Rugby
Pumas make five changes for Springbok battle─── MORGAN PIEK 08:40 Fri, 28 Jul 2023
Argentina have made five changes to their team for Saturday's Rugby Championship Test against the Springboks in Johannesburg.
Four of the changes are in the backline with the fullback Juan Cruz Mallia, centre Santiago Chocobares, winger Juan Imhoff and scrumhalf Lautaro Bazan Velez all named in the starting XV.
The only change to the pack sees lock Lucas Paulos replacing Matias Alemanno in the second-row.
The Argentines are confident going into the Test after beating the Wallabies 34-31 in Sydney nearly a fortnight ago.
Saturday’s Test at Ellis Park kicks off at 17:05.
Springboks - 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Duane Vermeulen (captain), 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Replacements - 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Kwagga Smith, 20 RG Snyman, 21 Faf de Klerk, 22 Lukhanyo Am, 23 Damian Willemse
Argentina - 15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Mateo Carreras, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 8 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7 Santiago Grondona, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Lucas Paulos, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Julian Montoya (captain), 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements - 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Pedro Rubiolo, 20 Facundo Isa, 21 Gonzalo Bertranou, 22 Tomas Albornoz, 23 Matias Moroni
Morgan Piek OFM Sport
