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Argentina change 3 for Springboks from team that pulverised Wallabies
Argentina head coach Felipe Contepomi has made three changes to his Argentina side that will face South Africa on Saturday from the one that inflicted a 67-27 win upon Australia in round four of the Rugby Championship.
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All three changes have been made in the pack, with the second-row unit of Franco Molina and Pedro Rubiolo coming in to replace Guido Petti and Tomas Lavanini at the Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades.
The final change is in the back row, with Joaquin Oviedo rewarded for his two tries from the bench against the Wallabies with a start at the expense of Juan Martin Gonzalez.
Both Petti and Gonzalez have dropped to the bench, but there is not room for Lavanini as the Pumas have reverted back to a 5-3 split on the bench from a 6-2 split, with winger Matias Moroni coming in instead.
An injury to Eduardo Bello means tighthead Pedro Delgado could make his debut from the bench.
The Pumas can still theoretically win the Rugby Championship this year, but with an eight-point gap between them and the leaders South Africa, it would take an almighty effort from them ahead of two matches against the world champions.
Second place is still very much up for grabs for Argentina though, and a win on home soil will help them before a return fixture in Mbombela.
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Argentina XV
1. GALLO, Thomas (30 caps)
2. MONTOYA, Julián (100 caps) captain
3. SCLAVI, Joel (22 caps)
4. MOLINA, Franco (7 caps)
5. RUBIOLO, Pedro (15 caps)
6. MATERA, Pablo (105 caps) vice-captain
7. KREMER, Marcos (71 caps)
8. OVIEDO, Joaquín (8 caps)
9. BERTRANOU, Gonzalo (64 caps)
10. ALBORNOZ, Tomás (12 caps)
11. CARRERAS, Mateo (24 caps)
12. CHOCOBARES, Santiago (25 caps)
13. CINTI, Lucio (27 caps)
14. DELGUY, Bautista (29 caps)
15. MALLÍA, Juan Cruz (37 caps) vice-captain
Replacements
16. RUIZ, Ignacio (13 caps)
17. CALLES, Ignacio (3 caps)
18. DELGADO, Pedro (uncapped)
19. PETTI, Guido (84 caps)
20. GONZÁLEZ, Juan Martín (35 caps)
21. GARCÍA, Gonzalo (6 caps)
22. CARRERAS, Santiago (49 caps)
23. MORONI, Matías (84 caps)
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Smashing team.