Stade
Francais-bound James Haskell has been dropped by
England for this weekend’s clash with Argentina at the
impressively named Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena, in
Salta.
Haskell
started
Saturday’s 37-15 win at Old Trafford,
but manager Martin Johnson said he had been relegated to the
subs’ bench due to a tactical shift, with Chris Robshaw
preferred instead.
“James
is disappointed because he wants to start. We won last
weekend so it’s hard for James now,” admitted Johnson. “But
we had a specific plan for the first Test and it worked. We
have a different plan for Saturday and Chris is a different
player in the position. It’s still early in James’s career
and he has a lot of improvements to make. He played pretty
well last weekend but he can get better.
“James
hasn’t slipped away. He started England’s last game which
was a win. It’s about picking a certain player to do a
certain role. James is very dynamic and can give us real
impetus from the bench in the last quarter of the game,”
added Johnson.
Robshaw’s inclusion is one of only two changes announced by
Johnson, with the other seeing Leicester veteran Julian
White come in for Newcastle’s David Wilson. White earned his
50th cap in the Manchester match with Argentina,
but only played seven minutes as a second-half sub before
being sin-binned.
Brive
hooker Steve Thompson misses out altogether after
being dropped from the subs’ bench in preference for George
Chuter. Thompson’s fellow Briviste Andy Goode remains
at fly-half, with Toulon’s Tom May at outside centre.
Argentina, by contrast with England, have made seven changes
to the side beaten in Manchester, including the returns of
French-based forwards Mario Ledesma and Rimas Alvarez
Kairelis – who were both on duty with Clermont Auvergne in
the Top 14 final. Ledesma comes in for Juan Pablo Orlandi in
the front row, while Kairelis replaces Manuel Carizza in the
second row.
Other
changes see Francisco Leonelli and Santiago Fernandez come
in for Frédérico Martin Aramburu (at wing) and Miguel
Avramovic (at centre), while Marcos Ayerza replaces prop
Alberto Vernet Basualdo and Alfredo Lalanne starts at
scrum-half in place of Nicolas Vergallo. Flanker Genaro
Fessia replaces Alvaro Galindo.
Toulon-bound captain Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe said
Argentina had to improve considerably on their performance
at Old Trafford. “We must focus on a playing plan and train
a lot. The attitude of this team is not in doubt at all. We
know we played badly last week and we are sure we can
improve on Saturday.”
Stade
Francais fly-half Juan Martin Hernandez – who scored
all 15 of Argentina’s points last week – was also looking on
the positive. “We know we must improve our play. We are
working to correct the mistakes we made in the last Test
against England. I have no doubt the team will bring more
things this weekend,” he said.
Argentina slipped behind England to sixth in the IRB world
rankings following last weekend’s defeat.
Teams:
Argentina:
15 Horacio Agulla, 14 Francisco Leonelli, 13
Gonzalo Tiesi, 12 Santiago Fernández, 11 Gonzalo Camacho, 10
Juan Martín Hernández, 9 Alfredo Lalanne, 8 Juan Fernández
Lobbe (c), 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 6 Genaro Fessia, 5
Patricio Albacete, 4 Rimas Álvarez Kairelis, 3 Marcos
Ayerza, 2 Mario Ledesma, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.
Subs:
16 Alberto Vernet Basualdo, 17 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 18 Manuel
Carizza, 19 Esteban Lozada, 20 Nicolás Vergallo, 21 Miguel
Avramovic, 22 Lucas González Amorosino.
England:
15 Delon Armitage, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Dan Hipkiss, 12 Tom
May, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nick
Easter, 7 Steffon Armitage, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 Louis Deacon,
4 Steve Borthwick (c), 3 Julian White, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1
Tim Payne.
Subs:
16 George Chuter, 17 David Wilson, 18 Ben Kay, 19 James
Haskell, 20 Paul Hodgson, 21 Sam Vesty, 22 Mathew Tait.
France
debutant Julien Dupuy will also take on the team’s
place-kicking duties against New Zealand on Saturday.
