Hernández misses out on World Cup for Argentina

Argentina's Juan Martin Hernández will miss the World Cup after failing to recover in time after knee surgery, coach Santiago Phelan said on Tuesday.

The Racing Metro flyhalf, one of the outstanding players of the 2007 finals in France where the Pumas finished third, has not fully recovered from a knee ligament operation.

He was therefore not named by Phelan in the 30-man squad for the tournament in New Zealand starting on Sept. 9.

The squad, captained by Felipe Contepomi, contains 17 forwards including seven front row and 13 backs, a decision Phelan said was taken in view of the wear and tear in the pack.

Phelan added that he looked upon the absence of Hernández as missing out on a major plus rather than a loss.

"He had not been with us for two years," Phelan told a news conference referring to the fact that Hernández was unavailable to Argentina last year too with back trouble.

"The team were working without Juan, with Felipe (Contepomi) as number 10 and other alternatives. The inclusion of Juan was going to be an addition rather than someone being left out."

Nevertheless, Hernández's absence from the tournament will be a major setback to Argentina's hopes of at least coming close to their remarkable performance of four years ago.

"He made a great effort but in our heads it was as if he wasn't going to be with us. It would have been a plus.

"This doesn't take away (the fact) that it's an important loss for his qualities as a player and a person."

The Pumas have a test match against Wales in Cardiff on Aug. 20 as their last major outing before the tournament.

Argentina start their World Cup campaign against 2003 champions England on Sept. 10.

Squad:

Forwards: Juan Fernández Lobbe (Toulon), Juan Manuel Leguizamón (Lyon), Leonardo Senatore (Gimnasia Rosario), Alejandro Campos (Agen), Alvaro Galindo (Racing Metro), Patricio Albacete (Toulouse), Manuel Carizza (Biarritz), Julio Farias Cabello (Tucuman RC), Mariano Galarza (unattached), Tomas Vallejos (Harlequins), Marcos Ayerza (Leicester Tigers), Agustin Creevy (Montpellier), Juan Figallo (Montpellier), Maximiliano Bustos (Montpellier), Mario Ledesma (Clermont), Rodrigo Roncero (Stade Francais), Martín Scelzo (Agen)

Backs: Martin Rodríguez (Stade Francais), Horacio Agulla (Leicester Tigers), Juan Jose Imhoff (Duendes), Gonzalo Camacho (Exeter), Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino (Montpellier), Agustin Gosio (Newman), Gonzalo Tiesi (Stade Francais), Santiago Fernández (Montpellier), Marcelo Bosch (Biarritz), Felipe Contepomi (Stade Francais, captain), Nicolás Sánchez (Bordeaux-Begles), Alfredo Lalanne (London Irish), Nicolás Vergallo (Toulouse)