Buenos Aires: Argentina's Juan Martin Hernandez will miss the World Cup after failing to recover in time after knee surgery, reducing to 10 the number of veterans of the 2007 tournament in the Pumas squad named on Tuesday.
The talented Racing Metro fly-half, nicknamed "Mago" (magician), one of the outstanding players of the 2007 competition in France where Argentina finished third, has not fully recovered from a knee ligament operation in March.
"He wasn't in condition to get there," coach Santiago Phelan said as he left Hernandez out of the 30-man squad for the tournament in New Zealand starting on September 9, which he announced at a news conference at San Isidro Club on the outskirts of the capital.
The squad, captained by Felipe Contepomi, contains 17 forwards including seven front rowers, and 13 backs, a decision Phelan said was taken in view of the wear and tear in the pack.
Phelan said the 28-year-old Hernandez, who also had back surgery early in 2010, had not been able to play for his country for two years so they had been preparing as if he would not be available.
Addition
"The team were working without ‘Juani', with Felipe [Contepomi] as No 10 and other alternatives. Hernandez's inclusion was going to be an addition rather than someone being left out," Phelan said.
Nevertheless, Hernandez's absence will be a major setback to Argentina's hopes of at least coming close to their remarkable performance of four years ago with talismanic captain Agustin Pichot and other leading players having retired.
"He made a great effort to get there but in our heads it was as if he wasn't going to be with us. It would have been a plus.
"This doesn't take away [the fact] that it's an important loss for his qualities as a player and a person."
Squad
Forwards: Juan Fernandez Lobbe (Toulon), Juan Manuel Leguizamon (Lyon), Leonardo Senatore (Gimnasia Rosario), Alejandro Campos (Agen), Alvaro Galindo (Racing Metro), Patricio Albacete (Toulouse), Manuel Carizza (Biarritz), Julio Farias Cabello (Tucuman RC), Mariano Galarza (unattached), Tomas Vallejos (Harlequins), Marcos Ayerza (Leicester Tigers), Agustin Creevy (Montpellier), Juan Figallo (Montpellier), Maximiliano Bustos (Montpellier), Mario Ledesma (Clermont), Rodrigo Roncero (Stade Francais), Martin Scelzo (Agen).
Backs: Martin Rodriguez (Stade Francais), Horacio Agulla (Leicester Tigers), Juan Jose Imhoff (Duendes), Gonzalo Camacho (Exeter), Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino (Montpellier), Agustin Gosio (Newman), Gonzalo Tiesi (Stade Francais), Santiago Fernandez (Montpellier), Marcelo Bosch (Biarritz), Felipe Contepomi (Stade Francais, captain), Nicolas Sanchez (Bordeaux-Begles), Alfredo Lalanne (London Irish), Nicolas Vergallo (Toulouse).
