Emiliano Boffelli misses out as Argentina name side to face Springboks

Emiliano Boffelli misses out as Argentina name side to face Springboks

Argentina head coach Michael Cheika has made five changes to the starting XV for their final Rugby Championship encounter against South Africa.

That includes fullback Emiliano Boffelli, who is presumably being rested by the Pumas boss, having played in every game under Cheika until now.

Juan Cruz Mallia is selected in his place, joining Mateo Carreras and Juan Imhoff in the back three, which means Rodrigo Isgro is out of the 23.

Carreras moves over to the right wing to accommodate Imhoff, who is in his favoured left wing position.

Jeronimo de la Fuente also misses outAt centre, Santiago Chocobares comes into the midfield, replacing Jeronimo de le Fuente, and he partners the impressive Lucio Cinti in the centres.

There is also a chance at scrumhalf for Lautaro Bazan Velez as he and flyhalf Santiago Carreras combine in the decision-making positions.

Up front, Cheika has largely kept faith with the forward eight, with Lucas Paulos at lock as the only alteration.

He comes in for Matias Alemanno, who drops out of the squad completely, with Pedro Rubiolo the second-row cover.

On the bench, Ignacio Ruiz gets his first chance of the Rugby Championship after replacing Agustin Creevy, who is likely to feature next week in Argentina in what will be his 100th appearance for the side.

Ruiz is joined by Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro and Joel Sclavi as the other front-row replacements.

Facundo Isa, Gonzalo Bertranou, Tomas Albornoz and Matias Moroni complete the 23-man squad to face South Africa.

Argentina: 15 Juan Cruz Mallia 14 Mateo Carreras, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 8 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7 Santiago Grondona, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Lucas Paulos, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Julian Montoya, 1 Thomas Gallo

Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Pedro Rubiolo, 20 Facundo Isa, 21 Gonzalo Bertranou, 22 Tomas Albornoz, 23 Matias Moroni