Ignacio Fernández Lobbe announced who will be the 15 players who will face the first of the two commitments once morest European teams. Next Sunday it will face Georgia at the Aia Arena in Kutaisi and you can watch it live from 10.50 on Star+.
The team is made up of renowned players in the European environment such as Santiago Socino, Facundo Gigena, Francisco Gorriseen, Tomás Lezana, Joaquín Oviedo and Lucas Mensa; accompanied by names that stood out in the recent American Super League of rugby, such as Gerónimo Prisciantelli, Agustín Segura and Martín Bogado in Jaguares XV.
In addition, the relay bench will be occupied by players with a background in Los Pumas such as Mateo Carreras, Tomás Albornoz, Facundo Cordero, Enrique Pieretto and Ignacio Calles.
Francisco GorrissenArgentine captain, stressed that “Georgia is going to be a very strong rival, very seasoned and we have prepared the strategy well to combat all that”.
On the Georgian side, Guram Gogichashvili of Racing 92 and Luka Japaridze, who will be present in Brive, will be two experienced players on the front line. Lyon’s Beka Saghinadze will be one of the wings among the forwards. In the backs the midfielder will be from Brive with Vasil Lobzhanidze and Tedo Abzhandadze. Team captain Merab Sharikadze will join Gloucester player Giorgi Kveseladze at midfield and Davit Niniashvili, a 19-year-old from Lyon, will be full back.
This is the fourth meeting between both teams. It was played for the first time on the 50th anniversary of Georgian rugby and the Europeans won 24-22. Then in Romania, in the Nations Cup in Bucharest, with Lelo winning once more by 14-13, and finally, in the Tbilisi Cup, the victory was for Argentina XV 26-16.
It should be noted that the last meeting between the two teams was in 2014, on June 18. It was a victory for the albicelestes by 26-16, in the city of Tbilisi.
ARGENTINA XV: 1. Facundo Gigena, 2. Santiago Socino, 3. Santiago Medrano, 4. Franco Molina. 5. Nahuel Milan, 6. Tomás Lezana, 7. Francisco Gorrissen, 8. Joaquín Oviedo, 9. Eliseo Morales, 10. Gerónimo Prisciantelli, 11. Julián Domínguez, 12. Lucas Mensa, 13. Agustín Segura, 14. Martín Cancelliere, 15. Martin Bogado.
alternates: 16. Baptist Bernasconi, 17. Ignatius Streets, 18. Henry Pieretto, 19. James Ruiz, 20. Andrea Panzarini, 21. Thomas Bathrobe, 22. Matthew Carreras, 23. Facundo Cordero.
GEORGIA: 1. Guram Gogichashvili (Racing 92), 2. Jaba Bregvadze (Kubota), 3. Luka Japaridze (Briv), 4. Lasha Jayani (Black Lion), 5. Kote Mikoutadze (Bayon), 6. Otar Giorgadze (Briv)) , 7. Beka Saginadze (Lyon), 8. Beka Gorgadze (Po), 9. Vasil Lobzhanidze, 10. Tedo Abzhandadze, 11. Sandro Todua, 12. Merab Sharikadze, 13. Giorgi Kveseladze, 14. Aka Tabusadze, 15. David Niniashvili.
Substitutes: 16. Shalva Mamukashvili, 17. Nikoloz Khatiashvili, 18. Guram Papidze; 19. Nodar Cheishvili, 20. Luka Ivanishvili, 21. Mikheil Alania, 22. Lasha Khmaladze, 23. Demur Tafladze.
