Argentina coach Santiago Phelan has made just one change to his Rugby World Cup starting lineup which lost 28.13 to Wales for their match against England.

In comes Gonzalo Tiesi at outside centre to replace Marcelo Bosch who drops to the bench for the Pool B match in Dunedin on Saturday.

“We think that this game and this moment it is the best team we have and we know we are 30 players and all are in very good condition for playing, but for coaches for this starting 15 it is the best players we can put on the field,” Phelan said.

Veteran hooker Mario Ledesma will become the oldest Argentine and the third oldest player from any team to play a Rugby World Cup match.

Ledesma will be 38 years and 116 days old on match day and only Mark Cardinal of Canada and Diego Ormaechea of Uruguay have played in the World Cup at a more advanced age.

Another Argentine record will be equalled in this match with captain Felipe Contepomi and Ledesma playing at their fourth Rugby World Cup.

Pedro Sporleder and Agustín Pichot are the only Argentine players to have achieved this in the past.

A third member of the current squad, Martín Scelzo, can also equal this record as he has been named on Argentina’s bench for Saturday’s match.

Stand.off Contepomi, a key figure in France four years ago when the Pumas took third place, said that he was ready to deliver as his side’s skipper.

“I’m feeling a bit older now, four years. It’s a long time ago. I’ve always said that I’m very grateful that rugby gave me a lot and to be able to play my fourth World Cup, it’s an honour and being the captain of your country means a lot and brings a lot of responsibility,” he said.

“We had very good preparation these last two months. Our expectation is to come and play our best and if we can be competitive on Saturday, that will be great and start the tournament as best we can.”

Match Officials
Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Romain Poite (France), Simon McDowell (Ireland))
Television match official: Matt Goddard (Australia)

Argentina :

15.Martin Rodriguez, 14.Gonzalo Camacho, 13.Gonzalo Tiesi, 12.Santiago Fernandez, 11.Horacio Agulla, 10.Felipe Contepomi (captain), 9.Nicolas Vergallo, 8.Juan Fernandez Lobbe, 7.Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 6.Julio Farias Cabello, 5.Patricio Albacete, 4.Manuel Carizza, 3.Juan Figallo, 2.Mario Ledesma, 1.Rodrigo Roncero.

Replacements: 16.Agustin Creevy, 17.Martin Scelzo, 18.Mariano Galarza, 19.Alejandro Campos, 20.Alfredo Lalanne, 21.Marcelo Bosch, 22.Juan Jose Imhoff.