Pumas name 'rookies' to face Boks
Argentine coach Daniel Hourcade named three rookies in his team to face South Africa in the opening round of the Rugby Championship in Pretoria on Saturday.
The highlights of the team announcement on Thursday is the inclusion of tighthead prop Ramiro Herrera, who will play in only his third Test, Manuel Montero (13 Tests) on the left wing and Joaquin Tuculet (11 Tests) at fullback.
They will all make their first appearances in the Rugby Championship.
Noteworthy selections on the bench include Matías Cortese, Lucas Noguera Paz, Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, Matías Alemanno and Santiago González Iglesias.
Injured wing Juan Imhoff is the only major absentee from the squad. Horacio Agulla comes in on the right wing for Imhoff and Juan Martin Hernandez replaces Jeronimo de la Fuente at inside centre.
Agulla (51 caps) and Hernandez (44) are among the five most experienced Pumas in a starting line-up.
Hourcade had rested most of his first-choice selections for the June Tests against Ireland and Scotland.
Flyhalf Nicolas Sanchez and wing Manuel Montero are the only players retained from the side that lost 19-21 to Scotland in Cordoba in their last Test on 20 June.
The Pumas have been hard at work since the beginning of June, building towards their third season in the Southern Hemisphere championship.
"The players have had a very good build-up and we trust that they will give a good account of themselves," the coach, Hourcade, said.
"The team is very focused we are expecting to have a great game."
The coach said he expected a tough challenge from a very good Bok team when they go head-to-head at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.
"They have very strong players and play a very physical game - both in attack and defence," Hourcade said.
"The key will not to let them get comfortable.
"Discipline will also be crucial. We talked a lot and trained hard for this. Defence will also be key, but when we have opportunities to attack, we intend to do - as we have been training - to do it with a lot of dynamism.
"The biggest challenge is that we want to impose our offensive system."
The Pumas mentor said the only way to beat the Boks is to slow the game down, otherwise they would prolong the agony of never having beaten SA.
The last time these two teams met was in Mendoza in August last year, when the Boks scraped to a narrow 22-17 win.
Eight players who featured in that match - Mark Ayerza, Mariano Galarza, Pablo Matera, Juan Manuel Leguizamón, Martin Landajo, Nicolás Sánchez, Marcelo Bosch and Horacio Agulla - will play at Loftus on Saturday.
The previous year the Boks escaped with a fortuitous 16-all draw at the same venue.
Argentina: 15 Joaquín Tuculet, 14 Horacio Agulla, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Juan Martín Hernández, 11 Manuel Montero, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Martín Landajo, 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 7 Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 4 Mariano Galarza, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustín Creevy (captain), 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements: 16 Matías Cortese, 17 Lucas Noguera Paz, 18 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 19 Matías Alemanno, 20 Leonardo Senatore, 21 Tomás Cubelli, 22 Santiago González Iglesias, 23 Lucas González Amorosino.
Date: Saturday, August 16
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 17.05 (12.05 Argentina time; 15.05 GMT)
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Steve Walsh (Australia), Marius Mitrea (Italy)
TMO: Simon McDowell (Ireland)