Wales v Argentina, Millennium Stadium, November 21

ShareFeedbackPrint

Agustin Figuerola starts at scrum-half for Argentina © Getty Images

Related Links

Howley targets balanced Welsh display

Davies replaces Shanklin in Welsh midfield

Gatland not afraid of Pumas' pack

Wales look to build winning streak

Warburton's arrival boosts Wales

Matches Wales 33 - 16 Argentina

Tournaments/Tours Argentina tour

Teams Argentina | Wales

Wales coach Warren Gatland has called Scarlets centre Jonathan Davies in to the starting XV to face Argentina at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday following an injury to Blues midfielder Tom Shanklin.

Shanklin picked up a broken bone in his nose during Wales' narrow victory over Samoa and was replaced by Davies for the majority of the second-half.

Davies has been named in the No.12 jersey with Jamie Roberts shifting out one to the outside-centre berth. Gatland has also predictably recalled British & Irish Lions Stephen Jones, Martyn Williams, Matthew Rees and Shane Williams to the side, while Gareth Cooper has displaced Dwayne Peel at scrum-half.

James Hook continues after impressing in two Tests at fullback and Leigh Halfpenny is also retained after a starring role against Samoa. Dragons flanker Dan Lydiate is set for a debut off the bench, but there is no place in the 22 for Ospreys fly-half Dan Biggar and flanker Jonathan Thomas.

Argentina coach Santiago Phelan has made two changes to his side. Scrum-half Agustin Figuerola and lock Mariano Sambucetti are the players to benefit, with London Irish No.9 Alfredo Lalanne and Toulon lock Esteban Lozada missing out.

The Pumas scrapped to a narrow defeat against England at Twickenham last weekend and have called on the same fearsome front-row for their date with Warren Gatland's men. Gatland has talked down the influence of the Pumas' scrummaging, but the trio of Rodrigo Rondero, Mario Ledesma and Martin Scelzo is set to cause a number of problems.

The superb Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe retains the captaincy and starts at No.8 while Santiago Fernandez will continue his development as a fly-half in one of world rugby's most unforgiving atmospheres.

Wales: J Hook (Ospreys); L Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues), J Roberts (Cardiff Blues), J Davies (Scarlets), S Williams (Ospreys); S Jones (Scarlets), G Cooper (Cardiff Blues); G Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), M Rees (Scarlets), P James (Ospreys); A-W Jones (Ospreys), L Charteris (Newport Gwent Dragons); A Powell (Cardiff Blues), M Williams (Cardiff Blues), R Jones (Ospreys, capt)

Replacements: H Bennett (Ospreys), D Jones (Ospreys), B Davies (Cardiff Blues), D Lydiate (Newport Gwent Dragons), D Peel (Sale Sharks), A Bishop (Ospreys), T James (Cardiff Blues)

Argentina: H Agulla (Brive); L Borges (Albi), G Tiesi (Harlequins), M Rodriguez (Rosario), M Comuzzi (Pucara); S Fernandez (Hindu), A Figuerola (CASI); R Roncero (Stade Francais), M Ledesma (Clermont Auvergne), M Scelzo (Clermont Auvergne), M Sambucetti (Bristol), P Albacete (Toulouse), T Leonardi (San Isidro), A Abadie (Rovigo), JM Fernandez Lobbe (Toulon, capt)

Replacements: AV Basualdo (Toulouse), M Ayerza (Leicester), M Carizza (Biarritz), A Campos (Montauban), A Lalanne (London Irish), B Urdapilleta (C.U.B.A), H San Martin (Tala)

ShareFeedbackPrint