Hernandez gets a run as Argentina take on Namibia
By Nick Said
LONDON (Reuters) - Argentina's Juan Martin Hernandez has been given a chance to play himself back into the Pumas side for the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals with an outing at flyhalf in the final Pool C clash against Namibia in Leicester.
The 2007 semi-finalists are not yet assured of second place in the pool and a place in the knockout stages but even if Tonga stun New Zealand on Friday, will be confident of securing the point they need on Sunday (kickoff 1100 GMT).
Hernandez returns after missing Argentina's victory over Tonga with a muscle tear and coach Daniel Hourcade will be looking for him to prove his fitness for a spot in the centres for the quarter-final against Ireland or France.
The 33-year-old will make just his third start at number 10 in the last three years, the others being Argentina's famous 37-25 victory over South Africa in Durban in August and the 20-18 win in Italy last November.
Both sides have made 11 changes to their starting sides with lock Guido Petti, blindside flanker Pablo Matera, scrumhalf Martin Landajo and outside back Matias Moroni retaining their places for Argentina.
"It's good that all the players are okay and we believe it’s good to give the others some minutes, we have a very even squad," Hourcade told the UAR website (www.uar.com.ar).
"We want to finish the group phase well, improve defensive aspects (of our game) because we weren't aggressive enough (against Tonga) and our finishing because we had some good movements but in some of them we didn't finish well.
"We have faith in these players and if the All Blacks don't win we'll seek our qualification with this team."
Namibia take a 19th crack at that elusive maiden World Cup win but have probably been left with the feeling that their best chance in this tournament came in the 17-16 loss to Georgia on Wednesday.
They go into this final fixture without inspirational captain Jacques Burger, ruled out after picking up a concussion early in their midweek game, or outstanding number eight Renaldo Bothma.
Bothma was picked on the bench by coach Phil Davies but banned for two weeks later on Friday after being cited for a dangerous tackle against Georgia.
Victory for Namibia would be a major surprise, but they can take hope from the way Argentina upset the odds in their win in South Africa two months ago.
"If we go out with that guts, character, determination, anything can happen in a game of rugby," coach Phil Davies said.
Teams: Argentina: 1-Lucas Noguera, 2-Julian Montoya, 3-Juan Pablo Orlandi, 4-Guido Petti, 5-Matias Alemanno, 6-Pablo Matera, 7-Javier Ortega Desio, 8-Facundo Isa, 9-Martin Landajo (captain), 10-Juan Martin Hernandez, 11-Horacio Agulla, 12-Juan Pablo Socino, 13-Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, 14-Matias Moroni, 15-Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino. Replacements: 16-Agustin Creevy, 17-Marcos Ayerza, 18-Ramiro Herrera, 19-Leonardo Senatore, 20-Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 21-Tomas Cubelli, 22-Marcelo Bosch, 23-Juan Imhoff
Namibia: 1-Jaco Engels, 2-Torsten Van Jaarsveld, 3-Johannes Coetzee, 4-Janco Venter, 5-Tijuee Uanivi, 6-Rohan Kitshoff (captain), 7-Wian Conradie, 8-Leneve Damens, 9-Eneill Buitendag, 10-Theuns Kotze, 11-Conrad Marais, 12-Johan Deysel, 13-JC Greyling, 14-Johan Tromp, 15-Chrysander Botha. Replacements: 16-Louis van der Westhuizen, 17-Johnny Redelinghuys, 18-Raoul Larson, 19-TBD, 20-Tinus Du Plessis, 21-PJ Van Lill, 22-Eugene Jantjes, 23-Heinrich Smit.
Referee: Pascal Gauzere (France)
(Editing by Ed Osmond)