Cheika reveals his hand for clash against All Blacks
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Prop Lucio Sordoni will make his first appearance for Argentina in almost three years in an otherwise settled team named by coach Michael Cheika for their Rugby Championship opener against New Zealand in Mendoza on Saturday.
Sordoni, 24, has three caps and last played a Test against New Zealand in 2020.
He spent 14 months out of the game through injury, but gets a chance to stake a claim for a place in Cheika’s World Cup squad.
Otherwise, the team has a familiar look to it. Fullback Emiliano Boffelli continues his run of playing every Test since Australian Cheika took over and will be key with the boot.
Santiago Carreras has been preferred to Nicolas Sanchez at flyhalf and the team will be captained by hooker Julian Montoya.
Cheika is missing suspended Marcos Kremer who will sit out the entire Rugby Championship.
Argentina have beaten the All Blacks twice in the last three years, though both those matches were away in neutral Australia and last season in New Zealand.
They have yet to record a win over them on home soil.
Argentina: 15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Lucio Cinti, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Rodrigo Bruni, 7 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Matias Alemanno, 3 Lucio Sordoni, 2 Julian Montoya (captain), 1 Thomas Gallo.
Replacements: 16 Augustin Creevy, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 Pedro Rubiolo, 20 Sanriago Grondona, 21 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 22 Nicolas Sanchez, 23 Matias Orlando.
Date: Saturday, July 8
Venue: Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza
Kick-off: 16.10 (19.10 GMT; 07.10, Sunday, July 9 NZST)
Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant referees: Nic Berry (Australia), Jordan Way (Australia)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)
