Australia will be aiming for back to back wins this weekend by following up last week’s 23-18 win over the Springboks with a victory over Argentina.
The Wallabies have had a difficult year so far but last week they held on to beat South Africa and another win this weekend will give their confidence a major boost.
- Australia has won 15 of their last 16 games against Argentina, including their last six games on the bounce where they have scored an average of 36 points per match.
- The hosts have lost just one of their 14 Tests against the visitors in Australia, having not lost against them on home soil since 1983.
- The Wallabies have won their only two previous games at Robina Stadium, each time against the Pumas, however, they have won by just four points and seven points (their most recent encounter here in 2014).
- Argentina has only one Test victory to their name so far in 2018 (W1, L5); the last time they won only a single Test in a calendar year was in 2000 (W1, L4).
- Last week was the first time in seven games that Argentina scored more than seven second-half points in a Rugby Championship game, notching up 17 second-half points against New Zealand.
- The Aussies will be searching for back-to-back wins in The Rugby Championship for the first time since 2016, after beating South Africa 23-18 in Brisbane last week.
- Australia has averaged the fewest metres gained of any team in this campaign, averaging just 400 metres per game after gaining only 253 metres against South Africa last week.
- Los Pumas (2) and Australia (2) have conceded the fewest penalty goals in this tournament but have conceded the most tries (Argentina 15, Australia 14).
- Matt Toomua’s personal points haul of 15 last week was the most in his Test career.
- Only Ben Smith (7) has made more offloads in The Rugby Championship this year than Nicolas Sanchez (6) and the flyhalf became Argentina’s top points scorer of all time, last week.
Match detail
We are waiting for the kick-off.
1.00: PEEEEP! we are underway on the Gold Coast.
3.00: Argentina win a penalty and Emiliano Boffelli will take a shot from long-range.
5.00: PENALTY! Boffelli’s big boot comes to the party. 0-3
7.00: Kurtley Beale takes his eyes off the ball – which hits him in the head – giving the South Americans a scrum outside the Wallabies 22.
11.00: TRY! Will Genia finishes off a magnificent move. Dane Haylett-Petty sucked in Ramiro Moyano, played Reece Hodge, who sent the scrumhalf away. Superb! 5-3
12.00: CONVERSION! Matt Toomua adds the extras. 7-3
13.00: Argentina is back inside the Aussie 22 and is looking dangerous.
15.00: TRY! Nicolas Sanchez runs a good angle and crashes over for another try. 7-8
16.00: CONVERSION! Sanchez converts his score. 7-10
18.00: Australia back on the attack, going through the phases and they have moved into the Pumas half.
19.00: TRY! Israel Folau dances past four Argentinian defenders and skips over for his seventh try against the South Americans. There was nothing on, but Izzy Folau makes miracles happen. 12-10
20.00: CONVERSION! Toomua slots the sideline conversion. 14-10
22.00: The home team’s defence has been stout. They are not allowing space in the wide channels and are rushing the inside ball-carriers and forcing mistakes. John Lacey is missing some forward passes by the visitors.
25.00: It’s humid in Queensland which is making handling tricky. There is a stop for another injury.
27.00: The game is a bit stop-start with all the injuries and changes.
29.00: The visitors are inside the Wallabies 22, going through the phases with some big pick and drives.
30.00: Marcos Kremer is pinged at the breakdown for going off his feet. David Pocock, the stand-in skipper for the missing Michael Hooper, won the penalty.
31.00: NO TRY! Sanchez is over in the corner for his second try of the evening, but Moyano’s boot just scraped the chalk, cancelling the five-pointer. Folau was left for dead by Moyano’s fancy footwork.
33.00: Genia’s pass is intercepted and the Pumas charge forward into Wallaby territory. Boffelli took Pablo Matera’s pass, but it is forward. Folau, earlier, gave a wonderful inside offload to Genia to start the move. Good game, this. Lacey consults the TMO and gives the hosts a penalty for a late tackle by Guido Petti.
34.00: Toomua puts a big kick into touch near the tourist’s goal line.
35.00: Tatafu Polota-Nau squanders two good opportunities inside Los Pumas’ 22 with skew throws. Argentina counter from deep.
36.00: TRY! Bautista Delguy finishes off a stunning move. Matera burst through four Aussie defenders before taking a tackle and offloading to Kremer, in support. The flanker swerves a tackler and gives a long pass to Delguy, who cuts inside and slips two tackles for the score. Sensational, and from a lineout on their 22. 14-15
37.00: CONVERSION! Sanchez adds the two. 14-17
39.00: Scrum for the visitors. There is a bit of push and shove after the reset scrum. The ref calls Scott Sio and Santiago Medrano for a chat about early pushing.
