July Tests 2024: Argentina vs France Game 2 – ARN Guide

Argentina take-on France in Buenos Aires on Saturday. Les Bleus have the opportunity of completing an unbeaten three match tour of South America. France is 80 minutes away from a first series win over Argentina since 1998. The pressure is on Argentina and their new Head Coach, Felipe Contepomi.

As a player Contepomi was no stranger to pressure. The 2010 match came with Argentina having lost 24-16 in Tucumán and 13-9 in Mar del Plata against Scotland. It was Scotland’s first ever series win in Argentina. Los Pumas rebounded from that low to defeat France 41-13 in Buenos Aires.

Contepomi’s experience as a player will be called-upon this Saturday. Argentina had problems with execution in Mendoza. He was a specialist at creating something out of nothing. This will need to be achieved while also competing much better in the contact areas; Mendoza demonstrated that France’s physicality was a leading factor in the outcome.

Fabien Galthié has a settled line-up. The backs are unchanged while the forwards have only been moved where required following off-field incident which saw two players arrested. His rotation demonstrates two distinct teams. The team that started vs Argentina is different to that which faced Uruguay. This is also true of impact players; all his replacements for Buenos Aires were in the 23 in Montevideo.

 

LINE-UP CHANGES FROM MENDOZA

1 Mayco Vivas replaces Thomas Gallo
4 Franco Molina replaces Matías Alemanno
9 Lautaro Bazán Vélez replaces Gonzalo Bertranou
12 Santiago Chocobares replaces Jerónimo de la Fuente
15 Santiago Cordero replaces Martín Bogado

4 Mikael Guillard replaces Hugo Auradou
6 Lenni Nouchi replaces Judicael Cancoriet
7 Judicael Cancoriet replaces Oscar Jegou

NOTES

• The match is a sell out; all tickets have been sold.
• A French win will see France winning a test series in Argentina for the first time since 1998.
• Vélez Sarsfield has not been a happy hunting ground for France. Argentina won in 2002, 2003, and 2010. Felipe Contepomi score 31 points in a record 41-13 win over France in 2010.
• Flanker Pablo Matera will become the third Puma to each 100 caps.
• Toulouse center Santiago Chocobares is straight into the starting team.
• Franco Molina earns his first test start after debuting last weekend in Mendoza.
• Santiago Cordero replaces Martín Bogado who is out of the 23. Cordero missed the World Cup.
• The Pumas replacements see World Cup second-rower Pedro Rubiolo covering flanker.
• Melvyn Jaminet was sent home for racism on social media. He was a replacement in Mendoza.
• Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou started. They were arrested on Monday on claims of rape in Mendoza on Sunday. They face up to 20 years jail.
• Fabien Galthíe has named an unchanged backline. His changes come in the forwards following the aforementioned off-field incident.
• France have a 6-2 split with just two replacement backs.
• France’s replacements all faced Uruguay in Montevideo on Wednesday.
• Argentina and France have been competing for 75 years. The first meeting was in 1949.
• France has 39 wins, Argentina 14 and the teams competed to one draw.

PREDICTION

France out did themselves in Mendoza and deserved the win. Argentina underperformed, though, did so with France dominating the collisions. Les Bleus also had Argentina under immense pressure in the scrum. Argentina have had more time to make adjustments; indeed, France are playing a third test match in eight days. Even though players have been entirely rotated, a French win in Buenos Aires would be beyond impressive. ARN projects Argentina to win by 5+ points.

LINEUPS

ARGENTINA
1 Mayco Vivas, 2 Julián Montoya (capt.), 3 Eduardo Bello, 4 Franco Molina, 5 Lucas Paulos, 6 Pablo Matera, 7 Marcos Kremer, 8 Joaquín Oviedo, 9 Lautaro Bazán Vélez, 10 Santiago Carreras, 11 Mateo Carreras, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 13 Matías Moroni, 14 Bautista Delguy, 15 Santiago Cordero

Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Thomas Gallo, 18 Lucio Sordoni, 19 Matías Alemanno, 20 Pedro Rubiolo, 21 Gonzalo Bertranou, 22 Tomás Albornoz, 23 Matías Orlando

FRANCE
1 Jean-Baptiste Gros, 2 Gaetan Barlot, 3 Georges-Henri Colombe, 4 Mikael Guillard, 5 Baptiste Pesenti, 6 Lenni Nouchi, 7 Judicael Cancoriet, 8 Jordan Joseph, 9 Baptiste Serin (capt.), 10 Antoine Hastoy, 11 Lester Etien, 12 Antoine Frisch, 13 Émilien Gailleton, 14 Théo Attissogbé, 15 Léo Barré

