Saturday's early kickoff in the 2023 Rugby World Cup will see Argentina look to keep their tournament hopes alive when they take on Chile at Stade de la Beaujoire in Nantes.
This marks the first-ever meeting between these South American nations at a World Cup, and Argentina cannot afford to slip up against the Chileans ahead of what should be a crucial final group-stage match against Japan next week.
Match preview
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The Pumas came into the tournament as strong favourites to finish in the top two, but concerns began growing after their 27-10 defeat to a 14-man England in their opening match of the competition.
However, they bounced back from that disappointing result by overcoming a tricky Samoa side 19-10 last week, with Emiliano Boffelli headlining the match, scoring 16 of their 19 points, including three penalties and a converted try.
In that match, the Pumas got a huge slice of fortune early in the match after Samoa's Duncan Paia'aua was yellow carded inside the first minute for a reckless tackle in the air on Santiago Carreras.
Michael Cheika's side made the most of their man advantage and jumped to a 10-point lead by the half time whistle and managed to stand firm in the second half as their opponents tried valiantly to close the deficit.
Having failed to earn a bonus point in the competition as yet, Argentina are in fourth place in the group standings. However, this would have been the match they were targeting as the one that they could get a crucial additional point.
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Meanwhile, it has been a difficult competition for Chile so far as they come into this match following a 71-0 thrashing by England and have now conceded a minimum of 40 points in each of their three matches.
Against England, Chile began the match well, going toe-to-toe with their opponents and breaking the line regularly, although they were unable to turn their endeavour into points, and the 2003 world champions pulled away in the second half.
To date, Chile have conceded 156 points, which includes a whopping 22 tries, while also experiencing major difficulties in scoring, managing just 22 points and only three tries across their three matches.
While the Pumas are expected to rest several of their key players ahead of next week's showdown against Japan, they still have plenty in reserve, and Los Condores may have to settle for seeing their World Cup campaign come to an end with another big loss here.
Argentina Rugby World Cup form:
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Argentina form (all competitions):
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Chile Rugby World Cup form:
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Chile form (all competitions):
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Team News
Cheika has introduced 11 alterations to his starting lineup, with Marcos Kremer, Guido Petti, Eduardo Bello, and Juan Martin Gonzalez being the only four players to retain their positions from the victory against Samoa.
Rodrigo Isgro and Martin Bogado come into the starting 15 and will make their World Cup debuts, while Ignacio Ruiz and Joaquin Oviedo are announced on the bench and could make their debuts if called upon.
Pablo Lemoine makes eight changes to his squad, with Martin Sigren returning to the pack, and Clemente Saavedra and Raimundo Martinez will join him in the back row.
Javier Carrasco is back as the starting loosehead, replacing Salvador Lues, while Augusto Bohme and Matias Dittus retain their positions at hooker and tighthead, respectively.
Argentina starting lineup: 15. Martin Bogado, 14. Rodrigo Isgro, 13. Lucio Cinti, 12. Jeronimo de la Fuente (c), 11. Juan Imhoff, 10. Nicolas Sanchez, 9. Tomas Cubelli, 8. Facundo Isa, 7. Marcos Kremer, 6. Juan Martin Gonzalez, 5. Pedro Rubiolo, 4. Guido Petti, 3. Eduardo Bello, 2. Agustin Creevy, 1. Joel Sclavi
Replacements: 16. Ignacio Ruiz, 17. Mayco Vivas, 18. Francisco Gomez Kodela, 19. Matias Alemanno, 20. Joaquin Oviedo, 21. Lautaro Bazan Velez, 22. Santiago Carreras, 23. Juan Cruz Mallia
Chile starting lineup: 15. Inaki Ayarza, 14. Santiago Videla, 13. Domingo Saavedra, 12. Matias Garafulic, 11. Jose Ignacio Larenas, 10. Rodrigo Fernandez, 9. Marcelo Torrealba, 8. Raimundo Martinez, 7. Clemente Saavedra, 6. Martin Sigren (c), 5. Javier Eissmann, 4. Santiago Pedrero, 3. Matias Dittus, 2. Augusto Bohme, 1. Javier Carrasco
Replacements: 16. Tomas Dussaillant, 17. Salvador Lues, 18. Esteban Inostroza, 19. Augusto Sarmiento, 20. Alfonso Escobar, 21. Ignacio Silva, 22. Nicolas Herreros, 23. Francisco Urroz
Head To Head
While there have been several encounters between these teams over the years, only 39 have been classed as Test matches. In those 39 matches, Argentina have never lost to Chile.
We say: Argentina 48-13 Chile
Argentina have improved significantly over the last couple of years, as shown earlier this season when they beat Australia in the 2023 Rugby Championship and came within a point of upsetting the Springboks. Chile have been outclassed in this competition, and we fancy they are in for another big defeat here in their final match.
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Devesh Jaganath
