Pumas change 3 for title-chasing Springboks after thrashing Wallabies

ENT

Pumas change 3 for title-chasing Springboks after thrashing Wallabies

2024-09-20 04:17 Last Updated At：04:20

SANTIAGO DEL ESTERO, Argentina (AP) — Argentina changed three of its pack and could debut a tighthead prop against title-chasing South Africa in the Rugby Championship on Saturday.

The Pumas handed Australia its biggest defeat, 67-27, in Santa Fe two weeks ago and recorded its biggest win over a tier one team.

But the Springboks are the only unbeaten team and can clinch their first championship title since 2019 by not losing to Argentina in Santiago del Estero.

An Argentina upset win would set up a title decider between the teams in the last round next week in Nelspruit.

Pumas coach Felipe Contepomi has rotated in locks Pedro Rubiolo and Franco Molina for veterans Guido Petti and Tomas Lavanini, and made Joaquin Oviedo the starting No. 8 after a two-try performance off the bench, ahead of Juan Martin Gonzalez, who also bagged a try.

The backs were unchanged while the reserves were not.

The Pumas lost their two main backup props, Eduardo Bello, to a torn right ACL, and Mayco Vivas, who was unavailable. They have replaced them with uncapped tighthead Pedro Delgado, who is from Santiago del Estero, and Ignacio Calles, who has three previous caps. Calles was playing for Pau in France when the Pumas were crushing the Wallabies.

If they both get on, they will likely oppose Springboks Vincent Koch (56 caps) and Gerhard Steenekamp (six).

Delgado, aged 27, helped Dogos XV win the Super Rugby Americas in June. He was picked ahead of Racing 92's Lucio Sordoni.

Contepomi called Delgado “a pleasant surprise” in that he joined the squad on short notice last week and adapted quickly. “It is a great challenge for him,” the coach added. Captain and hooker Julian Montoya said, “We have a lot of confidence that he'll have a great game.”

The reserves returned to a traditional 5-3 split, from 6-2, to accommodate a third back, center-wing Matias Moroni, who missed both Australia tests due to a muscle tear.

Argentina: Juan Cruz Mallia, Bautista Delguy, Lucio Cinti, Santiago Chocobares, Mateo Carreras, Tomas Albornoz, Gonzalo Bertranou; Joaquin Oviedo, Marcos Kremer, Pablo Matera, Joel Sclavi, Julian Montoya (captain), Thomas Gallo. Reserves: Ignacio Ruiz, Ignacio Calles, Pedro Delgado, Guido Petti, Juan Martin Gonzalez, Gonzalo Garcia, Santiago Carreras, Matias Moroni.

AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby

Mozambique votes for president and the ruling party could extend its 49 years in power

2024-10-09 15:43 Last Updated At：15:51

MAPUTO, Mozambique (AP) — Mozambique is voting for a new president on Wednesday in an election that is expected to extend the ruling party's 49 years in power since the southern African nation gained independence from Portugal in 1975.

Daniel Chapo, 47, is the candidate for the ruling Front for the Liberation of Mozambique, or Frelimo, seeking to succeed President Filipe Nyusi, who has served a maximum two terms.

Analysts say the strongest challenge to Chapo and Frelimo's dominance will likely come from 50-year-old independent Venancio Mondlane, a newcomer to national politics.

People also will vote for the makeup of Parliament and for provincial governors in a country of some 33 million people that went through a bloody, 15-year civil war that ended in 1992, and more recently has been shaken by an ongoing violent jihadist insurgency in the north.

Ending that insurgency and bringing stability to Cabo Delgado province — where 1.3 million fled their homes and more than half remain displaced — is a pledge by both leading candidates, while poverty, youth unemployment and government corruption are top issues for voters.

"I am still selling biscuits at a vegetable market here in Maputo to take care of my two children," 35-year-old Felicidade Simao said at a polling station. “My husband is unemployed and we are struggling. I want the best for my children and the winner of this election must make the dream of a better life in the future.”

Vote-counting is due to start right after polls close in the one-day election. Preliminary results from some areas are expected from Thursday, and the full results must be delivered to the Constitutional Council within 15 days of polls closing to be validated and formally declared. Around 17 million people are registered to vote.

The credibility of the election will be under scrutiny, with the leftist Frelimo party accused of ballot-stuffing and falsifying results in previous votes, including last year's local elections.

Frelimo has consistently denied the accusations of election tampering. Teams of regional and international election observers are in Mozambique, including from the European Union.

Frelimo effectively established a one-party state following independence and fought a civil war against the Mozambique National Resistance, or Renamo, for a decade and a half. The country, where Portuguese remains the official language, held its first elections in 1994, two years after a peace agreement.

Renamo is also contesting this election, with party leader Ossufo Momade, a military commander in the civil war, its candidate for president. The peace between Frelimo and Renamo has been fragile, with an outbreak of more fighting in 2013. Momade and outgoing leader Nyusi signed another peace deal in 2019.

But tensions remain, especially between the two political parties that were once at war with each other.

There are four candidates for president: Chapo, Mondlane, Momade and Lutero Simango of the Mozambique Democratic Movement, who is viewed as an outsider.

“I thank the entire Mozambican population for this opportunity we have today,” favorite Chapo said as he voted in the southern city of Inhambane. “We equally salute everyone for this orderly and peaceful environment seen since the beginning of the electoral campaign.”

The independent Mondlane, who broke away from Renamo, has focused his campaign on young Mozambicans frustrated with poverty and unemployment. The country boasts a long coastline of picturesque beaches on the Indian Ocean, but that vulnerable area has been battered by cyclones in recent years. A drought this year in the southern African region has left more than a million Mozambicans impacted by hunger.

Meanwhile, it emerged in 2016 that government officials and others had embezzled more than $2 billion in foreign loans that were kept secret, sending the economy into a crisis from which it is still recovering.

“All Mozambicans have high hopes from the new president,” said 69-year-old Baptista Antonio, who was one of the first to vote at an elementary school in the capital and port city of Maputo. "I was born during the colonial era and saw many transformations of the country from wars to development and all I can say is it’s a work in progress. There are many challenges ahead.”

Mondlane was aligned with a coalition of opposition parties, but they were barred from contesting the election, which raised accusations against Frelimo of attempting to control the election. He is now supported by a new party called Podemos, which means “we can” in Portuguese. A former banker, Mondlane drew large crowds to some of his boisterous pre-election rallies, and his emergence is a new challenge to Frelimo, which has traditionally won national elections comfortably ahead of Renamo.

Most analysts expect Frelimo to remain in power. It was declared the winner with more than 70% of the vote in national elections five years ago.

The Pangea risk company, which provides security and investment advice on developing countries, said Chapo's election has been "carefully stage managed" by Frelimo.

Chapo worked as a radio announcer and television presenter before becoming a law professor. He was the governor of southern Inhambane province — Mozambique's flagship tourism region — but was a surprise winner of an internal party vote in May to become Frelimo's presidential candidate.

Chapo would be Mozambique's first leader born after independence if he wins.

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa