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Agustin Creevy back on deck for Pumas as historic Rugby Championship finish beckons
By Sam Smith
Argentina head coach Michael Cheika has revealed his squad for the Pumas' final two Tests of the Rugby Championship.
Argentina will host the Springboks in Buenos Aires on September 17 before travelling to Durban one week later for the return fixture.
Veteran hooker Agustin Creevy who is one of four regulars restored to the squad and the 37-year-old now has a chance to set a new appearance record for the Pumas after he missed the two Tests in New Zealand.
Creevy won his 94th cap against Australia in San Juan on August 13 but missed the 25-18 win over the All Blacks in Christchurch and the 3-53 defeat in Hamilton over the last two weekends.
Centre Jerónimo de la Fuente also returns from a hamstring injury while wing Juan Imhoff and prop Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro are the other two additions to the squad.
Their additions have seen four players - Facundo Isa, Lucas Mensa, Santiago Socino and Mayco Vivas - dropped for the upcoming matches with South Africa.
Development players Eliseo Morales and Pedro Rubiolo will also train with the squad with an eye to the future.
While Argentina's Rugby Championship campaign started on a low note, ceding a 19-10 halftime advantage in Mendoza to fall to a 41-26 defeat at the hands of the Wallabies, they bounced back to record back-to-back victories over Australia and New Zealand and now find themselves on level pegging with their three Southern Hemisphere rivals heading into the final two rounds of the competition.
Two wins against the Springboks - which is certainly not an easy ask - could be enough to secure the Pumas a first-ever Rugby Championship title, while at least one victory from their final two matches would almost guarantee Argentina avoid the wooden spoon for just the second time in their history and might even be enough to grab them a historic second placing.
Next Saturday's fixture between Argentina and South Africa is due to kick off at 9:10pm AST.
Argentina squad: Tomás Albornoz, Matías Alemanno, Lautaro Bazán Vélez, Eduardo Bello, Gonzalo Bertranou, Emiliano Boffelli, Rodrigo Bruni, Santiago Carreras, Lucio Cinti, Santiago Cordero, Agustín Creevy, Tomás Cubelli, Jerónimo de la Fuente, Bautista Delguy, Thomas Gallo, Juan Martín González, Santiago Grondona, Juan Imhoff, Marcos Kremer, Tomás Lavanini, Juan Cruz Mallía, Pablo Matera, Santiago Medrano, Julián Montoya (captain), Eliseo Morales*, Matías Moroni, Matías Orlando, Joaquín Oviedo, Guido Petti, Pedro Rubiolo*, Ignacio Ruiz, Joel Sclavi, Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, Benjamín Urdapilleta.
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Latest Comments
I think this debate is avoiding the elephant in the room. Money. According to the URC chief executive Martin Anayi, the inclusion of SA teams has doubled the income of the URC. There is no doubt that the SA teams benefit from the URC but so do the other countries' teams. Perhaps it doesn't affect a club like Leinster but the less well off clubs benefit hugely from South African games' TV income. I don't think SA continued inclusion in the URC is a slam dunk. They don't hold all the cards by a long way - but they do have an ace in the hole. The Ace of Diamonds.
Go to commentsDon't think you've watched enough. I'll take him over anything I's seen so far. But let's see how the future pans out. I'm quietly confident we have a row of 10's lined uo who would each start in many really good teams.
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