Centre Juan Martin Hernandez, who as flyhalf steered Argentina to third place at 2007 World Cup, is set to win his 50th Pumas cap against Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday.
Hernandez will again be at inside centre in a team with five changes from the side that gave Argentina their maiden southern hemisphere Rugby Championship victory, 21-17 over Australia in Mendoza a month ago.
Coach Daniel Hourcade has made two changes in the backs and three in the forwards having been deprived of several players through injury or illness.
Marcelo Bosch returns to partner Hernandez in midfield after being rested against the Wallabies and Manuel Montero comes in for Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino on the left wing.
Sport24
After losing two experienced back row forwards in 2011 World Cup captain Juan Fernandez Lobbe and Juan Manuel Leguizamon, who both missed the Australia match, Javier Ortega Desio comes in at openside flanker for the unwell Benjamin Macome.
Macome has stayed at home having previously stood in for the injured Pablo Matera in the run-in to the Rugby Championship.
Newcomer Juan Cruz Guillemain will make his Pumas debut in the second row in the absence of Mariano Galarza. Matias Alemanno, who played for the Barbarians against Australia last weekend, has gone down with an illness.
With Bruno Postiglioni also unavailable, Ramiro Herrera will play at tighthead prop in place of Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, who drops to the bench.
Veteran loosehead prop Marcos Ayerza said many young players are being thrown in at the deep end given the Pumas’ greater test commitments and they are responding well.
“That’s the reality… (but) the kids have shown they are up to it, like Ortega Desio, (flanker Rodrigo) Baez. They’re getting opportunities and they’re making the most of them,” Ayerza told reporters.
“That speaks well of the (high performance) system, they’re growing, they’re the best of their generation.”
Two players fresh from featuring for the Barbarians are in the match squad, fullback Joaquin Tuculet and scrumhalf Tomas Cubelli who is on a reshuffled bench.
Scotland won the last meeting 21-19 in Cordoba in June but the last time the teams met at Murrayfield, the Pumas won 9-6 in 2009.
Teams:
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (Captain), 8 Adam Ashe, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Gordon Reid, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Alasdair Strokosch, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Sean Lamont
Argentina: 15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Juan Imhoff, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Juan Martin Hernandez, 11 Manuel Montero, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Javier Ortega Desio, 6 Rodrigo Baez, 5 Juan Cruz Guillemain, 4 Tomas Lavanini, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustin Creevy (Captain), 1 Marcos Ayerza
Replacements: 16 Matias Cortese, 17 Lucas Noguera Paz, 18 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 19 Lucas Ponce, 20 Facundo Isa, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, 23 Horacio Agulla