Key events
8 min: This move is now 20 phases long but Australia aren’t going anywhere. Still, they have the ball and keep hammering the blue and white wall. 25 phases now. It’s all a bit too one dimensional. Wright throws a dummy but no one is buying. Eventually there’s a speculative kick ahead from Lolesio and it dribbles into the in-goal area and is safely dotted down. 27 phases for nothing to show.
6 min: Wilson secures the line-out and Australia keep the ball. Valetini twice carries into traffic. Seven phases becomes eight but they’re pushed back to the 22. Wilson carries again. Gordan is now well behind the 22. Ikitau tries to wriggle round the edge but again Argentina repel the men in gold. They’ve gone backwards about 20 metres from where the line-out was taken.
4 min: Australia get the scrum penalty. Big shove from Tupou. Out of range for Lolesio so he boots a long touch finder. About 12 metres from the Pumas’ line.
3 min: It’s a poor throw from Montoya. Too short and Australia manage to steal the ball. Gordan then puts up a contestable kick which is knocked on so the Wallabies will have the scrum feed just inside half-way.
2 min: Rubiola is going off the field for an HIA and Lavanini enters the scene. He’ll be a target at this line-out for Montoya.
1 min: Lolesio kicks off and Argentina have the ball. There’s a long raking kick that Wright fields but the return kick is sliced. So Argentina have the throw inside Australian territory.
There’s a late change for Argentina. Gonzalo García comes in for Lautaro Bazán Vélez, who picked up a knock in the warm-up
Intense passion from the Argentina players. They’re up for this. we’re seconds away from kick-off now.
Time for the anthems. The players are shivering! My goodness it looks grim.
It is bucketing down! Wet, windy, no doubt slipper underfoot. Might be a stodgy game.
Argentina have won their last two meetings with the Wallabies.
Last year they edged Australia 34-31 in Sydney and the year before that they hammered Dave Rennie’s team 48-17 across a seven try demolition job in San Juan.
“Not good enough,” was Rennie’s entry into the understatement of the year award.
One of my favourite rugby podcasts is optimistic about Stewart’s debut. Anyone out there share this sentiment?
Something real test cricket about Hamish Stewart debuting. Really deserves it. 100 super rugby caps, went to the Force when he could have left, 26 years old. He might be the answer to lighten Noah’s load and encourage us to play a bit wider than 9.
— Rugby Report Card (@rugby_podcast) August 31, 2024
Joe Schmidt is backing young Harry Wilson to lead with distinction.
“Harry’s been really good for us and I think he’s led himself really well,” Schmidt said on Friday morning from Argentina. “He has a natural propensity to express himself well, but with very few words, and I don’t think that we want to be doing too much talking, it’s about the actions that he’s going to deliver and lead from the front effectively.
“We’re pretty happy with the selection amongst the coaching group and even talking to some of the players about who would be best to step up, there was a lot of confidence around Harry.”
For those who missed it, the Springboks beat the All Blacks in a stunner in Johannesburg.
Here’s the report:
Creevy starts on the bench for his final Test
Agustin Creevy will call time on his international career at the final whistle. No doubt the 39-year-old with over 100 caps for his country will make an impact when he steps on as a replacement hooker.
Felipe Contepomi has selected 14 of the 15 starters who beat New Zealand in the opening round of the competition. The one change is on the wing where Santiago Cordero replaces Matias Moroni.
Elsewhere it’s a formidable outfit that will confront the Wallabies. The back row of Pablo Matera, Marcos Kremer and Juan Martin Gonzalez is right up there with the best combinations in the world and Santiago Carreras has the ability to unlock any game from fly-half.
Argentina: Mallia; Cordero, Cinti, Chocobares, M Carreras; S Carreras, Bertranou; Gallo, Montoya (cap), Scalvi, Molina, Rubiolo, Matera, Kremer, Gonzalez.
Replacements: Creevy, Vivas, Bello, Petti, Lavanini, Grondona, Bazan Velez, Albornoz.
Another new captain leads beefed-up Wallabies
Harry Wilson becomes the fourth skipper in just the sixth match of the Joe Schmidt era. It’s a remarkable turnaround for the No8 after he was left out of Eddie Jones’ World Cup squad and he’ll be itching to impress with the added leadership duties.
There are five changes in total to the team that put in a spirited performance against the Springboks two weeks ago. Allan Allalatoa, the most recent captain, starts on the bench as Taniela Tupou starts in the front row amidst an improved looking tight five.
Hamish Stewart makes his debut at inside centre as he replaces his injured Reds teammate Hunter Paisami.
Australia: Wright; Kellaway, Ikitau, Stewart, Koroibete; Lolesio, Gordan; Bell, Faessler, Tupou, Frost, Salakaia-Loto, Valetini, Tizzano, Wilson (cap)
Replacements: Nasser, Kailea, Alaalatoa, Williams, Gleeson, McDermott, Donaldson, Jorgensen.
Premable
Daniel Gallan
If the wins against Wales and Georgia were caveated by the weakness of the opposition, and the losses against the world champions Springboks were considered inevitable, then perhaps this can be regarded as the first true test of Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies.
World Rugby’s rankings aren’t perfect, but few would argue that Argentina’s spot in sixth, three places above Australia, is an inaccurate reflection of their quality. The Pumas beat New Zealand in the opening round of the Rugby Championship and finished fourth in last year’s World Cup. They’re on a two-game winning streak against the Wallabies and will fancy themselves on their own patch this evening.
Does this mean that Australia have little hope of winning? Of course not. There have been obvious improvements under Schmidt and he’s named what could potentially be the best XV of his tenure so far. There’s a new skipper, an imposing tight five and the knowledge that they’ve arrived in Beunos Aires as underdogs.
Which means the pressure is all on the home side. Having beaten the All Blacks, and with New Zealand playing two Tests in South Africa, there’s an outside chance of them finishing second in the competition for the first time in their history. To do that, though, they’ll need to beat Australia twice.
I say this for most games in this tournament but this really could be a banger.
If you’re as amped for some quality footy as I am and want to share your thoughts with the group, drop me a mail or hit me up on X. How do you see this one going?
Teams and further updates to follow.
Kick-off at the Estadio Jorge Luis Hirschi is at 8am AEST/11pm BST/7pm local time.
