Montoya to reach centurion status against Wallabies

TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Los Pumas captain Julián Montoya will earn his 100th cap when Argentina faces Australia in the Rugby Championship in Santa Fe on Saturday.

Argentina cannot regain the sixth place they lost to Scotland following last weekend’s loss to Australia even if they beat the Wallabies by more than 15 points in Santa Fe.

Montoya is Argentina’s fourth player to reach 100 test caps.

The three other Argentines with 100 test caps under their belts are hooker Agustín Creevy, flyhalf Nicolás Sánchez and flank Pablo Matera.

Creevy, who retired from international rugby after the defeat against the Wallabies last weekend, debuted in 2005 and earned his 100th cap in 2023.

Sánchez debuted in 2010 and earned his 100th cap in 2023 while Matera debuted in 2013 and earned his 100th cap in 2024.

Australia claimed their first major scalp under coach Joe Schmidt, defying rain and a raucous home crowd to upset World Cup semifinalists Argentina 20-19 with a penalty goal after the siren that secured a stirring comeback win in La Plata and keeps their Rugby Championship hopes alive.

Los Pumas coach Felipe Contepomi has brought back the veteran second-row duo of Tomas Lavanini and Guido Petti to strengthen their forward power and reliable kicker Santiago Carreras is replaced at flyhalf by Tomas Albornoz.

Bautista Delguy comes in on the right wing in place of Santiago Cordero in the other changes for a fourth match in this year’s southern hemisphere championship for both teams.

Argentina: 15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Joel Sclavi, 2 Julian Montyoa (captain), 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Joaquin Oviedo, 21 Santiago Grondona, 22 Gonzalo Garcia, 23 Santiago Carreras

Date: Saturday, September 7
Venue: Brigadier Estanisiao Lopez Stadium, Santa Fe
Kick-off: 16.00 (21.00, 19.00 GMT, 05.00 AEST Sunday, 8 September)
Referee: Pierre Brousset
Assistant Referees: Ben O’Keeffe, James Doleman
TMO: Marius Jonker