Argentina vs Wallabies: Rugby Championship live scores, blog

The Wallabies will desperately seek redemption when they take on the Pumas in Salta, Argentina, in the sixth and final round of this year’s Rugby Championship on Sunday morning.

There is so much at stake for both sides, and it promises to be an absolute belter. Grab your coffee and bacon sandwich and join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match starting from 9:40am AEDT.

All Australian rugby fans are well aware of what’s at stake in this game. With just two wins from their previous ten matches the Wallabies are getting truly desperate. The reviews and analysis over the past couple of weeks have been brutal but arguably deserved.

Michael Cheika has continued to tell everyone that he’s not thinking about resignation or getting the sack – which is probably just as well considering the form of the team would be taking up all his waking hours anyway. But even he knows that his squad simply must start winning.

Talk of improvements and positive patches just isn’t going to cut it anymore. The results are poor and the performances lack quality and commitment in too many areas.

The good news is that he’s got a settled side in terms of selection. There’s just once change, with Bernard Foley returning from the bench to his usual No.10 starting position. The Kurtley Beale-Matt Toomua experiment is over, having not fired, although you could argue it wasn’t really given long enough.

The Wallabies front five will be targeting this match as a chance to make a real statement. While the Pumas have been known for years as having a powerful set piece, in recent times they’ve been very hit and miss. The Wallabies forwards will know that if they can get their set pieces working well, they could win a real advantage and force the Pumas’ fast running backs onto their heels.

Much will be expected of Taniela Tupou in particular as Aussie rugby fans look to him to fulfil his potential and give them something to cheer about.

There’s a lot at stake for the home side too – a win against the Wallabies would be the first time they have put together home-and-away victories against their Rugby Championship opponents. It would also see them jump ahead of the Wallabies in the world rankings, which is always nice for bragging rights.

The Pumas are settled too, and despite the issues with the set piece, coach Mario Ledesma has made no changes up front and only a couple in the backs as winger Ramiro Moyano and centre Matias Orlando come in for the injured Bautista Delguy and Bautista Ezcurra.

Prediction
The tension in this game should be intense – let’s hope it doesn’t cause the teams to freeze but instead encourages them go hard for the win. It really is a hard one to call as either side could steal the win. With the home advantage, though, the Pumas are going to sneak this one in an absolute thriller.

Argentina to win by three.

Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 9:40am AEDT on Sunday.

Where: Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena, Salta
Date: Sunday 7th October 2018
When: Kick off 08:40 AEDT
TV: Foxsports
Betting: Argentina $1.80, Australia $2.02

Argentina
15 Emiliano Boffelli
14 Matias Moroni
13 Matias Orlando
12 Jeronimo de la Fuente
11 Ramiro Moyano
10 Nicolas Sanchez
9 Gonzalo Bertranou
8 Javier Ortega Desio
7 Marcos Kremer
6 Pablo Matera
5 Tomas Lavanini
4 Guido Petti
3 Ramiro Herrera
2 Agustin Creevy (c)
1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro

Replacements
16 Julian Montoya
17 Santiago Garcia Botta
18 Santiago Medrano
19 Matias Alemanno
20 Juan Manuel Leguizamon
21 Tomas Cubelli
22 Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias
23 Sebastian Cancelliere

Australia
15 Dane Haylett-Petty
14 Israel Folau
13 Reece Hodge
12 Kurtley Beale
11 Marika Koroibete
10 Bernard Foley
9 Will Genia
8 David Pocock
7 Michael Hooper (c)
6 Ned Hanigan
5 Adam Coleman
4 Izack Rodda
3 Taniela Tupou
2 Folau Fainga’a
1 Scott Sio

Replacements
16 Tolu Latu
17 Sekope Kepu
18 Allan Alaalatoa
19 Rob Simmons
20 Rory Arnold
21 Caleb Timu
22 Nick Phipps
23 Matt Toomua
24 Tom Banks

Referee: Jaco Peyper
Assistant referees: Mathieu Raynal, Marius van der Westhuizen
TMO: David Grashoff

Form
Australia – LLWLL
Argentina – LWLWL

Played 30
Australia 23
Argentina 6
Draw 1

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