With the premise of winning and not suffering any unexpected shock, Los Pumas will play this Saturday against Chile from 10 in what will be the team’s third presentation in Group D of the France 2023 Rugby World Cup. The commitment should not entail any risk for the team led by Australian Michael Cheika, who even resorted to a large rotation and will make eleven changes compared to the team that beat Samoa last week.
In a competition as long as it is exhausting, Cheika seeks to rotate its players. For this reason, he confirmed the initial 15 with Joel Sclavi, Agustín Creevy and Eduardo Bello; Guido Petti and Pedro Rubiolo; Juan Martín González, Marcos Kremer and Facundo Isa; Tomás Cubelli and Nicolás Sánchez; Juan Imhoff, Jerónimo De la Fuente (Captain), Lucio Cinti and Rodrigo Isgró; Martín Bogado, in a formation in which only Bello, Petti, González and Kremer will repeat regarding the match against Samoa. On the substitute bench Ignacio Ruiz, Mayco Vivas, Francisco Gómez Kodela will wait for their opportunity; Matías Alemanno, Joaquín Oviedo, Lautaro Bazán Vélez, Santiago Carreras and Juan Cruz Mallía.
The difference in hierarchy between Los Pumas and the Chilean Cóndors is so noticeable that any result that is not a comfortable victory for the Argentines will represent real frustration. The history between both teams is a clear example of the disparity of forces: since the first meeting in 1936, they played 36 times, with 36 Albiceleste wins. And the last precedent, in Santiago in 2014, also marked a large Argentine victory by 73-12, with the presence of six members of the current squad: Matthias Moroni, Julian Montoya, Thomas Lavanini, German, Sanchez and De la Source.
Precisely the presence of fly-half Sánchez will be one of the attractions of the duel, since with this match he will reach 100 with the Los Pumas shirt. The man from Tucumán is one of the historical players, although now he appears somewhat relegated in Cheika’s consideration.
With a match won against Samoa and one lost against England, Los Pumas’ future in the competition will surely be resolved on Sunday, October 8, when they meet Japan in the last group match. The Japanese also lost to the English and beat the Samoans, while comfortably beating the Chileans. With a free date this day, they await the last match against Los Pumas to define the classification. Of course, to do this, the Argentines must ensure victory against their neighbors so that the ticket to the quarterfinals is defined in a head-to-head match.
2023-09-30 03:01:00
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