Argentina head coach Felipe Contepomi has made two changes to his starting XV for their Rugby Championship rematch with the All Blacks in Buenos Aires.
There is one alteration to both the forward pack and backline as Los Pumas look to respond from a Round One defeat in Cordoba that saw them go down to a 41-24 loss.
A scorer last week, Rodrigo Isgró, is missing from the matchday 23 entirely and has been replaced by Mateo Carreras, with Bautista Delguy swapping wings in the move.
The other tweak to Contepomi’s XV sees Juan Martin Gonzalez promoted from bench duty in place of Marco Kremer in a straight swap from last week’s opening meeting.
Up front it’s the same front-row of Mayco Vivas and Pedro Delgado either side of hooker and captain Julián Montoya with Franco Molina and Pedro Rubiolo the two locks.
Kremer is set to emerge off the bench alongside Ignacio Ruiz, Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, Joel Sclavi, Guido Petti, Simón Benítez Cruz, Santiago Carreras and Justo Piccardo.
It will be the eighth confrontation between the two teams at the stadium in Buenos Aires and will be the last of the year for Los Pumas on Argentine soil. The VISA Macro Rugby Championship tour will continue in Townsville, Sydney, Durban and London.
A fact to highlight is that on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the UAR Foundation, Los Pumas will wear shirts with numbers specially designed to commemorate a decade of work by the foundation, focused on providing assistance to players who suffered serious and minor injuries on the field.
Los Pumas team to play the All Blacks:
1. VIVAS, Mayco (32 caps)
2. MONTOYA, Julián (C) (109 caps)
3. DELGADO, Pedro (5 caps)
4. MOLINA, Franco (13 caps)
5. RUBIOLO, Pedro (24 caps)
6. MATERA, Pablo (VC) (113 caps)
7. GONZÁLEZ, Juan Martín (43 caps)
8. OVIEDO, Joaquín (14 caps)
9. GARCÍA, Gonzalo (12 caps)
10. ALBORNOZ, Tomás (18 caps)
11. CARRERAS, Mateo (27 caps)
12. CHOCOBARES, Santiago (28 caps)
13. CINTI, Lucio (35 caps)
14. DELGUY, Bautista (34 caps)
15. MALLÍA, Juan Cruz (VC) (43 caps)
Replacements:
16. RUIZ, Ignacio (19 caps)
17. TETAZ CHAPARRO, Nahuel (80 caps)
18. SCLAVI, Joel (28 caps)
19. PETTI, Guido (90 caps)
20. KREMER, Marcos (74 caps)
21. BENÍTEZ CRUZ, Simón (4 caps)
22. CARRERAS, Santiago (56 caps)
23. PICCARDO, Justo (5 caps)
