Argentina: Top seeds in Pool B

A win is a must as the Pumas attempt to qualify as one of the two teams that will advance from Pool B to the quarter-final stage, and keep alive their hopes of once again reaching the last eight.

The battered and bruised South Americans suffered a devastating 13-9 loss to England in their World Cup opener after leading for much of the match and finished the game with a long injury list.

Centre Gonzalo Tiesi has subsequently been ruled out of the rest of the tournament with a leg injury, while fly-half and skipper Felipe Contepomi is Argentina's biggest casualty and is sidelined with badly bruised ribs.

Argentina also need to work on their goal-kicking and a huge improvement is required following their horror show from the tee that saw the flags raised only three times from nine attempts - costly misses that ultimately cost them the match against England.

Injuries, splintered morale and poor goal-kicking are setbacks that the Pumas must now quickly put behind them and focus at the new task at hand - beating an impressive-looking Romania outfit that pushed Scotland to the limit in their opener in Invercargill before losing 24-34.

Romania were left with some regrets over running out of steam against the overwhelming favourites after a powerful pack display which had Scotland on the back foot. Ten minutes - that's how close they were to achieving a historic victory.

Whilst the heartbreaking defeat will be a bitter pill to swallow after being written off by everyone but themselves, the Oaks have another chance - albeit even tougher - to upset the odds and knock over the top seeded side in their group.

With more confidence in their veins, the Romanians will be hopeful of recording their first win of the tournament, and will no doubt look to bludgeon the Pumas up front, utilising their hard working pack which was the dominant force for the majority of the game against Scotland.

Even though they have lost all seven games they have played against Argentina (including a 50-3 thumping in the 2003 World Cup), skipper and hooker Marius Tincu - who was outstanding against the Scots - believes that it could be a tight game this time.

"I saw the game against England and it was very physical," he said.

"I think Scotland thought it wouldn't be a strong game against us, maybe they say that Romania is a little team, but I think the Argentina team watched the game and want to put the same level against us as England and it won't be easy.

"I know the guys from Argentina and they play good rugby, I think their squad is better than Scotland."

Discipline will be key for both sides, perhaps even more so for the Romanians who can't afford to give away silly penalties and will need to stay on the right side of the law through to the 80th minute.

Argentina: 15 Lucas Gonzalez, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Martin Rodriguez, 12 Marcelo Bosch, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Santiago Fernandez, 9 Nicolas Vergallo, 8 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 6 Julio Farias Cabello, 5 Patricio Albacete, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Mario Ledesma, 1 Rodrigo Roncero.

Replacements: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Martin Scelzo, 18 Mariano Galarza, 19 Alejandro Campos, 20 Alfredo Lalanne, 21 Nicolas Sanchez, 22 Juan Jose Imhoff.

Romania: 15 Iulian Dumitras, 14 Madalin Lemnaru, 13 Csaba Gal, 12 Constantin Gheara, 11 Ionel Cazan, 10 Tiberius Dimofte, 9 Florin Surugiu, 8 Daniel Carpo, 7 Ovidiu Tonita, 6 Mihai Macovei, 5 Cristian Petre, 4 Valentin Ursache, 3 Paulica Ion, 2 Marius Tincu (c), 1 Mihaita Lazar.

Replacements: 16 Bogdan Suman, 17 Silviu Florea, 18 Valentin Poparlan, 19 Daniel Ianus, 20 Valentin Calafeteanu, 21 Marin Dumbrava, 22 Florin Vlaicu.