Argentina forward Pablo Matera in action against the All Blacks. Photo: photosport
Pablo Matera will captain Argentina in Saturday's Rugby Championship opener against the All Blacks in Wellington after Julian Montoya was left out of the selection named by coach Felipe Contepomi.
Montoya injured his ribs last month in the 33-25 second test triumph over France and cedes his place to Ignacio Ruiz with veteran former skipper Agustin Creevy named as replacement hooker on the bench.
Montoya did travel with the squad and could feature in their second clash with the All Blacks at Eden Park in Auckland next Saturday.
Three players who were rested for last month's two-test series against France, plus the one-off clash with neighbours Uruguay, are back in the starting line-up, with Juan Martin Gonzalez at No. 8 and Juan Cruz Mallia and Lucio Cinti among the backs.
A further three returnees feature among the replacements in Creevy, Joel Sclavi and Tomas Lavanini.
Lock Efrain Elias, who is the only uncapped player in the squad that travelled to New Zealand, has been included among the substitutes and is in line for his first test appearance after a rapid promotion from Argentina's under-20 team.
Pumas team:
15-Juan Cruz Mallia, 14-Matias Moroni, 13-Lucio Cinti, 12-Santiago Chocobares, 11-Mateo Carreras, 10-Santiago Carreras, 9-Gonzalo Bertranou, 8-Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7-Marcos Kremer, 6-Pablo Matera (c), 5-Pedro Rubiolo, 4-Franco Molina, 3-Eduardo Bello, 2-Ignacio Ruiz, 1-Thomas Gallo
Reserves: 16-Agustin Creevy, 17-Mayco Vivas, 18-Joel Sclavi 19-Efrain Elias. 20-Tomas Lavanini, 21-Joaquin Oviedo, 22-Lautaro Bazan Velez, 23-Tomas Albornoz.
- Reuters