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Argentina were well beaten this morning by Australia in Townsville. The wheels of Los Pumas came off as the Wallabies were on top for the full 80 minutes and never looked like losing. The 27-8 loss was very different to the 2020 fixtures wherein Mario Ledesma’s team competed to two draws against the Wallabies.
The pattern from recent matches continued: Argentina conceded early points and was unable to fight back. A missed tackle from Juan Martín González saw Samu Kerevi making a clean break forward and deep into Pumas territory. The back-peddling Pumas regathered but Reece Hodge then broke through a tackle from Lucio Cinti and Juan Cruz Mallía was unable to cover. With it the Wallabies were 7-0 up after 4 minutes.
Australia were winning on the scoreboard and in the collisions. It came together in the form of one additional converted first-half try and a penalty. The scorer was Kerevi who went over from close range. By way of comparison, Los Pumas only managed three first half points. The 17-3 half-time scoreline could have been worse for the South Americans; indeed, Australia had 64% of the possession and tackled 32 times compared to Argentina’s total of 62 in the half.
Argentina started the second half well. Captain Julián Montoya went over for an early try. The score from a rolling-maul made it a nine point ball-game. It was, however, the final time in which Argentina scored in the match. Australia hit-back with a penalty and then, late in the half, winger Andrew Kellaway scored to give the home side a comfortable win.
As was the case in Argentina’s previous four test matches in the Rugby Championship, this morning’s game saw the team cleanly beaten. The team is yet to be competitive on the scoreboard in a match in the 2021 competition. There is one final chance; Argentina face the Wallabies again next weekend.
SCORING
AUSTRALIA 27
Tries – R. Hodge (3′), S. Kerevi (17′), A. Kellaway (70′)
Cons – Q. Cooper 2/2 (4′, 18′), J. O’Connor 1/1 (71′)
Pens – Q. Cooper (32′), J. O’Connor (60′)
ARGENTINA 8
Tries – J. Montoya (48′)
Cons – E. Boffelli 0/1
Pens – E. Boffelli 1/2 (20′)
YC – M. Kremer (56′)
TEAMS
AUSTRALIA
1 James Slipper (17 Angus Bell 52′), 2 Folau Fainga’a (16 Feleti Kaitu’u 71′), 3 Taniela Tupou (18 Tom Robertson 67′), 4 Izack Rodda, 5 Matt Philip (19 Darcy Swain 61′), 6 Robert Leota (20 Pete Samu 52′), 7 Michael Hooper (capt.), 8 Rob Valetini, 9 Nic White (21 Tate McDermott 57′), 10 Quade Cooper (22 James O’Connor 57′), 11 Marika Koroibete, 12 Samu Kerevi, 13 Len Ikitau, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 15 Reece Hodge (23 Jordan Petaia 73′)
ARGENTINA
1 Facundo Gigena (17 Rodrigo Martínez 39′-40′, 61′), 2 Julián Montoya (capt.) (16 Santiago Socino 73′), 3 Santiago Medrano (18 Enrique Pieretto 71′), 4 Matías Alemanno (19 Guido Petti 47′), 5 Tomás Lavanini, 6 Juan Martín Gonzalez, 7 Marcos Kremer (20 Joaquín Oviedo 67′), 8 Pablo Matera, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 10 Santiago Carreras, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 13 Lucio Cinti, 14 Santiago Cordero (23 Mateo Carreras 52′), 15 Juan Cruz Mallía (22 Domingo Miotti 73′)
Not used: 21 Gonzalo García
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
Assistants: Jaco Peyper (South Africa) & Nic Berry (Australia)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)
