Now for part two. Italy, Samoa, South Africa and Scotland introduce Nelspruit to international rugby, England look to a series win in Argentina, and Canada host struggling Ireland in Toronto.
ITALY vs SAMOA
Saturday, June 8, 12:15 GMT, Nelspruit
The Azzurri have made several changes after their poor performance against the Springboks, recalling the Gonzalos, Garcia and Canale, to the centres, and bringing in Tommaso Iannone on the wing. Luciano Orquera swaps with Alberto Di Bernardo, with Martin Castrogiovanni and Valerio Bernabo into the pack. The big news is the recall of 34 year old Mauro Bergamasco to the no7 jersey that he first wore in November of 1998.
Samoa have changed only one of the side that beat Scotland, Sakaria Taulafo rotating with Logovi’i Mulipola. Fit-again test regulars Ti’i Paulo and Kane Thompson will settle for reserve spots for now, and physical Castres back rower Piula Fa’asalele looks set to make his debut from the bench in place of World Cup 7s bound Alafoti Fa’osiliva.
Can Bergamasco relive his old glory? The changes are significant in number, but not so much in class. The midfield has a more solid and less imaginative look to it, and Castro will tighten up the scrum, but Samoa surprised somewhat against Scotland and look well capable of dealing with this struggling Italian side. Expect the Manu to turn it up again and walk away with an 8 point win.
ITALY
Andrea Masi; Giovanbattista Venditti, Gonzalo Canale, Gonzalo Garcia, Tommaso Iannone; Luciano Orquera, Edoardo Gori; Alberto de Marchi, Leonardo Ghiraldini, Martin Castrogiovanni; Valerio Bernabo, Marco Bortolami; Alessandro Zanni, Mauro Bergamasco, Sergio Parisse (capt.). RES: Andrea Manici, Michele Rizzo, Lorenzo Cittadini, Antonio Pavanello, Manoa Vosawai, Tobias Botes, Alberto Di Bernardo, Luke McLean.
SAMOA
James So’oialo; Alapati Leiua, Paul Williams (capt.), Johnny Leota, Alesana Tuilagi; Tusi Pisi, Jeremy Su’a; Sakaria Taulafo, Ole Avei, Census Johnston; Filo Paulo, Daniel Leo; Ofisa Treviranus, Jack Lam, Taiasina Tu’ifua. RES: Ti’i Paulo, Logovi’i Mulipola, James Johnson, Kane Thompson, Piula Fa’asalele, Junior Poluleuligaga, Seilala Mapusua, Brando Va’aulu.
SOUTH AFRICA vs SCOTLAND
Saturday, June 8, 15:15 GMT, Nelspruit
Mbombela Stadium is the venue for this historic first Springbok test in Nelspruit, and Heyneke Meyer has selected his strongest available squad for the occasion. Ruan Pienaar comes in to replace injured Jano Vermaak at scrumhalf, and Marcell Coetzee takes over from wedding-bound Francois Louw in the only changes from last week. World class hooker Bismarck du Plessis is back in the squad after a long injury lay off and sits on the bench alongside uncapped Siya Kolisi and Piet van Zyl.
Scott Johnson has made seven changes to his side, two of them enforced, including new caps Peter Murchie and Tommy Seymour out wide, and Tim Swinson at lock. Ruaridh Jackson, Scott Lawson, and Jim Hamilton provide much-needed experience to key positions, and Ryan Wilson is forced to stand in at openside in place of injured captain Kelly Brown. Emergency call-up Jon Welsh slots onto the bench, from which Dave Denton also hopes to make an impact.
This one is an easy pick. Scotland were already missing several leading players and are now without their captain and pack leader. The new caps are fair enough at club level, but none seem to have an air of test class about them. Jackson has been in reasonable form but he will need to have the game of his life to steer his ship to anything but a bitter defeat. South Africa will toss this lot aside with little difficulty en route to a 25 point victory.
SOUTH AFRICA
Willie le Roux; Bryan Habana, J.J. Engelbrecht, Jean de Villiers (capt.), Bjorn Basson; Morne Steyn, Ruan Pienaar; Tendai Mtawarira, Andries Strauss, Jannie du Plessis; Eben Etzebeth, Juandre Kruger; Marcell Coetzee, Arno Botha, Pierre Spies. RES: Bismarck du Plessis, Trevor Nyakane, Coenie Oosthuizen, Flip van der Merwe, Siya Kolisi, Piet van Zyl, Patrick Lambie, Jan Serfontein.
SCOTLAND
Peter Murchie; Tommy Seymour, Alex Dunbar, Matt Scott, Sean Lamont; Ruaridh Jackson, Greig Laidlaw (capt.); Alasdair Dickinson, Scott Lawson, Euan Murray; Tim Swinson, Jim Hamilton; Alasdair Strokosch, Ryan Wilson, Johnnie Beattie. RES: Steven Lawrie, Moray Low, Jon Welsh, Alastair Kellock, David Denton, Henry Pyrgos, Peter Horne, Duncan Taylor.
