Argentina v Ireland – 7 June 2014
Uncapped back-row forward Robbie Diack will make his Ireland debut against Argentina in Saturday’s first Test in Resistancia.
South African-born Diack, 28, fills in for the injured Peter O’Mahony with fellow back-rower Jordi Murphy also poised to make his first Test start.
Simon Zebo, Jack McGrath, Iain Henderson, Felix Jones, Darren Cave and Luke Marshall were also drafted into the starting XV as coach Joe Schmidt made eight changes to the side that clinched the Six Nations title against France.
Cave, who plays for Ulster, will take the No 13 shirt that belonged for so long to now-retired talisman Brian O’Driscoll.
Leinster’s Devin Toner and Jamie Heaslip drop to the bench after helping their province to the RaboDirect Pro12 title last weekend, while Cian Healy, Gordon d’Arcy, Sean O’Brien and Tommy Bowe have been all rested for the two-Test series.
Two other new faces in the squad are Connacht duo Kieran Marmion and Kiwi-born Rodney Ah You, who could make their debuts off the bench.
Schmidt said: “There are a number of players that are fatigued from the Pro12 final, there are a number of players that we wanted to give an opportunity. We have this one window to really do that.
“The Guinness series is going to be a immeasurably tougher with South Africa and Australia, but it’s going to be very, very tough here, and one of the things that you want to find out is how the players cope in a tough environment.
“It will be hostile, it’s a place where test match rugby hasn’t been before so the local population will be very much behind the Argentinians.”
| Last 10 Games played between the Argentina and Ireland | ||||
| 24-Nov-12 | Ireland | 46 – 24 | Argentina | |
| 28-Nov-10 | Ireland | 29 – 09 | Argentina | |
| 22-Nov-08 | Ireland | 17 – 03 | Argentina | |
| 30-Sep-07 | Ireland | 15 – 30 | Argentina | |
| 2-Jun-07 | Argentina | 16 – 00 | Ireland | |
| 26-May-07 | Argentina | 22 – 20 | Ireland | |
| 27-Nov-04 | Ireland | 21 – 19 | Argentina | |
| 26-Oct-03 | Argentina | 15 – 16 | Ireland | |
| 23-Nov-02 | Ireland | 16 – 07 | Argentina | |
| 3-Jun-00 | Argentina | 34 – 23 | Ireland | |
|
|
|
|||
| Games Played | 13 | Games Played | 13 | |
| *Games Won | 5 | *Games Won | 8 | |
| *Games Lost | 8 | *Games Lost | 5 | |
| Games Drawn | 0 | Games Drawn | 0 | |
| *Longest Winning Streak | 3 | *Longest Winning Streak | 3 | |
| *Longest Losing Streak | 3 | *Longest Losing Streak | 3 | |
| *Largest Points For | 34 | *Largest Points For | 46 | |
| *Largest Points Against | 46 | *Largest Points Against | 34 | |
| *Largest Winning Margin | 16 | *Largest Winning Margin | 22 | |
| *Largest Losing Margin | -22 | *Largest Losing Margin | -16 | |
| *Total Points For | 249 | *Total Points For | 279 | |
| *Avg Points For | 19.15 | *Avg Points For | 21.46 | |
| *Total Points Against | 279 | *Total Points Against | 249 | |
| *Avg Points Against | 21.46 | *Avg Points Against | 19.15 | |
| *Total Points Difference | -30 | *Total Points Difference | 30 | |
| *Avg Points Difference | -2.31 | *Avg Points Difference | 2.31 | |
| * = By Argentina | * = By Ireland | |||
–
POSSIBLE RR World Rankings outcome on Result
ARG (on 76.44 points) at home -vs- IRE (on 82.11 points)
| Possible Outcome | Rating Point Exchange |
New ARG Rating |
New IRE Rating |
Will ARG overtake IRE? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| If ARG win by 1-15 points | 1.267 | 77.71 | 80.84 | No |
| If ARG win by more than 15 | 1.901 | 78.34 | 80.21 | No |
| If result is a draw | 0.267 | 76.71 | 81.84 | No |
| If IRE win by 1-15 points | 0.733 | 75.71 | 82.84 | No |
| If IRE win by more than 15 | 1.099 | 75.34 | 83.21 | No |
Argentina: 15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Jerónimo De la Fuente, 12 Gabriel Ascarate, 11 Manuel Montero, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 9 Martín Landajo, 8 Benjamin Macome, 7 Tomás De la Vega, 6 Rodrigo Baez, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Matías Cortese, 1 Lucas Noguera Paz.
Replacements: 16 Julian Montoya, 17 Bruno Postiglioni, 18 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 19 Matías Alemanno, 20 Javier Ortega Desio, 21 Tomás Cubelli, 22 Santiago González Iglesias, 23 Lucas González Amorosino.
Ireland: 15 Felix Jones, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Luke Marshall, 11 Simon Zebo, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jordi Murphy, 7 Chris Henry, 6 Robbie Diack, 5 Paul O’Connell (capt), 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best, 1 Jack McGrath.
Replacements: 16 Damien Varley, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Rodney Ah You, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Jamie Heaslip, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Fergus McFadden.
Date: Saturday, June 7
Kick-off: 15:40 local (19:40 BST, 18:40 GMT)
Venue: Estadio Centenario, Resistencia, Chaco
Referee: Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Mike Fraser (New Zealand), Jaco van Heerden (South Africa)
Television match official: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
Assessor: Clayton Thomas (Wales)
Source : RugbyRedefined.com
