(Reuters) -Argentina’s Santiago Carreras is back at flyhalf for their make-or-break Rugby World Cup Pool D clash against Japan, pushing centurion Nicolas Sanchez to the bench for Sunday’s encounter in Nantes.
Sanchez celebrated his 100th cap with a flawless performance in the Pumas’s 59-5 demolition of Chile in their previous outing, but coach Michael Cheika kept faith in Carreras for his team’s decider against Japan.
The winners of the game at La Beaujoire stadium will go through to the quarter-finals alongside group winners England and the losers will pack up and go home.
Argentina will go through on points difference should the game end in a draw, unless Japan take a bonus point for scoring at least four tries and the Pumas do not.
Samoa and Chile are already eliminated.
Since their opening defeat, the Pumas have been playing with the fear of elimination, meaning they are ready to deal with the pressure that comes with the Japan game.
“This is why you play rugby. If you want it easy and for the script to be written, don’t worry about coming,” Cheika said.
“In international rugby, you don’t always have games where everything is at stake. We have been doing it since the game against England.
“You have to have a certain level of pressure. They are feeling that pressure for the first time and they are growing. It will be the third elimination match and we hope to have three more from now on.”
Tomas Lavanini is back in the second row after nursing a leg injury while prop Francisco Gomez Kodela and centre Lucio Cinti will also start.
“We think it has good balance, not only in the starting XV but also in the eight that finish the game,” Cheika explained.
“We are happy with the work we’ve done, the competition within the squad. Choosing the team was difficult.”
While Argentina were twice in the semi-finals, they failed to go through the group stage in 2019, a feat Japan achieved.
“We know that they were in the quarter-finals in the last World Cup and not us, so we want to change this situation,” Cheika said.
Argentina team:
1-Thomas Gallo, 2-Julian Montoya (captain), 3-Francisco Gomez Kodela, 4-Guido Petti Pagadizabal, 5-Tomas Lavanini, 6-Pablo Matera, 7-Marcos Kremer, 8-Juan Martin Gonzalez, 9-Gonzalo Bertranou, 10-Santiago Carreras, 11 Mateo Carreras, 12-Santiago Chocobares, 13-Lucio Cinti, 14-Emiliano Boffelli, 15-Juan Cruz Mallia
Replacements:16-Agustín Creevy, 17-Joel Sclavi, 18-Eduardo Bello, 19-Matias Alemanno, 20-Pedro Rubiolo, 21-Lautaro Bazan Velez, 22-Nicolas Sanchez, 23-Matías Moroni
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Alison Williams, Christian Radnedge and Ken Ferris)