Sanchez to win 100th Argentina cap in Chile clash

Nicolas Sanchez will win his 100th cap for Argentina when he lines up at flyhalf against Chile in Nantes on Saturday in the first World Cup clash between two South American teams.

The Puma's all-time leading points scorer, Sanchez won his 99th cap off the bench in the 19-10 win over Samoa last week but starts the match at Stade de la Beaujoire.

The only other Argentine to have made a century of test appearances, hooker Agustin Creevy, also gets a rare start as coach Michael Cheika rests some of his regular starters after a loss to England and the Samoa win.

Centre Jeronimo de la Fuente captains the side in the absence of Julian Montoya, while Sanchez will take the place-kicking duties from the rested Emiliano Boffelli.

Starting winger Rodrigo Isgro and fullback Martin Bogado will get their first taste of World Cup action, while hooker Ignacio Ruiz and loose forward Joaquin Oviedo could make their tournament debuts off the bench.

"This group is ready to play. All the training sessions are hard and there is a lot of competition among the 33 players in the squad," Cheika told a press conference.

"The changes were not planned in advance. What we believe is that this is the team that is ready to play this important match for us".

Argentina will be expected to make light work of a Chile side crushed 71-0 by pool leaders England last week as they seek a return to the knockout stages after missing out in 2019.

Argentina, however, will not take the game lightly in a very tight Pool D.

"The match with Chile is very important; it's a final as we say. That's why it's key that the whole team is well focused to continue working for this World Cup," De La Fuente said.

Argentina are fourth on four points, one behind second-placed Samoa and third-placed Japan, who face each other on Thursday.

Groupe leaders England will take on Samoa and Argentina will face Japan in the last round of pool matches.

TEAMS: 15-Martin Bogado, 14-Rodrigo Isgro, 13-Lucio Cinti, 12-Jeronimo de la Fuente, 11-Juan Imhoff, 10-Nicolas Sanchez, 9-Tomas Cubelli, 8-Facundo Isa, 7-Marcos Kremer, 6-Juan Martin Gonzalez, 5-Pedro Rubiolo, 4-Guido Petti, 3-Eduardo Bello, 2-Augustin Creevy, 1-Thomas Gallo

Replacements: 16-Ignacio Ruiz, 17-Mayco Vivas, 18-Francisco Gomez Kodela, 19-Matias Alemanno, 20-Joaquin Oviedo, 21-Lautaro Bazan Velez, 22-Santiago Carreras, 23-Juan Cruz Mallia