Pumas name squad full of Premiership stars as they aim to down England
Argentina boss Michael Cheika has named an impressive side to take on England in their opening match of the Rugby World Cup.
There will be several familiar faces to the Red Rose squad as plenty of them play in the Premiership.
In the backline, Lucio Cinti, Mateo Carreras and Santiago Carreras all starred in England’s top tier last season.
Mateo Carreras, in particular, was a revelation for Newcastle Falcons and he has carried that form into the international arena.
He joins Emiliano Boffelli and Juan Cruz Mallia in the back three while Cinti partners Santiago Chocobares in the midfield.
The backs are completed by Gonzalo Bertranou, who combines with Santiago Carreras at half-back.
Hoping for a repeat
In the XV selected for this weekend’s clash, 13 of them started in the momentous 30-29 triumph at Twickenham in November last year.
That includes the former London Irish back-row Juan Martin Gonzalez, who recently signed for Saracens. Gonzalez starts at number eight, with Pablo Matera and Marcos Kremer completing the loose trio.
Ex-Leicester Tigers man Tomas Lavanini is at lock alongside Gloucester’s Matias Alemanno while another player with Leicester connections, their current hooker Julian Montoya, once again captains the team.
Props Thomas Gallo and Francisco Kodela are either side of Montoya in the front-row.
On the bench, four more English-based players reside in Agustin Creevy, Eduardo Bello, Pedro Rubiolo and Matias Moroni.
Joel Sclavi, Guido Petti, Rodrigo Bruni and Lautaro Bazan Velez complete the 23-man squad.
The team
Argentina: 15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Emiliano Boffelli, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Matias Alemanno, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Julian Montoya (c), 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Joel Sclavi, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Pedro Rubiolo, 21 Rodrigo Bruni, 22 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 23 Matias Moroni
Date: Saturday, September 9
Venue: Stade de Marseille
Kick-off: 21:00 local (20:00 BST, 19:00 GMT)
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant Referees: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Pierre Brousset (France)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
