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Doubts surround a variety of reputable Argentine players ahead of the November Internationals. The forthcoming roster announcement will feature changes from the Rugby Championship as injuries play their part.
Argentina will open their tour to the UK on November 06. The South Americans first fixture will be against England in London at Twickenham Stadium. Game two will be six days later against Wales in Cardiff while the tour will conclude against Scotland in Edinburgh on November 19.
Thus far in 2022, Michael Cheika has selected rosters ranging from 32 to 34 players. The performances and fitness of players is presently being monitored before the announcement of the roster for the tour. Some names can already be excluded based on injuries.
Loose head Mayco Vivas is out of the series. His next match of rugby will be in the English Premiership. Gloucester have signed Vivas where he will play alongside fellow Pumas Matías Alemanno, Santiago Carreras, and Santiago Socino.
Alemanno has had a busy year under Cheika and this will continue in November. Los Pumas will be without fellow second-rower Guido Petti. He is yet to play for Bordeaux and will not be fit in time for the end-of-year test matches.
Tight head props Francisco Gómez Kodela will miss the tour through injury and Joel Sclavi through suspension. With Vivas also out that means three of Cheika’s seven props from the Rugby Championship will miss the November Internationals.
N8 Rodrigo Bruni will also miss the tour. Like Petti, Bruni was injured while playing for Los Pumas against South Africa. He underwent surgery and will next play for Brive in the Top 14.
Argentina is also set to be without backs. Scrum-half Gonzalo García was on the original roster for 2022 but is yet to play a test match. García underwent surgery ahead of the July Internationals and is yet to play again. He is yet to feature in the United Rugby Championship (URC) for Zebre.
It is a similar case for Nicolás Sánchez. The veteran started for Los Pumas in the first test of the year. He left the field injured early against Scotland. Santiago Carreras replaced him and retained the fly half shirt for all eight test matches since then.
Santiago Chocobares was also on Cheika’s original roster for 2022. The Toulouse center did not play for Los Pumas due to injury. He has undergone surgery and is into the final stages of recovery. He will next play for Toulouse in the Top 14.
Argentine players across Europe’s elite rugby as well as those on the Argentina XV roster are competing for places on the roster for November. There is depth across all postions and players are putting up their hands for selection.
