Los Pumas call up rookie flyhalf as injuries force changes for Australia tour

Contepomi has named a 32-man squad with Nicolas Roger and Ignacio Calles as the new additions in the group.

Los Pumas are facing the Wallabies in back-to-back Tests at the North Queensland Stadium in Townsville and the Allianz Stadium in Sydney, respectively, on September 6 and 13.

Rookie fly-half Roger, who made his Test debut against England in San Juan in July, comes into the squad as a replacement for star playmaker and first choice number 10 Tomas Albornoz, who has been ruled out of the tour to Australia due to injury.

Albornoz was Los Pumas' starting fly-half in the Rugby Championship matches against the All Blacks in Cordoba and Buenos Aires, respectively, but was forced off in the latter match - which Argentina won 29-23 - after injuring his hand.

Meanwhile, veteran prop Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro has retired from international rugby after Argentina's recent victory over New Zealand, and his place in Contepomi‘s squad has been taken by Calles, who plies his trade with Top 14 outfit Pau.

After two rounds of matches in the Rugby Championship, each nation in the competition has won one match, which means only two points separate the teams in the standings.

The All Blacks are currently setting the pace atop the table with six points, while the Wallabies are in second position, just one point adrift, while the Springboks and Los Pumas have each amassed four points.

Contepomi is looking forward to Los Pumas' Tests against the Wallabies.

"We closed out the year at home with a great win against the All Blacks, which gives us a lot of energy for the challenging tour ahead," he said when making his squad announcement on Tuesday.

"It's important that over the next five weeks away from home, we can continue to build as a team and grow day by day.

"We are very grateful for the support we've received over these past few weeks in Argentina and are confident we'll find many fans cheering us on in Australia."

Forwards: Ignacio Calles, Francisco Coria Marchetti, Juan Martin Gonzalez, Santiago Grondona, Marcos Kremer, Pablo Matera, Franco Molina, Julian Montoya (c), Joaquin Oviedo, Lucas Paulos, Guido Petti, Tomas Rapetti, Pedro Rubiolo, Ignacio Ruiz, Joel Sclavi, Mayco Vivas, Boris Wenger

Backs: Simon Benitez Cruz, Mateo Carreras, Santiago Carreras, Santiago Chocobares, Lucio Cinti, Bautista Delguy, Benjamin Elizalde, Gonzalo Garcia, Rodrigo Isgro, Juan Cruz Mallia, Ignacio Mendy, Agustin Moyano, Justo Piccardo, Geronimo Prisciantelli, Nicolas Roger