After an exhilarating encounter last week, Argentina and Australia head to Santa Fe's Stadium Brigadier General Estanislao Lopez for a round-four clash in the 2024 Rugby Championship this Saturday.
The Wallabies earned a much-needed last-gasp victory in La Plata last weekend to open their account in the competition, though they are still bottom of the table with four points, one behind Los Pumas.
Match preview
In their last two matches, Argentina have struggled to recapture the type of intensity and enthusiasm they displayed during their opening Rugby Championship Test against New Zealand in Wellington.
Last week in La Plata, the likes of Pablo Matera and Marcos Kremer, both standout performers in the first round, fell short of their earlier standards, with the latter arguably suffering the effects after taking a heavy blow above the shoulder early in the match.
Indeed, squandering a 16-7 lead has raised several questions for Los Pumas, particularly at the front of the pack where the side, who typically pride themselves on their power at scrum time, fell well short of the mark.
Juan Martin Gonzalez, who opened the scoring for Los Pumas, was probably the only player who lived up to the standards expected, and it was during his time off the pitch for a head injury assessment that the Wallabies mounted their comeback.
Unfortunately for Agustin Creevy, it was not the winning swansong he would have hoped for in his final Test match for Los Pumas, but the side did produce several impressive spells, particularly in the first half, which will give them confidence in their chances of getting the job done this week.
Meanwhile, after two heavy defeats to South Africa over the first two rounds of the competition, the win last week would have brought a much-needed boost for Australia, and laid a platform for them to get off the bottom of the table this weekend.
The Wallabies made an ominous start in La Plata, spending the first 10 minutes attacking the Argentine 22 for over 27 phases, yet they gained only a few metres and never broke into the crucial red zone.
Notably, Joe Schmidt's side made a conscious effort to move the ball out wide as frequently as possible during the early stages, again, with little success, and by half time the stats read that the Wallabies had made 128 metres to Argentina's 116 despite having almost twice the number of carries.
On the positive, though, Australia were by far the better side from set-pieces and dominated the aerial battle in the driving rain, supporting the kicking strategy of Ben Donaldson, which will be a key again this weekend.
Still, while the Wallabies got the win in the end, there is still plenty work to do before they are likely to be able to challenge the likes of New Zealand, France and the Springboks.
Argentina Rugby Championship form:
- W
- L
- L
Argentina form (all competitions):
- L
- W
- W
- W
- L
- L
Australia Rugby Championship form:
- L
- L
- W
Australia form (all competitions):
- W
- W
- W
- L
- L
- W
Team News
Argentina lock Pedro Rubiolo has been ruled out of Saturday's clash in Santa Fe, as he is currently undergoing concussion protocols following his early exit from the field during last last week's narrow defeat.
Replacement scrumhalf Lautaro Bazan Velez sustained a muscle strain during the warm-up before last week's match and has been ruled out for this one, along with loose forward Bautista Pedemonte.
For Australia, veteran prop James Slipper will match the legendary George Gregan's record of 139 Test appearances if he comes off the bench to feature in this weekend's encounter.
Schmidt has also named a new-look second row with Jeremy Williams and Nick Frost joining forces, while the back-row stays unchanged, led by Harry Wilson alongside flankers Carlo Tizzano and Rob Valetini.
Argentina starting lineup: 15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Joel Sclavi, 2 Julian Montoya (c), 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Joaquin Oviedo, 21 Santiago Grondona, 22 Gonzalo García, 23 Santiago Carreras
Australia starting lineup: 15 Andrew Kellaway, 14 Max Jorgensen, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hamish Stewart, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Ben Donaldson, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Harry Wilson (c), 7 Carlo Tizzano, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Jeremy Williams, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Matt Faessler, 1 Angus Bell
Replacements: 16 Josh Nasser, 17 James Slipper, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Josh Canham, 20 Langi Gleeson, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Tom Lynagh, 23 Josh Flook
We say: Argentina 24-20 Australia
While Australia were the more attacking side last week, Argentina repelled their opponents' onslaught for the best part of 70 minutes, and we feel Los Pumas would have taken plenty of learnings from that match, which will better-equip them to secure a victory this time around.
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