ARGENTINA vs ENGLAND
Saturday, June 8, 19:10 GMT, Buenos Aires
An eminently forgettable match in Salta for the Pumas has led to five changes, most prominently captain Felipe Contepomi starts his (supposedly) final match in the no10 shirt, with Gabriel Ascarate taking up residence in the centres. Belisario Agulla, Guillermo Roan, and Nicolas Vergallo start where they ended up last match, and fleet footed flanker Rodrigo Baez replaces the ponderous Esteban Lozada, with Julio Farias Cabello sliding up into the second row. Exciting halfback duo Tomas Cubelli and Benjamin Madero take the squad places of discarded Martin Landajo and Benjamin Urdapilleta.
England have made only two changes, the first sees exciting London Irish winger Marland Yarde handed a debut in place of David Strettle. The second is equally exciting, as Kyle Eastmond benefits from Billy Twelvetrees’ Lions call-up to start for the first time at centre. Northampton flyhalf Stephen Myler hopes to win his first cap from the bench.
Santiago Phelan will have read the riot act to his men during the week, and no man will want to let down departing legend Contepomi. Easier said than done, however, as England looked vastly superior man for man only a week ago. Eastmond and Yarde only add more zip to an already potent backline, and they should have their Pumas counterparts at sixes and sevens pretty quickly. A tougher match for Steve Lancaster’s troupe, but they will cap off a series victory with a fine 10 point win.
ARGENTINA
Martin Bustos Moyano; Belisario Agulla, Gonzalo Tiesi, Gabriel Ascarate, Manuel Montero; Felipe Contepomi (capt.), Nicolas Vergallo; Guillermo Roan, Martin Garcia Veiga, Maximiliano Bustos; Julio Farias Cabello, Mariano Galarza; Rodrigo Baez, Benjamin Macome, Tomas Leonardi. RES: Mauricio Guidone, Pablo Henn, Francisco Gomez Kodela, Esteban Lozada, Tomas de la Vega, Tomas Cubelli, Benjamin Madero, Matias Orlando.
ENGLAND
Mike Brown; Christian Wade, Jonathan Joseph, Kyle Eastmond, Marland Yarde; Freddie Burns, Lee Dickson; Joe Marler, Rob Webber, David Wilson; Joe Launchbury, David Attwood; Tom Wood (capt.), Matt Kvesic, Ben Morgan. RES: David Paice, Paul Doran-Jones, Henry Thomas, Courtney Lawes, Billy Vunipola, Richard Wigglesworth, Stephen Myler, Ben Foden.
CANADA vs IRELAND
Sunday, June 9, 02:30 GMT, Toronto
The Canadians have won three in a row and will be brimming with confidence, particularly seeing how well the Americans dealt with Ireland last week. Kieran Crowley has selected what looks to be his strongest side absent a couple injuries, with exciting 7s combo Phil Mack and Nathan Hirayama starting together for the first time in the full version. Jebb Sinclair moves up to the second row to make room for Ospreys-bound Tyler Ardron in the back row, and a late change has Doncaster’s Connor Braid in at fullback with star kicker James Pritchard now on the wing.
Ireland would be disappointed with their performance in Texas, and have made several changes. Tommy O’Donnell earns his first start at openside alongside Leinster stalwart Kevin McLaughlin, with Dan Tuohy in at lock. Fellow Ulsterman Tom Court is back in at loosehead, and Andrew Trimble at last wins his 50th cap on the wing in place of new Lion Simon Zebo. Felix Jones takes over from Robbie Henshaw at fullback, and the midfield takes an about turn with the hugely physical James Downey handed his first cap at 32 years of age.
With a record crowd expected in Toronto, there will be a fantastic atmosphere for this one. The Irish escape the heat somewhat, and in fact should receive a fair welcome from the numerous expats in the city. All said this promises to be a full-on tilt, with much depending on the respective halfback partnerships. If Mack and Hirayama can produce a bit of magic, they could inspire a famous victory. Madigan and Boss, on the other hand, will want to have a firm grip on field position. The two teams have finished level in Toronto before, but this time the slight edge goes to Ireland, who again narrowly escape with a 5 point win.
CANADA
Connor Braid; James Pritchard, Ciaran Hearn, Harry Jones, Taylor Paris; Nathan Hirayama, Phil Mack; Hubert Buydens, Ray Barkwill, Jason Marshall; Jebb Sinclair, Tyler Hotson; Tyler Ardron, John Moonlight, Aaron Carpenter (capt.). RES: Ryan Hamilton, Doug Wooldridge, Andrew Tiedemann, Jon Phelan, Nanyak Dala, Sean White, Patrick Parfrey, Nick Blevins.
IRELAND
Felix Jones; Fergus McFadden, Darren Cave, James Downey, Andrew Trimble; Ian Madigan, Isaac Boss; Tom Court, Richardt Strauss, Mike Ross; Dan Tuohy, Devin Toner; Kevin McLaughlin, Tommy O’Donnell, Peter O’Mahony (capt.). RES: Sean Cronin, David Kilcoyne, Declan Fitzpatrick, Mike McCarthy, Chris Henry, Paul Marshall, Paddy Jackson, Robbie Henshaw.
