Argentina bolster bench for Wallabies test
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Mario Ledesma has kept faith with the starting line up that beat the All Blacks for the first time last weekend by naming an unchanged starting lineup for their crucial Tri Nations Test against the Wallabies on Saturday in Newcastle.
However, the Pumas head coach has bolstered his bench with the inclusions of back-rower Facundo Isa, hooker Santiago Socino and talented utility back Emiliano Boffelli with the trio providing their fitness in the week.
The Pumas shocked the world by knocking off the All Blacks 25-15 in Parramatta, ultimately knocking the All Blacks to their joint worst World Ranking of third while rising up to 8th themselves.
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Despite the bruising encounter and emotion surrounding the victory, Ledesma backed his side's recovery methods to get them in shape to go again.
"Well, we worked a lot on being fresh during the week," Ledesma told reporters on Thursday.
"We spoke in the first couple of days of changing (the team) or not. (It wasn't because) of form, which was obviously good on the weekend, but recovery and seeing how the boys were feeling, and we decided that we'd give them a go again on the weekend."
Analysis: How Los Pumas managed to topple the All Blacks for the first time https://t.co/A0NyrALEwG
— Ultimate Rugby (@ultimaterugby) November 18, 2020
"We changed a couple on the bench, we recovered a couple of players that were injured - Isa, Boffelli and Santiago Socino- and we're counting on them to have a big impact. They're experienced players and they've played these type of games before."
The match will be the first time that Cheika - who coached the Wallabies for the previous five years - comes up against his old side.
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