Same again for Pumas

Argentina coach Santiago Phelan has named an unchanged starting line-up for Saturday's Rugby Championship clash with Australia in Rosario.


Phelan has resisted the urge to make mass changes following last weekend’s heavy defeat to the All Blacks with just two alterations to the bench.


Loose forward Leonardo Senatore replaces Tomas Vallejos and Nicolas Sanchez returns to the matchday 22 in place of injured fullback Martin Rodriguez.


The Pumas are earmarked to break their Rugby Championship duck and record their first win over the Wallabies in 15 years on Saturday with Australia missing several first-choice players due to injury.

Fullback Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino said they have put last weekend’s disappointment behind them and are focused squarely on Saturday’s showdown with the Wallabies.  

"We are confident and more than ready to forget what happened and only think about Australia," Gonzalez Amorosino said.

"Playing at home is wonderful. It's great to have the support and to be at home and train with your family close by. I hope there's a big party atmosphere at the stadium this time that will help motivate us.

"I think it's going to be high-energy match, and we have to reduce our errors. We want to have the ball like we did in attack against New Zealand, but without the mistakes. We're up to play a great match."


Argentina: 15 Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Santiago Fernandez, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Juan Martin Hernandez, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe (captain), 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 6 Julio Farias Cabello, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Eusebio Guinazu, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.

Replacements: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 18 Leonardo Senatore, 19 Tomas Leonardi, 20 Nicolas Vergallo, 21 Nicolas Sanchez, 22 Juan Imhoff.

Date: Saturday, October 6

Venue: Estadio Gigante de Arroyito, Rosario

Kick-off: 20.10 (23.10 GMT; 09.10, Sunday, October 7 AEST)

Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)

Assistant referees: Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Pascal Gauzere (France)

TMO: Francisco Pastrana (Argentina)