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After a week of work with an emphasis on correcting the negative points left by the 41-26 defeat against Australia in Mendoza, on their rugby league debut, Los Pumas will be looking for a win against the same rival this Saturday, but this time in San Juan and for the second date of the tournament they also play South Africa and New Zealand. Kick-off will be at 16:05 at Bicentennial Stadium in San Juan, with England’s Karl Dickson as the main referee, flanked by Mike Adamson (Scotland) and Chris Busby (Ireland).

Los Pumas coach Australian Michael Cheika has ordered four changes from last week’s starting XV. Prop Thomas Gallo will replace Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro in what will be the only change between the forwards. Additionally, scrum-half Gonzalo Bertranou will return to take over from Tomás Cubelli in Mendoza and Rosario winger Juan Imhoff will replace Santiago Cordero. The latest change is that of Matías Moroni in the center of Matías Orlando. Agustín Creevy, Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, Joel Sclavi, Facundo Isa, Rodrigo Bruni, Tomás Cubelli, Tomás Albornoz and Lucio Cinti will be waiting for their chance on the bench.

The Pumas completed a week of work exclusively in this province, while their rival prepared in Mendoza and traveled to San Juan the day before. What did the Argentines focus on? Above all “the mental aspect”, according to the same definition of Lucio Cinti, which was once again in Cheika’s consideration. And the mental aspect has to do with the premise of maintaining regularity and concentration throughout the game: in the first duel against the Australians the Los Pumas were the protagonists of the game and after the first half and the beginning of the second they obtained a 26-17 who could not resist.

They failed and were largely responsible for the Australian recovery: they committed ten penalties, withstood three tries and once again were erratic and imprecise in handling the ball. Thus, they went from accumulating a great victory to building a hard defeat.

Last Saturday, Los Pumas had two faces. The initial one, with which he proved to be a clear and loyal winner, and the final one, overwhelmed by Australia and appealing to individual solutions. The formula did not work: they stopped the strikers with penalties and the last three tries were due to failures in the maul, which for Cheika is unacceptable. Brought to football, it is like a Bilardo team that takes a goal from the side. “The game lasts eighty minutes”, the Australian coach of Los Pumas has repeated since his arrival. “We want to win, but we can’t afford to fight so effectively at the end of the game,” he told the group in the last training session.

“We have to be prepared for the mental. We have improved the aspects of the game, but obviously in this type of matches we have to be prepared to sustain and not give up in the 80 minutes “, explained, in harmony with the coach, Juan Imhoff, who is back in the starting line-up.

There will be differences because the teams already know each other a little. There are things that will change, but the game will be as open as the first, “he predicted. And Christchurch (4/9), and two with South Africa, one at home (17/9) and another in Durban (24 / 9). The game of 17 September, in Vélez, will be the last home game of the Los Pumas until July 2023.

The Pumas aren’t the only ones to change. The Wallabies also get four modifications. Coach Dave Rennie had to make two mandatory changes due to injury: Lalakai Foketi for Hunter Paisami and James O’Connor for Quade Cooper. Meanwhile, Taniela Tupou will serve as prop for Allan Alaalaatoa and Rory Arnold in the second row for Matt Philip.

The substitutes’ bench will be composed of: Lachlan Lonergan, Matt Gibbon, Pone Fa’amausili, Nick Frost, Pete Samu, Tate McDermott, Irae Simone and Reece Hodge After the rematch with Los Pumas, the Australian team will face the current world champion, South Africa, for the third date of the Championship, Saturday 27 August from 2:30 (Argentine time) in the city of Adelaide.

Before the clash between Los Pumas and the wallaby, the current South African world champion will receive from 12.05 (Buenos Aires time) to New Zealand, at the Ellis Park stadium in Johannesburg, in the second clash between the two.

The Springboks won 26-10 last week, adding to the poor form of New Zealand, who for the first time are fifth in the World Rugby rankings, with five defeats in their last six games. Another defeat could be the end of the cycle for coach Ian Foster.

(Special correspondent in San Juan)