Replacements: 16 Teddy Baubigny, 17 Sebastián Taofifenua, 18 Demba Bamba, 19 Posolo Tuilagi, 20 Romain Briatte, 21 Killian Tixeront, 22 Baptiste Jauneaud, 23 Léo Berdeu

 

MATCH DETAILS

Date: Saturday, July 13
Venue: Vélez Sarsfield, (Buenos Aires, AR)
Kickoff: 4pm (AR); 9pm (FR)
Weather Forecast: Sunny; 12 (Celsius); Wind 3 km/h
Broadcasts: ESPN; Disney +

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland)
Assistants: Chris Busby (Ireland); Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
TMO: Quinton Immelman (South Africa)

HISTORY

HEAD-TO-HEAD (54): France 39, Argentina 14, Draw 1, STREAK France +5
2024-07-16 – Argentina 13, France 28 (Mendoza, Argentina)
2021-11- 06 – France 29, Argentina 20 (Paris, France)
2019-09-21 – France 23, Argentina 21 (Tokyo, Japan)
2018-11-17 – France 28, Argentina 13 (Lille, France)
2016-06-25 – Argentina 0, France 27 (Tucumán, Argentina)
2016-06-19 – Argentina 30, France 19 (Tucumán, Argentina)
2014-11-22 – France 13, Argentina 18 (Paris, France)
2012-11-17 – France 39, Argentina 22 (Lille, France)
2012-06-23 – Argentina 10, France 49 (Tucumán, Argentina)
2012-06-16 – Argentina 23, France 20 (Córdoba, Argentina)
2010-11-20 – France 15, Argentina 09 (Montpellier, France)
2010-06-26 – Argentina 46, France 13 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
2008-11-08 – France 12, Argentina 06 (Marseille, France)
2007-10-19 – France 10, Argentina 34 (Paris, France)
2007-09-07 – France 12, Argentina 17 (Paris, France)
2006-11-25 – France 27, Argentina 26 (Paris, France)
2004-11-20 – France 14, Argentina 24 (Marseille, France)
2003-06-20 – Argentina 10, France 06 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
2003-06-14 – Argentina 33, France 32 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
2002-06-15 – Argentina 28, France 27 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
1999-10-24 – France 47, Argentina 26 (Dublin, Ireland)
1998-11-14 – France 34, Argentina 14 (Nantes, France)
1998-06-20 – Argentina 12, France 37 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
1998-06-13 – Argentina 18, France 35 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
1997-10-26 – France 23, Argentina 27 (Tarbes, France)
1996-06-29 – Argentina 15, France 34 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
1996-06-22 – Argentina 27, France 34 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
1995-10-21 – Argentina 12, France 47 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
1992-11-14 – France 20, Argentina 24 (Nantes, France)
1992-07-11 – Argentina 09, France 33 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
1992-07-04 – Argentina 12, France 27 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
1988-11-11 – France 28, Argentina 18 (Lille, France)
1988-11-05 – France 29, Argentina 09 (Nantes, France)
1988-06-05 – Argentina 18, France 06 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
1988-06-18 – Argentina 15, France 18 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
1986-06-07 – Argentina 09, France 22 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
1986-05-31 – Argentina 15, France 13 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
1985-06-29 – Argentina 15, France 23 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
1985-06-22 – Argentina 24, France 16 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
1982-11-20 – France 13, Argentina 06 (Paris, France)
1982-11-14 – France 25, Argentina 12 (Toulouse, France)
1977-07-02 – Argentina 18, France 18 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
1977-06-25 – Argentina 03, France 26 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
1975-10-25 – France 36, Argentina 21 (Paris, France)
1975-10-19 – France 19, Argentina 06 (Lyon, France)
1974-06-29 – Argentina 27, France 31 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
1974-06-20 – Argentina 15, France 20 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
1960-08-17 – Argentina 06, France 29 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
1960-08-06 – Argentina 03, France 12 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
1960-07-23 – Argentina 03, France 37 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
1954-09-12 – Argentina 03, France 30 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
1954-08-29 – Argentina 08, France 22 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
1949-09-04 – Argentina 03, France 12 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
1949-08-28 – Argentina 00, France 05 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)