41.00: Massive scrum by the Wallabies. Medrano popped up, but Lacey awards the penalty to Argentina. what is going on? This is like Nigel Owens interpretation of the scrum during the Springboks and all blacks Test. A scuffle breaks out, but no cards because it was all handbags.
The halftime score was Australia 14 Argentina 17
41.00: PEEEEP! We are back underway at Robina Stadium in Queensland.
43.00: NO TRY! Argentina counter-attack from deep after the Wallabies turn the ball over. The Pumas went wide, transitioning from defence to attack at lightning speed before Delguy flings an inside pass to Boffelli. It looked forward and the TMO denies the tourists for the second time.
44.00: Lacey awards Australia a scrum-penalty after Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro collapses the set-piece.
46.00: Folau shanks his kick into touch after pressure from Gonzalo Bertranou. The Pumas go to their driving maul.
47.00: Penalty to the South Americans; Sanchez calls for the tee.
48.00: PENALTY! Sanchez extends the lead. 14-20
50.00: Another wayward lineout by Australia releases pressure on the tourists.
51.00: Oh dear! Argentina goes to blindside from the scrum and knock the ball on after a misjudged pass. Scrum to the hosts.
53.00: And another opportunity goes begging with a knock on near the Pumas’ try-line.
55.00: TRY! Dane Haylett-Petty, out wide, strolls over for his fifth Test try. Genia, Bernard Foley and Hodge all combined to send the fullback away. It came from a driving maul which the Pumas defended with ease, but the quick inter-passing opened up space in the wide channel for the score. 19-20
56.00: MISS! The kick is wide. 19-20
59.00: Folau takes a high-ball and tries to start an attack, but he is blindsided, losing the ball in the tackle.
62.00: Argentina awarded a penalty and Sanchez calls for the tee.
63.00: MISS! It’s wide from the standoff. 19-20
64.00: Now the home team is awarded a penalty and Hodge will attempt a long-range effort.
66.00: MISS! The kick is slightly wide from Hodge. 19-20
67.00: Australia turn the ball over, but some sloppy handling by Bautista Ezcurra gifts the hosts a scrum on the visitor’s 22.
69.00: More reset scrums are killing the rhythm of this game, that and some very poor handling by both sides.
74.00: Argentina wins a crucial penalty on their try-line and they clear the danger.
76.00: Folau Fainga’a is penalised for coming into the ruck from the side. It is in range for a shot at goal. Boffelli calls for the tee. The kick is straight in front and on the halfway line.
77.00: PENALTY! It’s good from Boffelli. 19-23
79.00: Argentina drive forward from the lineout, but they knock on outside their 22, gifting the home team a last opportunity to win the Test.
80.00: Like clockwork, the first scrum goes down and needs to be reset.
82.00: Folau darts for the try-line but he is sandwiched by two Pumas defenders and loses the ball forward and over the in-goal area. Game over. Argentina wins in Australia for the first time in 35 years.
FULL-TIME.
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The final score is Australia 19 (14) Argentina 23 (17)
Scorers
Australia
Tries – Genia, Folau, D. Haylett-Petty
Pen –
Con – Toomua (2)
Drop –
Cards –
Argentina
Tries – Sanchez, Delguy
Pen – Boffelli (2), Sanchez
Con – Sanchez (2)
Drop –
Cards –
Match Officials
Referee: John Lacey (IRFU)
Assistant Ref 1: Glen Jackson (NZRU)
Assistant Ref 2: Paul Williams (NZRU)
TMO: Glenn Newman (NZRU
Teams
Australia
15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Israel Folau, 13 Reece Hodge, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Kurtley Beale, 9 Will Genia, 8 Pete Samu, 7 David Pocock (captain), 6 Lukhan Tui, 5 Izack Rodda, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Allan Ala’alatoa, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Scott Sio.
Replacements: 16 Folau Fainga’a, 17 Sekope Kepu, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Adam Coleman, 20 Ned Hanigan, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Bernard Foley, 23 Jack Maddocks.
Argentina
15 Emiliano Boffelli, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Matias Moroni, 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 Santiago Medrano, 2 Agustin Creevy (captain), 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro.
Replacements: 16 Julian Montoya, 17 Santiago Garcia Botta, 18 Juan Pablo Zeiss, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 Bautista Ezcurra, 23 Juan Cruz Mallia.
