Argentina secured an historic victory against the Wallabies in the final round of the 2014 Rugby Championship.
Australia led the match early, but Argentina were able to get on top in the second half and hold on to win 21-17.
FINAL SCORE:
Argentina 21
Wallabies 17
MORE:
>> Full Wallabies vs Argentina match report
>> Sloppy Wallabies woes continue in Mendoza
After a strong showing against the Wallabies in their last meeting, Argentina will be confident they can cause an upset when they host Australia in the Round 6 of the Rugby Championship. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 9:30am (AEDT).
Following a series of line breaks against the Wallabies in Round 4, the Pumas pounced on the All Blacks’ defence last week.
Although conceding four tries, Argentina had more offloads, almost matched their line breaks and ran over 500 metres.
The Pumas will aim to repeat this today, in front of 40,000 home spectators.
Early in the competition, the Pumas’ backs ran the metres. Last week, their backrow became a major source of territory gains. This includes the honorary backrower/hooker and Captain Agustin Creevy.
Eightman Leonardo Senatore is the lone backrower from last week’s game, where he was soft in defence. He needs to cause damage today.
Scott Higginbotham finds himself in the same situation, but he will be aided by flankers Scott Fardy and Captain Michael Hooper. If Higginbotham contests rucks successfully, Fardy will be free to deliver bustling runs of old.
105kg Manuel Montero, courted by the Western Force, recently smoked Wallabies speedsters for a runaway try. He is not playing today, for reasons not immediately apparent.
Replacement Lucas Amorosino will run with wingmate Juan Imhoff. They face off with Smoking Joe Tomane, Adam Ashley-Cooper and Israel Folau.
Game of two halves: Part 1
A few weeks ago, Martin Landajo and Nicolas Sanchez would have not bothered any opposing teams or fans.
Today, they will be heavily marked.
Nick Phipps and Bernard Foley are accustomed to playing behind a pack that totally dominates, so their judgement in contentious situations, along with Hooper’s, will make a big difference in improving the Wallabies fortunes.
Game of two halves: Part 2
Since the Gold Coast, the Wallabies second half performance has been a huge disappointment.
They will be expected to turn things around against Argentina.
This needs to happen not just in the loose but also the scrum and lineouts – the main reason Australia is last place in set piece statistics.
Last Chance:
The Wallabies need to look beyond survival. They need to deliver an 80-minute ensemble masterpiece, as a launchpad for next year’s World Cup campaign.
On the other hand, the Pumas have home ground advantage and have learnt how to score tries against the top three teams in the world.
This is their last chance to get first blood. Will it happen today?
Join The Roar at 9:30am (AEDT) to find out as all the action unfolds.
If you are following the match live, be sure to share your thoughts in the comments below.
Gordon Irons
Guest
It is a shame when a ref such as Nigel Owens has such a big impact on a test match like this one. Whilst the Pumas played well and deserved to win given their determination in everyhting they did, the Wallabies can feel hard done by a very poor refereeing performance. To award so many penalties against the Wallabies at the breakdown and to penalise the Wallabies at the final scrum of the game - when it is their put in and they are trying to score a try to win the game - shows just how "out of touch" Nigel Owens is with the game.To not award the try to Kudrriani was a por judgement call and should have been awarded based on any objective view of what happened. I recall a similar experience when Owens was appointed to the test against the All Blacks in Sydney. When you compare this performance with the quality performance by Barnes in the Boks vs All Blacks game it's a real shame this was allowed to occur. Well done Pumas but Owens needs to spend some time on the sidelines....
peter k
Guest
He sets with his shoulders beneath his hips - should be penalised each time
44bottles
Roar Guru
The problem is, who are you going to replace them with. Not enough people want to be refs and it leaves them drawing from what is essentially a very small talent pool. Every country needs to encourage people to take reffing courses and support the game.
44bottles
Roar Guru
Tom Groggin, if Australia played all of their tests except for TRC and World Cup with players at Shute Shield level, I think they would be at a similar level to Argentina don't you?
Alan
Roar Guru
Sorry about the Aussie national anthem guys. That is trending at the moment....glad to see the Wallabies saw the funny side of things
Killzone250
Guest
Comments like this give me a real chuckle...thanks for that. I haven't seen the game as I fell asleep but the replay is on in 2 hrs...I think I might enjoy the watch considering all the 'end is nigh' comments.
44bottles
Roar Guru
I fear that would lead to people doing things against their own team to milk a card against the opposition then.
Rob na Champassak
Roar Guru
The Brumbies went from 13th to 2nd in two seasons with that style you like to mock. Not to mention the RWC White won with it. Personally I think people calling for McKenzie's head are laughably reactionist, but that's not to say that I think White wouldn't do a good job. Not sure if we've got the loosies or second row to pull of Jakeball successfully, but then again I thought the same thing of the Brumbies when White was appointed in 2012.
kesmcc
Roar Pro
until they get their SR team and can start keeping their best players at home i think they will suffer this negative rating. at full strength they are much better than 10th
kesmcc
Roar Pro
you cant award a try if there is no clear footage of the ball being grounded. all the replays were inconclusive. it doesn't matter if the man and ball are at the bottom of a pack of bodies. if they cant see the grounding its not a try and never will be. watch some more rugby and you will see this quite often. and as for hooper, dont know how you can think him jumping into a guys head and not really getting near the ball would constitute a yellow or red the other way. especially when the guy got laid out after the contact.
44bottles
Roar Guru
The problem is all their really good players are all playing in France, so they have to play with an Amateur side most of the time and get shoved down the rankings. I know they have all their pros for TRC, and maybe a few other points throughout the year.
ethan
Guest
Australia's A front row of Slipper, Kepu, Hooker - and with a no. 8 who pushes, like Palu and McCalman - has held up well all RC. It is when the subs come on that the problems begin...
ethan
Guest
I'm a fan of Toomua as well, but to be fair though, Rob Horne's defensive work was excellent. You just lose the playmaking options with him.
ethan
Guest
Shatz has the exact same problem at the Reds. On Reds feed, they struggle to win. On opposition feed they usually hold strong, because Shatz keeps his head in and pushes. Backrowers have to push in the scrum. Higgers is not an 8 IMO, but McK didn't really have any other option this week..
ethan
Guest
They should move up this year. Should get a few wins in their remaining matches. Problem is they keep playing the top 3 teams in the world, but no doubt it has improved their rugby and that will show on the rankings soon enough.
Cadfael
Roar Guru
I have to agree though I thought the Phipps one was wrong. The Wallabies were just too ill disciplined. The crowd and the lasers didn't help. Here is where Hooper should have threatened the ref with a walk off because of the lasers. On the try, it probably was a try but there is no benefit of the doubt try. If they can't see it they can't award it.
Clifto
Guest
Agreed. Clear issues with game plan, which is Mckenzie's responsibility. You wouldn't see Folau doing that for Cheika's Tahs.
Mick Gold Coast QLD
Roar Guru
Now you've been wrong on the same thing twice in two minutes!
WhoDis
Roar Rookie
By my calculations, I think we drop to 4th in the IRB rankings after this? If a team is more than 10 rankings points behind you, and beats you, you lose the maximum 2 rankings points, taking us to 85.07 and below England (85.68) Argentina will move up to 10th, which is farcical. Clearly they are better than Samoa, Scotland and France, and probably Wales.
Ruckin Oaf
Guest
Jake ball at test level. I dunno with the difference in time zones it's hard enough to stay awake for some games as it is.