Cheika rings changes, Rennie wants change

Buenos Aires: South Argentina head coach Michael Cheika has made a handful of changes to his starting team for their Rugby Championship opener against Australia on Sunday at 7.10am (Fiji time).

On the back of a 2-1 series triumph over Scotland, the Pumas go into the southern hemisphere tournament with spirits high and know they must start well.

Meanwhile, Australia have announced their side, with Quade Cooper returning at first five eight.

“We’ve had a strong week of preparation over here in Argentina and we are highly motivated to put on a performance that makes our supporters proud back home in Australia,” Australia head coach Dave Rennie said.

Line-up

Argentina: 15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Jeronimo De La Fuente, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Tomas Cubelli, 8 Pablo Matera, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 5 Tomas

Lavanini, 4 Matias Alemanno, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Julian Montoya (c), 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro

Replacements: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Mayvo Vivas, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Santiago Grondona, 20 Rodrigo Bruni, 21 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 22 Tomas Albornoz, 23 Matias Moroni.

Australia: 15 Tom Wright, 14 Jordan Petaia, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Nic White, 8 Rob Valetini, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Jed Holloway, 5 Matt Philip, 4 Darcy Swain, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Folau Fainga’a, 1 James Slipper

Replacements: 16 Lachlan Lonergan, 17 Matt Gibbon, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Nick Frost, 20 Rob Leota, 21 Pete Samu, 22 Jake Gordon, 23 Reece Hodge

Match officials- Referee: Mike Adamson (Scotland); Assistant Referees: Karl Dickson (England), Chris Busby (Ireland); TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa).

- Planet Rugby