The
would-be Stade Francais player
said he was relishing the opportunity as ‘Les Bleus’ seek to
inflict only the fifth defeat at Dunedin in 101 years for
the All Blacks.
“For me,
as for every rugby player, playing against the All Blacks is
already huge. But for it to be my debut as well, in New
Zealand, is like a dream,” said Dupuy.
The
highly-rated scrum-half is also in the midst of leaving
Leicester Tigers for a return to France next season – with
Stade Francais – although he was quick to acknowledge that
his experience in the Guinness premiership had been decisive
to his selection for the national team.
Previously he had spent seven seasons at Biarritz, where he
was understudy to Dimitri Yachvili. Now the roles have been
reversed, with Yachvili on the bench for Saturday’s
international.
“I went
to Leicester to try and play in a great team and become
their first choice, and that is what happened,” he said.
“The physical training was very hard and it allowed me to
progress. And then I played the important matches and I have
gained experience,” added Dupuy.
Saturday
represents yet another step up after playing in both the
Guinness Premiership and Heineken Cup finals, but the
self-confident No 9 appears ready for the big time after a
tumultuous club season.
Meanwhile, over in Australia, Bayonne fly-half Craig
Gower will make his Italian debut at fly-half against
the Wallabies on Saturday evening.
The
former Penrith Panthers star is set to follow an elite group
of former Australian rugby league internationals who have
gone on to play union at the highest level too. In Gower’s
case it will be against the country of his birth after the
31-year-old threw in his lot with the Azzurri after moving
to France to play for Top 14 outfit Bayonne.
Gower
has an Italian grandfather to thank for his double
international status, but faces a baptism of fire in
Canberra when he will be up against Matt Giteau, one of the
best fly-halves in world rugby.
Saturday’s match, almost unbelievably, will
only be the sixth time in his career that Gower has played
in the pivotal fly-half position, but the player himself
appears unfazed by the prospect.
“I
suppose you could look at it both ways, it can be daunting
but it’s a great challenge,” he told the Australian press.
“I’m going to go in there positive, obviously, it’s a great
yardstick to come up against and obviously I’ll hear the
brunt of it at the end of the game if it’s no good. It works
both ways, but I’m grateful for that opportunity to play
against such a great player as Matt,” he added.
The
appreciation seems mutual, with Giteau saying he was
relishing the match up. “I’m looking forward to the
challenge, I’ve watched league for a long time and respected
the code, so I know a little bit about him obviously
watching him playing for Bayonne in the French comp,” he
said. “Defensively he’s solid and I think he’ll bring
something different to the Italian’s attack as well,” added
Giteau.
Italy
will be captained, as usual, by Stade Francais' Sergio
Parisse, with club-mates (and brothers) Mirco and
Mauro Bergamasco, as well as Stade Toulousain's
Salvatore Perugini, also in their starting XV.
Teams:
Australia: James O'Connor, Lachie Turner, Stirling
Mortlock (captain), Berrick Barnes, Drew Mitchell, Matt
Giteau, Luke Burgess, Richard Brown, George Smith, Dean
Mumm, Nathan Sharpe, James Horwill, Al Baxter, Stephen
Moore, Benn Robinson.
Subs: Tatafu Polota-Nau, Ben Alexander, Peter Kimlin,
David Pocock, Josh Valentine, Quade Cooper, Adam
Ashley-Cooper.
Italy:
Luke McLean, Kaine Robertson, Mirco
Bergamasco, Matteo Pratichetti, Alberto Sgarbi, Craig Gower,
Pablo Canavosio, Sergio Parisse (captain), Mauro Bergamasco,
Alessandro Zanni, Carlo Antonio Del Fava, Quintin
Geldenhuys, Fabio Staibano, Leonardo Ghiraldini, Salvatore
Perugini.
Subs: Franco Sbaraglini, Ignacio Rouyet, Marco
Bortolami, Paul Derbyshire, Tito Tebaldi, Kristopher Burton,
Gonzalo Garcia.
