Daniel Hourcade
Argentina have reverted to their strongest side for their quarterfinal match against Ireland on Sunday.
Argentina’s starting 15 at the Millennium Stadium on Sunday will contain 496 caps worth of experience, their 2nd most experienced of this tournament after the 54 / 9 win over Georgia in their 2nd Pool C match.
Head coach Daniel Hourcade has made 10 changes from the team that beat Namibia. This is the largest amount of changes made to an Argentina side, except for the 11 made between the Tonga and Namibia matches, since the opening 2 games of the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
The whole front row changes, with the replacements from the Namibia game starting against Ireland and the Namibia game starters dropping to the bench. Tomas Lavinini comes in for Matias Alemanno in the locks, with the latter dropping to the bench.
There are also 2 changes in the loose forwards, with Javier Ortega Desio out of the matchday-23 and Facundo Isa dropping to the bench, as Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe and Leonardo Senatore return.
In the backs, Juan Martin Hernandez reverts to inside centre to allow for the return of Nicolas Sanchez. Scrumhalf Martin Landajo and Matias Moroni retain their places, though Moroni moves to outside centre. Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino drops to the bench.
Landajo will win his 50th cap and is the most used Pumas player under Hourcade.
Hernandez, Fernandez Lobbe and Marcos Ayerza all played in the 2007 bronze medal match. Fernandez Lobbe will play in his 15th World Cup match, putting him 4th in the all-time Argentina list for appearances, while Agustin Creevy will make his 10th Rugby World Cup appearance.
Juan Imhoff, currently the leading Rugby World Cup try-scoring Puma, with 5 tries, can extend his record. Hernandez needs 1 more drop-goal to move into 3rd in the all-time Rugby World Cup list.
Los Pumas: 15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Juan Martin Hernandez, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Martin Landajo, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustin Creevy (Captain), 1 Marcos Ayerza
Replacements: 16 Julian Montoya, 17 Lucas Noguera, 18 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Facundo Isa, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Jeronimo De La Fuente, 23 Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino.
Date: Sunday 18 October
Venue: Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Kick-Off: 14:00 SA Time (13:00 UK Time, 12:00 GMT, 09:00 ARG Time)
Referee: Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant Referees: Romain Poite (France), Chris Pollock (New Zealand)
TMO: George Ayoub (Australia)
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