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PARIS - Argentina coach Marcelo Loffreda will not reveal the identity of his first five-eighth for Saturday's (NZ time) opening rugby World Cup match against hosts France until Thursday.
The Pumas coach will choose between brilliant place kicker Federico Todeschini, no longer an injury concern after a worrying few days, the tough-tackling Felipe Contepomi or Juan Martin Hernandez, who normally plays at fullback.
"We don't know any more than you do and we're just as anxious to know what the team will be," lock Rimas Alvarez told reporters.
Todeschini, the main points scorer in Argentina's victory over England at Twickenham last November, has a near 100 per cent success rate with the boot.
Loffreda may, though, want the greater creativity of Hernandez, who prefers to play at first five where he ended last season for Stade Francais in partnership with Pumas captain Agustin Pichot.
Contepomi, the best defender of the trio and also versatile in attack, will play at second five if he is not picked at pivot.
Alvarez, in his second World Cup, is likely to start among the replacements with Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe and Patricio Albacete the preferred locks.
He said that, like most matches between Argentina and the French in recent years, he expects the Pool D encounter to be a close affair.
"I think it's going to be a close match in the score and surely in the play as well," Alvarez said after a training session.
"It will be a game of forwards. In the majority of these matches, the result was settled in the final minutes and by only a few points."
The French ended a run of four successive defeats against the Pumas when they beat them 27-26 at the Stade de France in November.
"In the difficult moments the team give their best," Alvarez said. "Everyone has France as favourites, the stadium will be full of French. Maybe the pressure will work against them."
- REUTERS
