Contepomi makes five Los Pumas changes for Test against Wales
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Harlequins lock Guido Petti will become the sixth Argentina player to reach 100 caps when he starts against Wales in the Nations Championship this weekend in San Juan, the Argentine Rugby Union announced on Thursday.
Petti, 31, follows in the footsteps of second row partner Matias Alemanno, who reached the landmark in last week’s campaign-opening loss to Scotland in Cordoba, having made his Test debut in 2014.
Head coach Felipe Contepomi has made five changes for Saturday’s game, with props Boris Wenger and Tomas Rapetti coming in among the front row.
Mayco Vivas drops to the bench, but Pedro Delgado is out of the matchday squad.
Back rower Marcos Kremer replaces co-captain Pablo Matera at openside flanker, while centre Justo Piccardo and winger Bautista Delguy take the places of Faustino Sanchez Valarolo and Rodrigo Isgro.
Argentina: 15 Santiago Carreras, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Justo Piccardo, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Gonzalo Garcia, 8 Joaquin Oviedo, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Santiago Grondona, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Tomas Rapetti, 2 Julian Montoya (captain), 1 Boris Wenger.
Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Francisco Coria Marchetti, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Pablo Matera, 21 Simon Benitez Cruz, 22 Matias Moroni, 23 Ignacio Mendy.
Date: Saturday, July 11
Venue: Estadio San Juan de Bicentenario, San Juan
Kick-off: 16.10 (20.10 BST; 19.10 GMT)
Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Angus Gardner (Australia) & Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)
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