FILE PHOTO: Rugby Union - Autumn International - Italy v Argentina - Stadio Comunale di Monigo, Treviso, Italy - November 13, 2021 Argentina's Pablo Matera jumps in a line-out REUTERS/Massimo Pinca/File Photo
SALTA, Argentina (Reuters) - Argentina have decided they will not risk injury to star forward Pablo Matera and have left him out of the team for the second test against Scotland in Salta on Saturday, coach Michael Cheika said on Thursday.
The loose forward, fresh from Super Rugby success with New Zealand’s Crusaders, suffered a knock to his cheekbone in last weekend’s 26-18 first test win at San Salvador de Jujuy and did not take part in contact training this week.
“We did some tests but there was not much to see and it was a bit of a 50-50 call. He couldn’t train yesterday, so we decided that if he couldn’t train, we’d leave him out,” Cheika told a news conference on Thursday.
Rodrigo Bruni will take his place at number eight in the only change among the forwards, while there has been a reshuffle to the backline.
With the halfback pairing of Tomas Cubelli and Nicolas Sanchez ruled out of the rest of the three-test series after suffering muscle tears, Gonzalo Bertranou and Santiago Carreras will be at scrumhalf and flyhalf respectively.
Emiliano Boffelli moves off the wing to fullback in place of Juan Cruz Mallia, opening up a slot for Juan Imhoff.
“That choice was about looking at some different combinations. We are looking to build in these three weeks and be competitive in all departments,” Cheika added.
Team:
15-Emiliano Boffelli, 14-Santiago Cordero, 13-Matias Orlando, 12-Jeronimo de la Fuente, 11-Juan Imhoff, 10-Santiago Carreras, 9-Gonzalo Bertranou, 8-Rodrigo Bruni, 7-Marcos Kremer, 6-Juan Martin Gonzalez, 5-Matias Alemanno, 4-Guido Petti, 3-Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2-Julian Montoya (captain), 1-Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro
Replacements: 16-Agustin Creevy, 17-Mayco Vivas, 18-Joel Sclavi, 19-Lucas Paulos, 20-Facundo Isa, 21-Felipe Ezcurra, 22-Domingo Miotti, 23-Matias Moroni.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Clare Fallon)
