Michel Cheika, the Australian DT who prepares the Los Pumas “layer by layer” for the next World Cup

In English but with some Spanish shares, the Australian coach of The Cougars, Michele Sheika, has drawn a sensible panorama of the Argentine team. “We are working with two plans, one that will help us win on Saturday and another for the World Cup in France next year. We have to do the two things at the same time, “said the man who will make his debut as a national team driver in Jujuy this Saturday.

A priori, the meeting is also prejudiced: Scotland is in seventh place in the official ranking of the WorldRugby barely surpassing Los Pumas by a place. This is the first of three games that will be played in Argentina – the other two will be in Salta and Santiago del Estero – of a series of nine test-matches that the Los Pumas will face between now and the end of September, including participation in a new edition. of the Rugby Championship.

“We know that we are building something, towards the World Cup next year, we will build in several layerswe are starting now what we believe will take us to the highest level, “he said.

In the last year, out of 12 games, Los Pumas have only obtained three wins, those obtained against Romania, Welsh And Italy. That performance places them in eighth place in the world rankings.

“We have trained enough to be ready for Saturday. There are a lot of things to work on, a lot of new things, but we have to focus on solutions, because there will always be problems,” he analyzed.

Cheika has a long history that includes Italian teams, France, Ireland, Australia, Japan Y Lebanon. 14 months before the scheduled World Cup Francethe DT will try to put the Los Pumas into the race, which he already knows because during the 2020-2021 season he was adviser to the then coach Mario Ledesma.

“The treatment is from a new perspective because I am the masterit’s another relationship “, he clarified the objectives. Among the news, since he took charge of the Los Pumas in March, Cheika recalled Augustine Creevywhich was sidelined by the 2019 World Cup in Japan. This Saturday he will be a substitute.

In her plans, Cheika has the idea of ​​forming a squad that allows her to have more than one team. “There are many good players who can play (in Los Pumas) let’s try (put together) two or three competitive teams that have a similar base, “said the Australian.

“Today there are 33 and there could be 12 more, which would be 45 that we can divide into three teams and each must have the confidence so that if someone is sick or injured don’t panic to replace his partner, “he explained.

How are the Cougars?

Saturday’s test match against Scotland marks the return to the country of the Los Pumas, who hadn’t played here since before the pandemic. The last match was against South Africa (13-46) on 10 August 2019 in Salta, just before the World Cup in Japan in which Argentina failed to exit the group stage, despite the historic success of November 2020. against the All Blacks (25-15).

As for the match against Scotland, he predicted that the Albiceleste “they won’t be perfect” But he acknowledged that the players “have good intentions, they want to learn and play rugby the way we expect to play,” he said in English, without a few words of broken Spanish.

Due to the pandemic, the Argentine team had to play its rugby league games in New Zealand and Australia, while the Jaguares, former Super Rugby franchise and promising seedbed for future cougars, were forced into exile to keep in touch. with cutting-edge teams.

Argentina and Scotland met 18 times, with nine wins each and the last meeting took place in Edinburgh, with a win for the British team of 14 to 9.

team confirmed

Cheika confirmed his starting line-up to face Scotland on Saturday at the start of the international season. Mallía of Córdoba will play his seventh international round in the position of full-back and Boffelli of Rosario will enter as a winger.

Also returning is Tucuman midfielder Sánchez (93 test matches), relegated for six games due to injuries and tactical decisions by then coach Ledesma, who preferred Carreras.

The Pumas will form with Juan Cruz Mallía: Santiago Cordero, Matías Orlando, Jerónimo de la Fuente and Emiliano Boffelli; Nicolás Sánchez and Tomás Cubelli; Pablo Matera, Marcos Kremer and Juan Martín González; Matías Alemanno and Guido Petti; Francisco Gómez Kodela, Julián Montoya (captain) and Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, Agustín Creevy, Mayco Vivas, Joel Sclavi, Lucas Paulos, Facundo Isa, Gonzalo Bertranou, Santiago Carreras, Matías Moroni will wait on the bench.

Scottish national team manager Gregor Townsend has announced the starting team to face Los Pumas, which will be composed of Rory Hutchinson; Darcy Graham, Mark Bennett, Sam Johnson and Duhan van der Merwe; Blair Kinghorn and Ali Price; Matt Fagerson, Luke Crosbie and Magnus Bradbury; Jonny Gray and Grant Gilchrist; Zander Fagerson, George Turner and Pierre Schoeman.

The substitutes’ bench will consist of Ewan Ashman, Rory Sutherland, Javan Sebastian, Sam Skinner, Rory Darge, Ben White, Ross Thompson and Sione Tuipulotu.