The Argentine rugby team, Los Pumas, will meet this Saturday in Jujuy from 4:05 p.m. against their pair from Scotland, at the start of the international tour in July, which includes two more clashes against the British team.
The match –controlled by the Australian Nick Berry and his assistants will be Frenchmen Pierre Brousset and Mathieu Raynal– which will mark the debut of Australian coach Michael Cheika at the helm of Los Pumas will be played at the Gimnasia y Esgrima stadium in Jujuy, the first of a series of three that will be completed a week later at the Padre Martearena stadium in Salta and on Saturday the 16th at the Madre de Ciudades stadium in Santiago del Estero.
The Pumas return to play in Argentina after almost three years, since their last presentation was against the South African Springboks (13-46), on August 10, 2019 in Salta.
Cheika confirmed the team with the return of center Matías Orlando from Tucuman, recovered from various injuries, and the participation of Cordovan Juan Cruz Mallía as fullback. In addition, the fly-half from Tucuman, Nicolás Sánchez (with 93 tests) will once again be among the starters, relegated from the team for six games due to injuries and tactical decisions by former coach Mario Ledesma. Tomás Cubelli will occupy the position of scrum half; Santiago Cordero and Rosario Emiliano Boffelli will be the wingers and Orlando and Jerónimo De la Fuente the centers. Among the forwards will be the eighth Pablo Matera, recently crowned champion with the New Zealand Crusaders along with the third lines Marcos Kremer and Juan Martín González. In the second line will be Matías Alemanno and Guido Petti, and the first line will be made up of Francisco Gómez Kodela, captain Julián Montoya and Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro.
The hooker Montoya, champion with England’s Leicester Tiger after beating Saracens in the English Premiership final, was awarded by his teammates as a figure of the team.
Among the replacements will be Santiago Carreras in the absence of the injured Benjamín Urdapilleta, the hooker and former Los Pumas captain Agustín Creevy (18 tries in the English season at the London Irish) and the prop from Mar del Plata Joel Sclavi, who could debut in Los Pumas ; Mayco Vivas, Lucas Paulos, Facundo Isa, Gonzalo Bertranou and Matías Moroni will also be present.
Scotland, led by manager Gregor Townsend, will have the return tomorrow of Duhanvan der Merwe, suspended in Scotland’s last two games in the traditional Six Nations tournament. Among the forwards, second rows Jonny Gray and Grant Gilchrist stand out and a very effective third row in the fixed formations made up of Magnus Bradbury, Luke Crosbie and Matt Fagerson. Among the three quarters, scrum-half Ali Price and wingers Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe stand out. On the substitute bench will be Ewan Ashman, Rory Sutherland, Javan Sebastian, Sam Skinner, Rory Darge, Ben White, Ross Thompson and Sione Tuipulotu.
possible formations
Argentina: Juan Cruz Mallía: Santiago Cordero, Matías Orlando, Jerónimo de la Fuente and Emiliano Boffelli; Nicolás Sánchez and Tomás Cubelli; Pablo Matera, Marcos Kremer and Juan Martín González; Matías Alemanno and Guido Petti; Francisco Gómez Kodela, Julián Montoya (captain) and Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro. Coach: Michael Cheika.
Scotland: Rory Hutchison; Darcy Graham, Mark Bennett, Sam Johnson, and Duhan van der Merwe; Blair Kinghorn and Ali Price; Matt Fagerson, Luke Crosbie and Magnus Bradbury; Jonny Gray and Grant Gilchrist (captain); Zander Fagerson, George Turner, and Pierre Schoeman. Coach: Gregor Townsend.
Stadium: Gymnastics and Fencing of Jujuy. Referee: Nick Berry (Australia), assisted by Pierre Brousset (France) and Mathieu Raynal (France). TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa). Hour: 4:05 p.m. TV: ESPN.
