Pumas make no changes

New Zealand will have fly-half Daniel Carter back

rugby

Coach Santiago Phelan decided to make no changes in the Pumas team which lost narrowly to Australia in the last match to face New Zealand in La Plata on Saturday. New Zealand will have Daniel Carter back and expect him to make a difference with his play-making.

Argentine rugby team coach Santiago Phelan decided not to make any changes in the lineup which lost 23-19 in the last Rugby Championship match against Australia to face New Zealand at the Estadio Único in La Plata on Saturday.

The starting lineup will therefore be Rodrigo Roncero, Eusebio Guiñazú, Juan Figallo; Manuel Carizza, Patricio Albacete; Julio Farías Cabello, Juan Manuel Leguizamón, Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe (capitain); Martín Landajo, Juan Martín Hernández; Horacio Agulla, Santiago Fernández, Marcelo Bosch, Gonzalo Camacho; Lucas González Amorosino.

The replacements are Agustín Creevy, Marcos Ayerza (recovered from injury), Tomás Vallejos, Tomás Leonardi, Nicolás Vergallo, Martín Rodríguez and Juan Imhoff.

Flyhalf Daniel Carter looks like being fit for New Zealand’s potential Rugby Championship title clincher on Saturday, coach Steve Hansen said yesterday. The All Blacks face the Pumas in La Plata at 8.10pm knowing a victory will land them the crown regardless of what happens in South Africa’s clash with Australia in Pretoria. Carter missed New Zealand’s last two matches, home victories over Argentina and South Africa, with a calf injury.

The world champions know Argentina are very tough opponents on home soil and are also learning fast with each game in their first major annual tournament. Hansen expects the Pumas pack to try to dominate as they did in their previous home match, a 16-16 draw with South Africa, and also in their defeats away to New Zealand and Australia. He is wary too of Argentina’s growing confidence as evidenced by their scoring two tries against the Wallabies and running up a 13-point lead before going down 23-19.

“They started to use the ball a bit against Australia and looked really dangerous so they might get some confidence out of that and maybe play some more rugby,”Hansen said. “I think they’ve just got to play for 80 minutes. They’ve given themselves plenty of opportunities to but with the intensity of these games, they’re not used to playing the opposition they’re playing and that last 20 minutes is a lack of concentration and all of a sudden a lead or an opportunity goes missing. Their defence is very good, I don’t think they’ve had a try scored against them in the first half in the last three test matches.”

Hansen thinks Carter’s playmaking abilities can help tip the balance earlier at La Plata than in Wellington where the Pumas were only 9-5 down until the final quarter of an hour before the All Blacks won 21-5.

Reuters, Telam