Contepomi captains Pumas
Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:22
Regular Leinster flyhalf Felipe Contepomi, playing at inside centre for his country, will captain Argentina when they face Scotland in the first of two Tests in Rosario on Saturday.
With a host of their World Cup stars not available, Contepomi will lead what is a virtual second-string Puma side.
However, the team still includes a number of overseas-based professionals.
These include fullback Bernardo Stortoni (Glasgow Warriors), centre Gonzalo Tiesi (Harlequins), Contepomi (Leinster), wing Tomás De Vedia (London Irish), flyhalf Federico Todeschini (Montpellier Herault RC), No.8 Juan Manuel Leguizamon (London Irish), prop Marcos Ayerza (Leicester Tigers), lock Ignacio Fernández Lobbe (Northampton Saints), lock Esteban Lozada (Toulon), as well as flanks Martín Durand (Champagnat) and Juan Fernández Lobbe (Sale Sharks).
The game will be Santiago Phelan's first game as head coach, after taking over from Marcelo Loffreda - who joined Leicester Tigers in November last year, after having led Argentina to third place in the World Cup in France.
Contepomi, who was part of the team that clinched third place under Loffreda, wants to build on that success under Phelan.
"We are very happy to be back after eight months. We have a new era and I hope both the team and Phelan do things well," he said.
Looking to Saturday's Test, Contepomi asked fans to be patient with the new set-up.
Argentina: 15 Bernardo Stortoni, 14 José María Núñez Piossek, 13 Gonzalo Tiesi, 12 Felipe Contepomi (captain), 11 Tomás De Vedia, 10 Federico Todeschini, 9 Nicolás Vergallo, 8 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 7 Juan Fernández Lobbe, 6 Martín Durand, 5 Esteban Lozada, 4 Ignacio Fernández Lobbe, 3 Santiago González Bonorino, 2 Álvaro Tejeda, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements:
16 Pablo Gambarini, 17 Juan Gómez, 18 James Stuart, 19 Alejandro Campos, 20 Alfredo Lalanne, 21 Santiago Fernández, 22 Hernán Senillosa.
Date: Saturday, June 7
Venue: Estadio Gigante de Arroyito, Rosario
Kick-off: 16.10 (19.10 GMT)
Referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland)
Touch judges: Alain Rolland (Ireland), Cobus Wessels (South Africa)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
