Tri Nations Preview: Australia vs Argentina

Saturday’s Tri Nations match between Australia vs Argentina will be ground-breaking. First, Australia were 24-22 winners over New Zealand in their prior match. Second, Argentina were 25-15 winners over New Zealand this past Saturday. The 2020 Tri Nations has gone against the script; it is wide open.

Australia has made three changes for the match. Head Coach Dave Rennie has made a double change in the front-row with Taniela Tupou and Scott Sio both named to start. One change is injury enforced; James Slipper is unfit for the match.

The remaining change to the side comes in the back-row. Ned Hanigan replaces Lachlan Swinton. It is a mandatory change due to Swinton having been red carded and subsequently suspended from the remainder of the Tri Nations.

Rennie has retained the same backs that started against New Zealand. James O’Connor has not yet returned to fitness. As such Reece Hodge will again start at fly half. Hodge will have plenty of talent outside him; Hunter Paisami and Jordan Petaia start in the centers.

Rennie’s Wallabies also contains finishers. Tom Wright and Marika Koroibete will start on the wings and Tom Banks will complete the back-three at fullback.

Edit: Mario Ledesma named the same XV that started against New Zealand to again start against Australia. However, Tomás Cubelli was ruled-out the day before the match. This means Gonzalo Bertranou will start at scrum-half and Felipe Ezcurra will be his replacement.

Pablo Matera playing opposite Michael Hooper in a battle of the captains. This one-on-one contest will be a key match-up. Both players are highly experienced and respected.

Another of note will be up-front. Francisco Gómez Kodela impressed against New Zealand. Scott Sio has had success against Argentina in the past. However, he has never played opposite Gómez Kodela. In addition, there will be a battle of mid-field rookies. Hunter Paisami and Santiago Chocobares are both promising players who loom as being around for many years to come.

Ledesma has made four changes to the replacements. In addition to Ezcurra, Santiago Socino takes-over from Facundo Bosch as the replacement hooker; Facundo Isa comes in for Tomás Lezana; and Emiliano Boffelli for Lucio Cinti. All three missed the All Blacks’ match due to minor injuries.

As was the case against New Zealand, Ledesma will have no specialist fly half on the bench. Boffelli will be covering the mid-field. In the event that Nicolás Sánchez requires replacing then there will be a reshuffle with Santiago Carreras moving to pivot from fullback.

There have been 32 prior matches between the Wallabies and Los Pumas. Australia have 25 wins, Argentina 6 and there has been one draw. In 2018 the teams split the results with Argentina winning 23-19 on the Gold Coast, and Australia completing a comeback win in Salta. In 2019 Australia were 16-10 winners in Brisbane.

Australia and Argentina are in uncharted waters. Both teams head into Saturday’s match on the back of wins over New Zealand. The Wallabies were deserved winners over the All Blacks, as were Los Pumas. This, in itself, is a unique buildup to an Australia vs Argentina test match. It is a game that could go either way. ARN projects a nail-bitter with Australia entering the match as favorites to win by 2 points.

 

TEAMS

AUSTRALIA
1 Scott Sio, 2 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 3 Taniela Tupou, 4 Rob Simmons, 5 Matt Philip, 6 Ned Hanigan, 7 Michael Hooper (capt.), 8 Harry Wilson, 9 Nic White, 10 Reece Hodge, 11 Marika Koroibete, 12 Hunter Paisami, 13 Jordan Petaia, 14 Tom Wright, 15 Tom Banks

Replacements: 16 Folau Fainga’a, 17 Angus Bell, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Rob Valetini, 20 Liam Wright, 21 Jake Gordon, 22 Noah Lolesio, 23 Filipo Daugunu

ARGENTINA
1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 2 Julián Montoya, 3 Francisco Gómez Kodela, 4 Guido Petti, 5 Matías Alemanno, 6 Pablo Matera (capt.), 7 Marcos Kremer, 8 Rodrigo Bruni, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 10 Nicolás Sánchez, 11 Juan Imhoff, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 13 Matías Orlando, 14 Bautista Delguy, 15 Santiago Carreras

Replacements: 16 Santiago Socino, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Santiago Grondona, 20 Facundo Isa, 21 Felipe Ezcurra, 22 Emiliano Boffelli, 23 Santiago Cordero

Date: Saturday, November 21
Kick-Off: 7:45pm (Local), 5:45am (Argentina)
Venue: McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle
Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Angus Gardner (Australia)
TMO: Nic Berry (Australia)
Broadcast: ESPN 2, ESPN Brasil