Preview: Argentina v France
Los Pumas will come into this game with winning momentum after beating Italy 30-24 in Santa Fe last weekend.
Meanwhile, France have not played international rugby since their Six Nations campaign ended in March and they might be slightly off tune for this game after not playing together for such a long period of time.
Argentina come into this game sitting in fifth position in the world rankings while France are ranked at eighth which were released on Monday.
France head coach Guy Noves said, after his team finished fifth in this year's Six Nations tournament with two victories and three defeats, that his team are improving with every game.
"Our goal was to first identify a type of player with whom we want to work and I think we really managed to put that in place," said Noves.
Noves added that France now have direction and they know exactly what they are aiming to achieve.
"The guys understood what our project was, where we wanted to go together, what the honour of the shirt represented. There wasn't a moment where we relaxed that," he explained.
Turning his attention towards the two-match series in Argentina, Noves said that he will use the tour to bring the team together and give new players an opportunity to showcase their talent on the international stage.
"We'll have to have different goals on the tour. We can't have the same goals as we did in the Six Nations during which we used the same group of players.
"It will allow us to open a little bit vis-a-vis the players chosen. We will try to integrate these new players in a matter of a few days. We'll have to deal with jet lag and prepare for matches against an Argentina team whose level we know well.
"We'll build a team for the end-of-season tour which will play a side in full swing ahead of the Rugby Championship," Noves stated.
Meanwhile France coach Guy Novès has given the captains armband to flyhalf Jules Plisson for this clash with Argentina. Novès is clearly planning for the future with the introduction of seven new players making their way into the starting team for this clash.
Players to watch:
For Argentina: Star flyhalf Nicolas Sanchez again proved his class against Italy last weekend. He contributed 20 points from the boot with six penalties and two conversions. Centre Juan Martin Hernandez is a good reader of the game and often takes the ball to the line with some fantastic running angles. France will have to rush up on defence if they hope to keep Hernandez quiet throughout the game. Flank Pablo Matera contributed with some good work at the breakdown against Italy last time out and if he is able to secure quick ball for his team to play with, his influence will go a long way in determining the final result.
For France: Flyhalf Jules Plisson will look to ignite the France backline by running hard and straight at the Argentina defence and putting in some good tactical kicks when the opportunity presents itself. Hugo Bonneval is a powerful fullback who is reliable under the high ball and he has the ability to counter attack from deep. France will need his physical presence against Argentina on Sunday. Prop Rabah Slimani is a good operator at the scrum and he will be required to win France the battle of the set-piece.
Recent results:
2014: Argentina won 18-13, Paris
2012: France won 39-22, Lille
2012: France won 49-10, Tucumán
2012: Argentina won 23-20, Cordoba
2010: France won 15-9, Montpellier
2010: Argentina won 41-13, Buenos Aires
2008: France won 12-6, Paris
2007: Argentina won 34-10, Paris
2007: Argentina won 17-12, Paris
2006: France won 27-26, Paris
Prediction: Argentina will benefit from playing against Italy last weekend while France look like they are still trying to find their best combinations. Games between these two teams always bring plenty of excitement and this one should be no different. Argentina to win this one by 10 points.
Teams:
Argentina: 15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Matías Moroni, 12 Juan Martín Hernandez, 11 Manuel Montero, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Martín Landajo, 8 Facundo Isa, 7 Tomas Lezana, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Javier Ortega Desio, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustín Creevy (captain), 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro.
Replacements: 16 Julian Montoya, 17 Santiago García Botta, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Ignacio Larrague, 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, 23 Ramiro Moyano.
France: 15 Hugo Bonneval, 14 Xavier Mignot, 13 Julien Rey, 12 Jonathan Danty, 11 Djibril Camara, 10 Jules Plisson (captain), 9 Baptiste Serin, 8 Kevin Gourdon, 7 Raphael Lakafia, 6 Loann Goujon, 5 William Demotte, 4 Julien Le Devedec, 3 Rabah Slimani, 2 Remi Bonfils, 1 Jefferson Poirot.
Replacements: 16 Clement Maynadier, 17 Uini Atonio, 18 Lucas Pointud, 19 Fabrice Metz, 20 Louis Picamoles, 21 Sebastien Bezy, 22 Francois Trinh-Duc, 23 Gael Fickou.
Date: Sunday, June 19
Venue: Estadio Monumental José Fierro, Tucumán
Kick-off: 18:10 (21:10 GMT, 23.10 CEST)
Expected weather: It will be partly cloudy with a high of 15.
Referee: Johnny Lacey (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Stuart Berry (South Africa), Luke Pearce (England)
TMO: Johan Greeff (South Africa)
