Phelan changes his Pumas
Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:07
Argentina coach Santiago Phelan has made two changes to his team for the second Test against Scotland, at Estadio Jose Amalfitani, the home ground of soccer club Vélez Sársfield, in Buenos Aires on Saturday.
There are five changes to the squad, two to the starting XV.
Horacio Agulla and Lucas Borges, who have been released by their European clubs, have been named on the wings in place of Tomas de Vedia and José Maria Núñez Piossek.
Those are the changes to the starting XV. It may seem strange to change the wings after the first Test, as they were left largely unemployed.
Núñez Piossek of Tucumán, who turns 32 in December, made his debut for the Pumas in 2001 but missed the 2007 World Cup because of injury. De Vedia, who plays for Saracens, is a different proposition. He is 25 and made his debut just last year.
Agulla, who played for the Pumas in 2005 when he was 20, has been playing for Dax. The French club has avoided relegation but he is off to Brive who have also been too close to relegation for comfort. Borges, who is 28, has been playing for Benetton Treviso who were beaten in the final of Italy's Super 10 last weekend. Agulla and Borges were both at the World Cup.
The other changes are on the bench. Federico Martin-Aramburu (28) has been released by Perpignan to play though his club will be involved in next week's semifinals. He has not been a regular member of the Catalan side.
Flank Álvaro Galindo comes onto the bench. The 26-year-old has been playing for Béziers in France's Pro D2 and their matches ended last weekend. Galindo replaces Alejandro Campos.
Veteran Hernán Senillosa, like Fernández a member of the Hindú Club, drops off the bench in favour of SIC's Federico Serra.
Hooker Álvaro Tejeda will win his second cap after making a try-scoring debut in last weekend's 21-15 triumph in Rosario.
At the other end of the spectrum, this may well be a last match for Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe who is 34 years of age and made his debut for the Pumas in 1996.
Argentina: 15 Bernardo Stortoni, 14 Lucas Borges, 13 Gonzalo Tiesi, 12 Felipe Contepomi (captain), 11 Horacio Agulla, 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 Álvaro Galindo, 20 Alfredo Lalanne, 21 Federico Martín Aramburu, 22 Federico Serra.
Date: Saturday, June 14
Venue: Estadio Jose Amalfitani, Buenos Aires
Kick-off: 16.10 (19.10 GMT)
Referee:
Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Touch judges: Alan Lewis (Ireland), Cobus Wessels (South Africa)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
