Rugby: Argentina Rugby Union reinstate Pablo Matera as Pumas captain

Pablo Matera is back as Pumas captain. Photo / Getty

Pablo Matera is back as captain of the Argentina rugby team but he and two teammates will not play against Australia this weekend following a disciplinary hearing which reversed an earlier decision to suspend them over offensive tweets posted nearly a decade ago.

It has been that kind of crazy year in 2020.

Earlier this week, Matera was stripped of his captaincy and suspended along with two teammates over historic social media posts which had been deemed "discriminatory and xenophobic."

The sanctions against Matera were announced after the social media posts emerged amidst backlash in Argentina for the low-key way the Pumas responded to the death last week of revered soccer great Diego Maradona.

Matera became a national hero when he led the Argentina team to its first win over the All Blacks three weeks ago. Now he, veteran lock Guido Petti and hooker Santiago Socino will miss the Australia match in western Sydney.

But in an amazing backflip on Thursday, the Argentina Rugby Union announced that Matera has been reinstated as captain but won't face the Wallabies in Saturday's final Tri Nations match in western Sydney.

The Argentine union said the players had expressed remorse at a disciplinary hearing on Wednesday and the ban had been lifted. But the trio won't play on Saturday, and centre Jeronimo de la Fuente will be the stand-in captain.

"The three players expressed their deep regret, reiterated the apology, ratified that it is not what they think and that it was a reckless act typical of immaturity," the UAR said in a statement. "However, they are fully responsible... at the time of preliminary issuance, the Disciplinary Committee has considered and assessed the attitude of the three players during this process, and understands that they have not repeated similar actions during these more than eight years, and that they have shown during this time to be people with firm and upright values, worthy of being part of our team."

The UAR said the commission, amid newspaper reports in Argentina that the players had threatened to strike, would reach a final decision on the sanctions in the next few days.

In relatively staid team news, James O'Connor was recalled at first five-eighth after overcoming knee and foot injuries to take his place in the starting lineup for Australia.

To make way for the 30-year-old O'Çonnor's return at No 10, Reece Hodge will move to fullback and Tom Banks has been relegated to the bench.

"It's great to have James back in the team this weekend. He brings a lot of experience to a young group and has been working really hard to get his body right to be able to get back on the field," Wallabies coach Dave Rennie said.

New Zealand is all but assured of winning the Tri Nations trophy.

The All Blacks have 11 competition points and Australia and Argentina each has six points. New Zealand has a points differential of plus 64 and Argentina has minus 28 and Australia is minus 36, so even a bonus-point win by either team would be extremely unlikely to put them into first place.

Australia: Scott Sio, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Allan Alaalatoa, Rob Simmons, Matt Philip, Ned Hanigan, Michael Hooper (captain), Harry Wilson, Nic White, James O'Connor, Marika Koroibete, Hunter Paisami, Jordan Petaia, Tom Wright, Reece Hodge.

Reserves: Folau Fainga'a, Angus Bell, Taniela Tupou, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Rob Valetini, Jake Gordon, Irae Simone, Tom Banks.

Argentina: Nahuela Tetaz Chaparro, Julian Montoya, Francisco Gomez Kodela, Matias Alemanno, Marco Kremer, Santiago Grondona, Facundo Isa, Rodrigo Bruni, Felipe Ezcurra, Nicolas Sanchez, Emiliano Boffelli, Jeronimo de la Fuente (c), Matias Orlando, Bautista Delguy, Santiago Carreras.

Reserves: Jose Luis Gonzalez, Mayco Vivas, Juan Pablo Zeiss, Lucas Paulos, Francisco Gorrissen, Gonzalo Bertranou, Domingo Miotti, Santiago Chocobares.

- AP