Los Pumas prepare for rematch against England: between ups and downs, Contepomi called a historic player to expand the base

After the painful 35-12 defeat to England in La Plata, Los Pumas are preparing to face the 'Rosa' again on Saturday in San Juan . Head coach Felipe Contepomi has made several changes to the squad, including additions and deletions due to injury or precautionary measures, as well as adjustments to try to remedy some of the shortcomings from the last test match.

In this context, Contepomi confirmed the incorporation of four players: Guido Petti , Gerónimo Prisciantelli , Mateo Albanese and Agustín Fraga joined the squad, which continues to be nourished by new generations, since except for the second row who is close to 90 caps, the rest are making their first moves.

Petti replaces Lautaro Simes and joins the squad after playing in the French Top 14 final, in which his team, Bordeaux, lost 39-33 to Toulouse. The experienced player is a fixture in the second line of the XV, which will seek victory at the Bicentenario Stadium.

For his part, Prisciantelli has put an injury behind him and is ready to make his international debut. He excels as a fly-half and full-back, and in a recent interview with the Scrum website, he emphasized his desire to play as a number 10, having recently been playing as a back man to cover for injured teammates. It will depend on the configuration Contepomi puts together with his backs.

The additions of Mateo Albanese and Agustín Fraga , both players also uncap, will cover the absences of Gonzalo Bertranou and Rodrigo Isgró , the latter ruled out of the match at the Bicentenario Stadium in San Juan due to the concussion protocol.

His replacement, Fraga, was already his teammate at Los Pumas 7's. Meanwhile, Albanese is missing from the scrum-half role. In La Plata, Bertranou's replacement was Simón Benitez Cruz , who earned his first cap and now has a chance of making his starting debut.

Meanwhile, Luciano Asevedo and Boris Wenger , who traveled with the delegation, did so as development players and will not be part of the 23.

But Los Pumas aren't the only ones with absences. England also has significant ones: coach Steve Borthwick has lost center Henry Slade for the remainder of the July window, after British media reports said he suffered a broken hand.

The Los Pumas squad is now in San Juan and held its first training session. It opened at the Club Universitario grounds, and the players signed autographs and took photos with those present.

Contepomi will confirm the squad this Thursday at a 10 a.m. press conference at the hotel where the delegation is staying. The final touch of the ball before the match will be the captain's run at the Bicentenario Stadium shortly before noon on Friday.