Los Pumas head coach Felipe Contepomi has named 11 uncapped players in his Argentina squad to tackle the British and Irish Lions.
This will be the first meeting between the two sides since Contempomi captained the South Americans to a 25-all draw against the famous invitational team in 2005, with the clash in Dublin serving as a pre-tour warm-up match before the Lions depart to Australia.
Argentina without several top players
Due to the game taking place outside of the official international window, the Pumas boss is limited to who he was able to select in his 32-man squad.
With the Top 14 entering the knockout stages this weekend, Contepomi is unable to select Toulouse stars Efraín Elías, Santiago Chocobares and Juan Cruz Mallía, as well as Bordeaux’s Guido Petti.
The same is true for Facundo Bosch, Rodrigo Bruni, Mateo Carreras, Lucas Paulos, Bautista Delguy, Marcos Kremer and Facundo Isa, who will be featuring in the barrage matches.
This has led Contepomi to select a plethora of Super Rugby Americas players, with eight uncapped players selected from the competition.
The likes of Matías Alemanno, Eduardo Bello, Emiliano Boffelli, Thomas Gallo, Francisco Gómez Kodela, Tomás Lavanini and Lucio Sordoni have also been omitted for differing reasons, including injury and rest.
Still, Contepomi will have several regular starters at his disposal, including captain Julián Montoya, who will be skippering Leicester Tigers in the Premiership Final against Bath.
He will be joined by fellow England-based stars Juan Martín González, Pedro Rubiolo, Santiago Carreras, Franco Molina, Rodrigo Isgró, Lucio Cinti and Santiago Grondona.
Flanker Pablo Matera is also included, having finished the Japanese season with the Honda Heat. Brive’s Matías Moroni also features in the squad with La Rochelle’s Joel Sclavi and Perpignan’s Joaquín Oviedo, whose club seasons have come to an end.
“It’s an honour to have received the invitation from the British & Irish Lions to play their farewell match before the tour of Australia, which will be their first-ever visit to Ireland,” Contepomi said.
“I know how prestigious it is for them to be part of this team, and being invited to this event fills us with pride.”
He added: “For us, it’s a great challenge to pick up where we left off in 2024 and continue our quest for continuous improvement. Every match is an opportunity to continue growing as a team, and we take it with great responsibility.”
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Argentina squad to face the British and Irish Lions
Forwards: Luciano Asevedo, Bautista Bernasconi, Francisco Coria Marchetti, Pedro Delgado, Juan Martín González, Benjamín Grondona, Santiago Grondona, Pablo Matera, Franco Molina, Julián Montoya, Joaquín Moro, Joaquín Oviedo, Leonel Oviedo, Pedro Rubiolo, Joel Sclavi, Mayco Vivas, Boris Wenger
Backs: Tomás Albornoz, Simón Benítez Cruz, Santiago Carreras, Lucio Cinti, Santiago Cordero, Benjamín Elizalde, Gonzalo García, Rodrigo Isgró, Ignacio Mendy, Matías Moroni, Agustín Moyano, Santiago Pernas, Justo Piccardo, Nicolás Roger, Faustino Sánchez Valarolo
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Date: Friday, June 20
Kick-off: 8:00pm BST, 5.00 a.m. Saturday AEST
Referee: James Doleman (NZR)
Assistant Referees: Nika Amashukeli (GRU), Andrea Piardi (FIR)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (FFR)
FPRO: Matteo Liperini (FIR)
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/argentina-without-several-stars-for-british-and-irish-lions-showdown-as-felipe-contepomi-includes-11-uncapped-players
