Rugby-Argentina ring changes after six ruled out for breaking health rules

Argentina named Enrique Pieretto as a replacement for Santiago Medrano and Rodrigo Bruni for Pablo Matera in a reshuffled side for Saturday's Rugby Championship test against Australia after six players were ruled out for breaching COVID-19 rules. Australia thumped Argentina 27-8 in Townsville last weekend for their third straight test win.

Argentina named Enrique Pieretto as a replacement for Santiago Medrano and Rodrigo Bruni for Pablo Matera in a reshuffled side for Saturday's Rugby Championship test against Australia after six players were ruled out for breaching COVID-19 rules. Two staff members were also kicked out of the tournament earlier on Thursday for breaking rules by taking an unauthorised day trip to the New South Wales resort of Byron Bay, competition organisers said.

As a result, Medrano along with back row enforcer Matera plus team mates Sebastian Cancelliere, Joaquin Diaz Bonilla, Felipe Ezcurra and Santiago Socino were left out of the squad. Australia thumped Argentina 27-8 in Townsville last weekend for their third straight test win. Argentina have lost all five of their matches so far.

A victory for the Wallabies will help them finish second behind New Zealand, who sealed the title with a victory over world champions South Africa in Townsville last weekend. Team

15-Juan Cruz Mallia, 14-Matias Moroni, 13-Lucio Cinti, 12-Santiago Chocobares, 11-Emiliano Boffelli, 10-Santiago Carreras, 9-Gonzalo Bertranou, 8-Rodrigo Bruni, 7-Marcos Kremer, 6-Juan Martin Gonzalez, 5-Tomas Lavanini, 4-Guido Petti, 3-Enrique Pieretto, 2-Julian Montoya, 1-Rodrigo Martinez Replacements: 16-Facundo Bosch, 17-Thomas Gallo, 18-Eduardo Bello, 19-Matias Alemanno, 20-Francisco Gorrissen, 21-Gonzalo Garcia, 22-Domingo Miotti, 23-Mateo Carreras