Argentina Vs. England Preview. Rugby in Salta, Argentina

Robshaw set for England Test bow.

ARGENTINA v ENGLAND
Date: Saturday 13 June Venue: Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena, Salta Kick-off: 2000 BST
Coverage: Score updates on BBC Sport website

Harlequins flanker Chris Robshaw will make his England Test debut as one of two changes for Saturday’s game against Argentina in Salta.

Robshaw, the Guinness Premiership player of the year, replaces James Haskell, who drops to the replacements.

The other change sees Leicester veteran Julian White comes in for David Wilson.

The Newcastle prop must settle for a place on the bench, where George Chuter replaces Steve Thompson, with Jordan Crane dropping out of the 22.

Robshaw, 23, made his first senior appearance for England in the 33-26 defeat by the Barbarians on 30 May but was dropped for last Saturday’s 37-15 Test win over the Pumas at Old Trafford.

White played just seven minutes of the first Test after being sin-binned for foul play shortly after coming on to win his 50th cap as a second-half replacement.

Captain Steve Borthwick will win his 50th cap as England attempt to end their season with a fourth successive Test victory.

They replaced Argentina in fifth place in the IRB world rankings with last weekend’s victory.

Argentina coach Santiago Phelan has made several changes to his starting XV, with Mario Ledesma and Marcos Ayerza coming in for Juan Pablo Orlandi and Alberto Vernet Basualdo, who both drop to the bench, in the front row.

Rimas Alvarez takes over from Manuel Carizza in the second row and Genaro Fessia will wear the number six shirt in place of Alvaro Galindo, while Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe will again captain the side.

In the backs Francisco Leonelli and Santiago Fernandez come in at wing and centre, respectively, replacing Federico Martin Aramburu and Miguel Avramovic.

Alfredo Lalanne will start as scrum-half alongside Juan Martin Hernandez, who scored all of Argentina’s points last weekend.

England: D Armitage (London Irish); M Cueto (Sale Sharks), D Hipkiss (Leicester), T May (Newcastle), M Banahan (Bath); A Goode (Brive), D Care (Harlequins); T Payne (Wasps), D Hartley (Northampton), J White (Leicester), S Borthwick (Saracens, capt), L Deacon (Leicester), C Robshaw (Harlequins), S Armitage (London Irish), N Easter (Harlequins).
Replacements: G Chuter (Leicester), D Wilson (Newcastle), B Kay (Leicester), J Haskell (Wasps), P Hodgson (London Irish), S Vesty (Leicester), M Tait (Sale Sharks).

Argentina: H Agulla (Brive); F Leonelli (Saracens), G Tiesi (Harlequins), S Fernandez (Hindu), G Camacho (Buenos Aires CRC); JM Hernandez (Stade Francais), A Lalanne (London Irish); R Roncero (Stade Francais), M Ledesma (ASM Clermont Auvergne), M Ayerza (Leicester Tigers), R Alvarez (Perpignan), P Albacete (Stade Toulousain), G Fessia (Cordoba Athletic), JM Leguizamon (Stade Francais), JM Fernandez Lobbe(Sale Sharks – capt).
Replacements: A Vernet Basualdo (Stade Toulousain), JP Orlandi (Rovigo), M Carizza (Biarritz Olympique), E Lozada (Toulon), N Vergallo (Dax), M Avramovic (Montauban), L Gonzalez Amorosino (Pucara).

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Phelan rings the changes for Pumas

In the pack, Leicester prop Marcos Ayerza steps up from the bench in place of Juan-Pablo Orlandi and hooker Mario Ledesma also slots in after losing out in the French championship final in the colours of Clermont Auvergne last weekend. Lock Rimas Alvarez-Kairelis also returns after tasting glory with Perpignan in the same game.————————————————————–

Phelan will be hoping for a stronger showing with his French recruits at his disposal, with the game given a tiny bit of added spice by the fact that England have leapfrogged the Pumas in the world rankings thanks to their win last weekend.

Argentina: H Agulla (Brive); F Leonelli (Saracens), G Tiesi (Harlequins), S Fernandez (Hindu), G Camacho (Buenos Aires CRC); JM Hernandez (Stade Francais), A Lalanne (London Irish); R Roncero (Stade Francais), M Ledesma (ASM Clermont Auvergne), M Ayerza (Leicester Tigers), R Alvarez (Perpignan), P Albacete (Stade Toulousain), G Fessia (Cordoba Athletic), JM Leguizamon (Stade Francais), JM Fernandez Lobbe (Sale Sharks – captain).

Replacements: A Vernet Basualdo (Stade Toulousain), JP Orlandi (Rovigo), M Carizza (Biarritz Olympique), E Lozada (Toulon), N Vergallo (Dax), M Avramovic (Montauban), L Gonzalez Amorosino (Pucara)

SOURCES:

“Robshaw set for England Test bow”
SPORT
Wednesday, 10 June 2009
http://news.bbc.co.uk
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/8093870.stm

“Phelan rings the changes for Pumas”
Argentina / News
Scrum.com
June 10, 2009
http://www.scrum.com
http://www.scrum.com/argentina/rugby/story/98034.html