With just three changes, The Pumas are confirmed to face the All Blacks for the second date of Rugby Championshipafter the debut victory 38-30, the third in history, Wellington. Coach Felipe Contepomi decided to return from Julian Montoya and that involved the departure of Augustine Creevy of the squad and that Pablo Matera stop being the captain. Furthermore, they enter Lucio Sordoni y Joaquin Oviedo. The duel will be played on Saturday from 4:05 in the morning at Eden Park in Auckland, a venue in which the New Zealanders have not lost since August 3, 1994 when they fell 23-20 against France.
The forwards pack is the one that presents the changes. On the first line, in addition to the return of Montoya, Sordoni will take the place of Eduardo Bellowhile Marcos Kremer will go to the second line instead of Franco Molinaso that Oviedo starts on the third line.
Thus, Contepomi made his first move as ship captain: beyond previous planning. The decisions for the second date of the Championship are crossed by the first victory and what you expect from New Zealand. And with that analysis he removed two from the team who scored tries in the last victory: with better luck than Creevy, Molina is waiting on the bench.
“We put the best team we think for this match. We know it is going to be very physical, there are some who were fresher and can provide that physicality. We believe it is the best combination we can have for this match,” summarized Contepomi in the press conference in which he confirmed his 23 chosen ones.
Creevy’s presence and exclusion confirms that Contepomi truly, to the extent necessary, takes everyone into account. Given Montoya’s injury, the hooker position went to Ignacio Ruiz, with just 10 capsbut he summoned the centenary Puma for the replacement. Less than a year ago, at the World Cup in France, the Perpignan man was third in contention.
On Saturday, meanwhile, Los Pumas will have the same backs as the first game. The midfield pair will be made up of Gonzalo Bertranou and Santiago Carreras – a great task in Wellington – and between them and fullback Juan Cruz Mallía, the tasks will be distributed between Mateo Carreras, Santiago Chocobares, Lucio Cinti and Matías Moroni.
Meanwhile, the first line made up of Thomas Gallo and Sordoni as pillars and captain Montoya as hooker. In the second line Kremer together with Pedro Rubiolo and Matera, Juan Martín González and Oviedo complete the third.
“We trust a lot in the 31 players we have here and we try to find the best combinations depending on the strategy and so on. We know it will be very physical; Lucio (Sordoni) is fresh, Juli (Montoya) is coming back from an injury, but also He arrives fresh, Joaco (Oviedo) had few minutes last game and without a doubt the three are going to provide that physicality that we need,” he remarked.
The substitutes will have five forwards and three backs, so that the latter provide the freshness desired by Contepomi to their turn. “The bench is five and three: that’s why we decided to try some freshness in the backs, because they had a lot of wear and tear last game. Sometimes things work out or not, but there is always a reason behind it,” distinguished the coach.
New Zealand, with four changes
The All Blacks also have their XV to receive Los Pumas at Eden Park. Head coach Scott Robertson proposed four changes to the team that lost in Wellington.
Wing Caleb Clark will play in Mark Tele’a’s place; Will Jordan will replace Sevu Reece; Rieko Loane for Anton Lienert-Brown and Tamaiti Wililams for Ethan de Groot, who is suffering from a neck injury.
¿El XV? Beauden Barrett; Will Jordan, Rieko Ioane, Jordie Barrett, Caleb Clarke; Damian McKenzie, TJ Perenara; Ardie Savea, Dalton Papali’i, Ethan Blackadde; Sam Darry, Tupou Vaa’i; Tyrel Lomax, Codie Taylor y Tamaiti Williams.
The substitutes, meanwhile, will be Asafo Aumua, Ofa Tu’ungafasi, Fletcher Newell, Josh Lord, Sam Cane, Cortez Ratima, Anton Lienert-Brown and Mark Tele’a.