Pumas bench Matera and recall Isgro for Rugby Championship decider

MBOMBELA, South Africa (AP) — Argentina demoted Pablo Matera and recalled sevens star Rodrigo Isgro among seven lineup changes for the Rugby Championship decider against South Africa in Mbombela this weekend.

The Pumas stunned the Springboks 29-28 in Santiago del Estero last Saturday to keep alive a slim chance of winning a first championship title since joining the competition 12 years ago.

Also brought in on Thursday were lock Tomas Lavanini, flankers Juan Martin Gonzalez and Santiago Grondona, scrumhalf Gonzalo Garcia, center Matias Moroni and fullback Santiago Carreras.

Gonzalez, Garcia, Carreras and Moroni came off the bench last weekend.

Grondona was the only enforced change after Marcos Kremer injured his left knee in the win.

Like fellow back-rower Kremer, Matera started in all five championship matches. But he appears to have placed in the reserves for fresher legs.

The reasons for the changes varied, coach Felipe Contepomi said. “Some because of playing time, because of accumulation, and others because they are training very well and have less playing time, so they can bring more energy. Each position or player is a different situation, but we believe that it is the best combination for the match.”

Isgro has three caps, all last year. He made his Pumas debut a year ago in the championship, was picked in the Rugby World Cup squad, and played a warmup and one cup match, scoring a try against Chile. Since then, the 2023 world sevens player of the year helped Argentina build for the Paris Olympics, where it was knocked out in the quarterfinals.

“Rodri has a huge challenge,” Contepomi said. “He has played a lot in sevens lately, and changing from one format to another is not easy because of the requirements in the game and the number of minutes, time and space. But he's been in the squad and at the World Cup, and he knows how we work. He's trained well and we believe he will be very useful in our game plan.”

Santiago Carreras, who has replaced benched fullback Juan Cruz Mallia, was primarily a flyhalf for the Pumas and a fullback for his club Gloucester. He hasn't started a test wearing 15 in three years.

Bautista Delguy has made way for Isgro, Cinti — another who started every match — for Matias Moroni, and Gonzalo Bertranou for Garcia.

To win the title, the Pumas must win in South Africa for the first time in nine years, earn a bonus point by scoring three more tries than the Springboks, and deny the Boks a losing bonus point.

Argentina: Santiago Carreras, Rodrigo Isgro, Matias Moroni, Santiago Chocobares, Mateo Carreras, Tomas Albornoz, Gonzalo Garcia; Joaquin Oviedo, Santiago Grondona, Juan Martin Gonzalez, Tomas Lavanini, Pedro Rubiolo, Joel Sclavi, Julian Montoya (captain), Thomas Gallo. Reserves: Ignacio Ruiz, Ignacio Calles, Pedro Delgado, Franco Molina, Pablo Matera, Lautaro Bazan Velez, Lucio Cinti, Juan Cruz Mallia.

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

Argentina's Los Pumas coach Felipe Contepomi walks the field prior to a rugby championship test match against South Africa at Unico Madre de Ciudades stadium in Santiago del Estero, Argentina, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Mateo Occhi)

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban said Thursday it was absurd to accuse them of gender discrimination and other human rights violations, as four countries vow to hold Afghanistan’s rulers accountable under international law for their treatment of women and girls.

Australia, Canada, Germany and the Netherlands are set to start legal proceedings against the Taliban for violating a U.N. convention on women, to which Afghanistan is a party.

The countries launched the initiative on Wednesday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, which is taking place in New York until Monday.

Despite promising more moderate rule after they seized power in 2021, the Taliban have barred women and girls from education beyond sixth grade, many public spaces and most jobs. In August, the Vice and Virtue Ministry issued laws banning women’s bare faces and prohibiting them from raising their voices in public.

More than 20 countries expressed their support Thursday for the proposed legal action against the Taliban.

“We condemn the gross and systematic human rights violations and abuses in Afghanistan, particularly the gender-based discrimination against women and girls," the countries said.

“Afghanistan is responsible under international law for its ongoing gross and systematic violation of numerous obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,” they added.

The countries said they did not politically recognize the Taliban as the legitimate leaders of the Afghan population.

“Afghanistan’s failure to fulfill its human rights treaty obligations is a key obstacle to normalization of relations,” they said.

The Taliban’s deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said human rights were protected in Afghanistan and that nobody faced discrimination.

“Unfortunately, an attempt is being made to spread propaganda against Afghanistan through the mouths of several fugitive (Afghan) women and misrepresent the situation,” he said on social media platform X.

“It is absurd to accuse the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan of violating human rights and gender discrimination,” he added.

The Taliban reject all criticism of their policies, especially those affecting women and girls, describing it as interference. They maintain that their actions are in line with their interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia.

Fereshta Abbasi, an Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch, urged other countries to register their support for the four countries’ legal action and for them to involve Afghan women as the process moved forward.

“The announcement by Germany, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands may mark the beginning of a path to justice for the Taliban’s egregious human rights violations against Afghan women and girls,” said Abbasi.

FILE - A Taliban fighter stands guard as women wait to receive food rations distributed by a humanitarian aid group in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, May 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)