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With scrum-halves out through injury, there could be an opening for a scrum-half for the Rugby World Cup. Argentina is set to take three scrum-halves to the tournament in France in September and October. Of them two are considered certain – Gonzalo Bertranou and Tomás Cubelli.
Bertranou is out for the remainder of the United Rugby Championship (URC) season. The same is true of Gonzalo García. Michael Cheika has said that all of Argentina’s injured players will be back to fitness in time. Notwithstanding, with players unavailable there are opportunities for others to garner attention.
Argentina’s player pool contains no shortage of options. Bertranou, Cubelli, García, Lautaro Bazán Vélez and Felipe Ezcurra are examples of European-based players this season. Of them Bazán Vélez joined Bertranou and Cubelli in playing under Cheika in 2022.
Bazán Vélez and Cubelli have both had injury disruptions this season. For the November Internationals this saw a call-up and test debut for Eliseo Morales. He is playing Super Rugby Americas for Los Pampas. The same competition sees Ignacio Inchauspe playing well and captaining Yacare and Martín Landajo featuring for the American Raptors.
ESPN Argentina note that competition for the position is very much an open contest. Martín Landajo has been singled out as an option for Cheika. It would be a miraculous return. Landajo’s last cap was five years ago in 2018.
https://twitter.com/ScrumESPN/status/1633905495651041308?s=20
Landajo departed Super Rugby for England. He played for the Harlequins before playing for Perpignan in France. He now plays Super Rugby Americas for the American Raptors. He has fit-in well for the Colorado team. He had a strong showing in front of Cheika in Buenos Aires last Friday.
With 84 test caps to his name, Landajo is vastly experienced. This factor and his form for the Raptors mean that his name is now in the discussion for selection in Rugby World Cup year.
