Argentina boss Michael Cheika has named his side to take on England in their opening match of the Rugby World Cup o Saturday (kick-off 8pm UK) - and hands a start to Dragons RFC star Gonzalo Bertranou at scrum half at Stade de Marseille.
Mateo Carreras joins Emiliano Boffelli and Juan Cruz Mallia in the back three while Cinti partners Santiago Chocobares in the midfield. The backs are completed by Bertranou, who combines with Santiago Carreras at half-back.
In the XV selected for this weekend’s clash, 13 of them started in the momentous 30-29 triumph at Twickenham in November last year.
Juan MartinGonzalez starts at number eight, with Pablo Matera and Marcos Kremer completing the loose trio. Ex-Leicester Tigers man Tomas Lavanini is at lock alongside Gloucester’s Matias Alemanno. Hooker Julian Montoya once again captains the team Props Thomas Gallo and Francisco Kodela are either side of Montoya in the front-row.
On the bench, four more English-based players reside in Agustin Creevy, Eduardo Bello, Pedro Rubiolo and Matias Moroni. Joel Sclavi, Guido Petti, Rodrigo Bruni and Lautaro Bazan Velez complete the 23-man squad.
Argentina: 15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Emiliano Boffelli, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Matias Alemanno, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Julian Montoya (c), 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Joel Sclavi, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Pedro Rubiolo, 21 Rodrigo Bruni, 22 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 23 Matias Moroni
