Wales have brought several heavyweights back into the starting XV as Argentina name a largely unchanged side for their quarter-final clash.
Dan Biggar has overcome his pectoral strain to return to his 10 shirt, whilst fellow stalwarts Adam Beard, Gareth Davies and Josh Adams are also named in the starting lineup. Liam Williams is also named at 15, recovering from a knee problem that saw him removed just 20 minutes into last week's fixture against Georgia.
Whilst the stakes for last week's pool stage finale were relatively low, Wales needed just a point to avoid facing England and instead play the victor of Argentina's winner-takes-all clash against Japan. Nonetheless, Warren Gatland named a mostly first choice line-up, and is now paying dearly.
The omnipresent Taulupe Faletau suffered a broken arm to rule him out the tournament whilst Gareth Anscombe, who deputised magnificently for an injured Dan Bigger in Wales' memorable win against Australia, strained his groin in the warmup.
As a result, Sam Costelow will be thrown into the deep end as he is selected on the bench. The 22 year old persisted through a shaky start against Georgia to steer Wales to a bonus point victory – he will not be afforded the same adjustment period should he feature against Los Pumas tomorrow.
Tommy Reffell will hope that his turnover ability will fill the sizeable shoes left by Faletau. The back row is shuffled to accommodate for the Leicester Tiger, with Aaron Wainwright moved to Number Eight and Jac Morgan, despite being named the openside of the pool stage by Gatland, shuffled to six.
Morgan will start the game captaining by himself as Ryan Elias' set piece prowess is preferred at hooker to co-captain Dewi Lake. Elias is one of just seven survivors from the 23 that lost to Argentina in Cardiff in 2021.
Whilst that squad was depleted amidst the Lions Tour, Gatland has applied his trademark strength in depth to this Welsh side, with squad players taking them over the line against Georgia and covering for big name injuries in the Australia game.
This was an area in which Pivac struggled during his unsteady three year reign. When his starting squad was fit, they were able to secure good results such as a 20-13 victory over Argentina last autumn, but when he had to delve into the reserves, sack-worthy losses against Georgia and Australia followed.
Eight players from that win against Argentina have failed to make Gatland's World Cup squad, but his reversal of fortunes to win the group has vindicated his selections.
On the other hand, ten players who lost to a doomed Pivac setup don't feature in Argentina's 23. They have been underwhelming this tournament meaning they enter this fixture as underdogs to the resurgent Welsh. However, they looked back to their attacking best when they secured knockout rugby against Japan last week.
Last Sunday's 39-27 win was effectively a knockout game, and Michael Cheika has shown faith in the players that pulled them over the line, with just three changes made to the squad.
The headline of which is talismanic Pablo Matera, who tore his hamstring after 25 minutes last week. Juan Martin Gonzales moves from Eight to six as a result, with Facundo Isa coming in having not featured against Japan.
Pedro Rubiolo is also dropped from the bench for Number Eight Rodrigo Bruni to rebalance their back row options.
In a surprising move, Cheika has also dropped scrum half Gonzalo Bertranou from the 23 for Tomás Cubelli. Bertanou's familiarity with the Welsh game given he plays for the Dragons was not enough to earn him selection over Cubelli, who has played just 110 minutes of rugby for Argentina this season across three games against Spain, Chile, and Samoa. Saturday afternoon will be a step up for the 34-year=old.
Other than that, the Argentina side is unchanged, with Newcastle's Mateo Carreras looking to add to last week's hat trick. The centre battle will be fascinating; the duo of Santiago Chocobares and Cinti Luna have kept Premiership winner Matías Moroni out the starting XV and their battle with Nick Tompkins and George North could prove decisive.
The first quarterfinal, measured against two thrilling top-level clashes on the other side of the draw and the prospect of Fiji upsetting England, has suffered from a lack of hype.
However, if Argentina can continue last week's form, and Wales face their first in form opponent of the tournament, it could prove to be an incredibly cagey affair.
WALES: L Williams; Rees-Zammit, North, Tompkins, Adams; Biggar, G Davies; G Thomas, Elias, Francis, Rowlands, Beard, Morgan (capt), Reffell, Wainwright
Replacements: Lake, Domachowski, D Lewis, D Jenkins, Tshiunza, T Williams, Costelow, Dyer
ARGENTINA: Mallia; Boffelli, Cinti, Chocobares, M Carreras; S Carreras, Cubelli; Gallo, Montoya (capt), Gómez Kodela, Petti, Lavanini, Gonzalez, Kremer, Isa
Replacements: Creevy, Sclavi, Bello, Alemanno, Bruni, Bazan Velez, Sanchez, Moroni
Written by Tom Jeffreys
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