SAINT-ETIENNE, France — Argentina has promoted prop Eduardo Bello, lock Guido Petti and center Matias Moroni from the reserves to face Samoa in their key Rugby World Cup match on Friday.
All three came off the bench against England two weeks ago but made little impact in a 27-10 loss in Marseille.
Bello and Moroni made straight swaps with Francisco Gómez Kodela and Lucio Cinti.
Bello is often a reserve for the Pumas and his Saracens club but Argentina coach Michael Cheika said his improvement in training has earned him a start.
Petti was in for injured lock Tomas Lavanini in the reserves as Cheika changed his forwards-backs split from 6-2 against England to 5-3 against Samoa.
Halfbacks Tomas Cubelli and Nicolas Sanchez will back up starters Gonzalo Bertranou and Santiago Carreras. Sanchez, the Pumas’ all-time leading scorer with 863 points, will earn his 99th cap if he comes off the bench.
“We have a lot of experience as finishers,” Cheika said. “It will be a different type of game this week and we return to the combination of 5-3 on the bench as we usually have.”
Argentina must win to stay in quarterfinals contention. Samoa is vying mainly with Argentina and England to be one of two teams to advance from Pool D. Samoa hasn’t reached the quarterfinals since 1995, before the game went fully professional.
“The team has learned important lessons (from England): To have more focus, more clarity, more peace of mind about what we have to do,” Cheika said. “It is a very important game.”
Samoa brought in three of its France-based professionals.
Stade Francais tighthead prop Paul Alo-Emile, who came off the bench in the opening win over Chile last week, and Toulon lock Brian Alainu’u’ese both played for Samoa through the Pacific Nations Cup.
Montpellier wing Ben Lam will play his first test this year. Danny Toala has dropped to the reserves.
“This was a game we thought (Alainu’u’ese’s) strengths would be (better) utilized, especially around the set-piece,” Samoa coach Seilala Mapusua said.
“Ben Lam has just become available after sustaining an injury a few weeks ago. He’s a lot on the edge for us, he’s a very big man who can move quickly … he brings a lot to the wider channels, his pure power and the way he plays the game. We are looking forward to finally getting him on the field this weekend.”
Alo-Emile swapped with Chile starter Michael Ala’alatoa, and Alainu’u’ese’s recall forced Theo McFarland to shift from the second row to the blindside flank and Taleni Agaese Seu to the reserves.
Also on the bench came prop Charlie Faumuina, the former 50-cap All Black, scrumhalf Melani Matavao, the only Samoa-based player in the squad, and Moana Pasifika flyhalf D’Angelo Leuila for Lima Sopoaga, the former All Black who injured a calf against Chile.
Lineups:
Argentina: Juan Cruz Mallia, Emiliano Boffelli, Matias Moroni, Santiago Chocobares, Mateo Carreras, Santiago Carreras, Gonzalo Bertranou; Juan Martin Gonzalez, Marcos Kremer, Pablo Matera, Matias Alemanno, Guido Petti, Eduardo Bello, Julian Montoya (captain), Thomas Gallo. Reserves: Agustín Creevy, Mayco Vivas, Francisco Gómez Kodela, Pedro Rubiolo, Rodrigo Bruni, Tomas Cubelli, Nicolas Sanchez, Lucio Cinti.
Samoa: Duncan Paia’aua, Nigel Ah-Wong, Ulupano Seuteni, Tumua Manu, Ben Lam, Christian Leali’ifano, Jonathan Taumateine; Steven Luatua, Fritz Lee, Theo McFarland, Chris Vui (captain), Brian Alainu’u’ese, Paul Alo-Emile, Seilala Lam, James Lay. Reserves: Sama Malolo, Charlie Faumuina, Michael Ala’alatoa, Taleni Agaese Seu, Sa Jordan Taufua, Melani Matavao, D’Angelo Leuila, Danny Toala.
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