time around.
New Zealand will have two fresh backs among their replacements. TJ Perenara takes over from Brad Weber as the replacement scrum-half, while Will Jordan comes in for Damian McKenzie to cover fullback.
Mario Ledesma has opted for rotation. He has made ten changes to Argentina’s starting line-up and has also named a new-look bench. Four of the changes are in the forwards and six in the backs.
Julián Montoya will again start at hooker. He will be joined by Mayco Vivas and Santiago Medrano in the front-row. The duo replace Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro and Francisco Gómez Kodela respectively.
Guido Petti retains his spot in the second-row. His partner will be Lucas Paulos who debuts for Argentina at the age of 22. He has two seasons of Super Rugby for Los Jaguares and played a lot with Petti for that team. With Paulos starting Matías Alemanno drops to the bench.
Pablo Matera, and Marcos Kremer again start as the flankers. They will be joined by Facundo Isa who replaces Rodrigo Bruni at N8. Santiago Grondona has been preferred to Bruni and Tomás Lezana as the replacement back-rower.
Nicolás Sánchez will again play opposite Richie Mo’unga. The Tucumán fly half is the one back who also started last weekend. Felipe Ezcurra replaces Gonzalo Bertranou at scrum-half. Ezcurra and Sánchez previously started together once for Argentina.
Santiago Chocobares and Matías Orlando have been rested after two busy matches. Jerónimo de la Fuente and Juan Cruz Mallía replace them in the mid-field. Lucas Mensa also comes into the team to provide cover from the bench.
There is also a new back-three. Ledesma lost Juan Imhoff to a tournament ending injury. He was forced off inside the opening 15 minute against Australia. His replacement was Emiliano Boffelli who replaces Santiago Carreras at fullback. Santiago Cordero starts on the left wing while Ramiro Moyano replaces the Bordeaux-bound Bautista Delguy on the right wing. Carreras has been named on the bench to cover fullback, wing and fly half.
The All Blacks have 28 wins from their 30 prior test matches against Argentina. Los Pumas were 25-15 winners two weeks ago; a result which stunned the global rugby audience. Prior to that the one non-victory was a 21-21 draw between the countries in 1985.
Argentina is playing for the third consecutive Saturday , while New Zealand had a bye last weekend. Changes to the team are motivated by player management more than any other factor. The team, nonetheless, remains strong and will go out to win again. ARN projects New Zealand to win by 8 points.
TEAMS
NEW ZEALAND
1 Joe Moody, 2 Dane Coles, 3 Nepo Laulala, 4 Scott Barrett, 5 Sam Whitelock, 6 Akira Ioane, 7 Sam Cane (capt.), 8 Ardie Savea, 9 Aaron Smith, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 11 Caleb Clarke, 12 Jack Goodhue, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 14 Jordie Barrett, 15 Beauden Barrett
Replacements: 16 Codie Taylor, 17 Karl Tu’inukuafe, 18 Tyrel Lomax, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Hoskins Sotutu, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Rieko Ioane, 23 Will Jordan
ARGENTINA
1 Mayco Vivas, 2 Julián Montoya, 3 Santiago Medrano, 4 Guido Petti, 5 Lucas Paulos, 6 Pablo Matera (capt.), 7 Marcos Kremer, 8 Facundo Isa, 9 Felipe Ezcurra, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 11 Santiago Cordero, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente, 13 Juan Cruz Mallía, 14 Ramiro Moyano, 15 Emiliano Boffelli
Replacements: 16 Santiago Socino, 17 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 18 Lucio Sordoni, 19 Matías Alemanno, 20 Santiago Grondona, 21 Gonzalo Bertranou, 22 Santiago Carreras, 23 Lucas Mensa
Date: Saturday, November 28
Kick-Off: 7:45pm (Local), 5:45am (Argentina)
Venue: McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle
Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Paul Williams (New Zealand)
TMO: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Broadcast: ESPN
