Roar Guru
The Wallabies will be out for their first win of The Rugby Championship when they welcome Argentina to Perth. Join us for live scores and commentary from 8.05pm AEST.
Two relatively honourable Bledisloe Cup defeats to the All Blacks were disappointing, but were largely stomached by the Australian rugby community given the dominance of the world’s number one Test nation in recent years.
What happened last Saturday night was not.
The Wallabies were ragdolled 38-12 by the Springboks in Brisbane, and not once looked like the winning side.
With the Pumas earning a bonus point in their 22-17 loss to the Springboks in Week 2, the Wallabies now sit anchored to the bottom of The Rugby Championship table.
Given they face difficult road trips to La Plata and Johannesburg in their final two matches, tonight stands as the Wallabies’ best opportunity to eke out a win in this tournament.
After a third-straight loss to begin his international coaching career, Ewen McKenzie has made four changes to the squad that went down to the Springboks.
Under-performing number nine Will Genia is the highest-profile casualty, with Nick White coming in, Ben Alexander replaces Sekope Kepu up front while Sitaleki Timani and Tevita Kuridrani have been included on the bench.
With regular skipper James Horwill sidelined through injury and Genia benched, number eight Ben Mowen will become the Wallabies’ 80th captain when he leads the side out tonight.
Since being hammered 73-13 in their Rugby Championship opener in Johannesburg, los Pumas have rebounded somewhat.
Yes, they’re still winless but a 22-17 loss to the Springboks in Mendoza and a 28-13 loss to the All Blacks have restored a measure of confidence in Santiago Phelan’s outfit.
Phelan has made five changes to the side that ran out in Hamilton last Saturday night, with Felipe Contepomi, Juan Imhoff, Tomas Cubelli and Gonzalo Tiesi coming into a new-look backline.
Argentina have made just the one change to their forward pack, which has had success in the past two matches with typically rough-and-tumble tactics, with Agustin Creevy replacing Eusebio Guinazu at hooker.
Realistically, despite the Wallabies’ poor form they should manage to get over the line tonight. They have lost to los Pumas since 1997 and their only loss on Australian soil came all the way back in 1983.
Still, McKenzie’s men will have had to improve considerably since Brisbane just seven days ago. Find out how they fare from 8.05pm AEST.