Key events
The Pumas have provided stern opposition for the Wallabies in recent years, and there’s a reasonable chance this match-up could be a World Cup quarter-final later this year if Australia win Pool C and Argentina finish runners-up behind England in Pool D.
2022 Argentina 48-17 Australia
2022 Argentina 26-41 Australia
2021 Australia 32-17 Argentina
2021 Australia 27-8 Argentina
2020 Australia 16-16 Argentina
2020 Australia 15-15 Argentina
Here’s the coin toss, if you’re into that sort of thing.
What I definitely am into is Julian Montoya’s sweet Air Max 1 sneakers.
Argentina XV
Michael Cheika has handed a debut to winger and former sevens international, Rodrigo Isgro, doubling the number of bronze medalists from the Tokyo 2020 Games in his back line. Francisco Gómez Kodela also comes into the starting side.
Pumas: 15. Emiliano Boffelli, 14. Rodrigo Isgro, 13. Lucio Cinti, 12. Jeronimo De La Fuente, 11. Mateo Carreras, 10. Santiago Carreras, 9. Gonzalo Bertranou, 8. Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7. Santiago Grondona, 6. Pablo Matera, 5. Tomas Lavanini, 4. Matias Alemanno, 3. Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2. Julian Montoya (c), 1. Thomas Gallo.
Reserves: 16. Agustin Creevy, 17. Hahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 18. Eduardo Bello, 19. Lucas Paulos, 20. Rodrigo Bruni, 21. Lautaro Bazan Velez, 22. Nicolas Sanchez, 23. Matias Moroni.
Australia XV
Eddie Jones has tinkered with his line-up after last week’s mauling in South Africa. In the pack, Fraser McReight replaces Michael Hooper (calf strain), Jed Holloway deputises for Tom Hooper (shoulder) and Richie Arnold comes in for Nick Frost. In the backs, Suliasi Vunivalu has made way for Mark Nawaqanitawase and Samu Kerevi comes into the centres in place of Reece Hodge.
“We’re running a marathon this year and we didn’t get off the start line like we wanted to, but we get another opportunity to find our rhythm this weekend against a tough Argentinian side,” Jones said on Thursday. “It’s about winning but there’s a couple of processes we’ve got. We’ve got the process of today, we’ve got the process of tomorrow. So that’s a continual balancing act but obviously Saturday’s the priority.”
Wallabies: 1 James Slipper (c), 2 David Porecki, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 4 Richie Arnold, 5 Will Skelton, 6 Jed Holloway, 7 Fraser McReight, 8 Rob Valetini, 9 Nic White, 10 Quade Cooper, 11 Marika Koroibete, 12, Samu Kerevi, 13, Len Ikitau, 14 Mark Nawaqanitawase, 15 Tom Wright.
Reserves: 16 Jordan Uelese, 17 Angus Bell, 18 Pone Fa’amausili, 19 Matt Philip, 20 Rob Leota, 21 Josh Kemeny, 22 Tate McDermott, 23 Carter Gordon.
To provide a little more context to last week’s results and tonight’s clash, the All Blacks have just run out comprehensive winners at home to the Springboks. New Zealand streaked into a 20-3 half-time lead, playing some scintillating ruby, but South Africa fought hard in the second half.
Angus Fontaine wasn’t overly impressed with the return of the prodigal Eddie in Pretoria.
After all the hoopla about Jones returning as the saviour of Australian rugby, his Wallabies barely fired a shot in their 43-12 walloping by South Africa in Pretoria. Despite scoring the Test’s first try with fast hands to Marika Koroibete, they imploded to leak 43 unanswered points, falling to their heaviest defeat against South Africa in 15 years and getting the much-vaunted Eddie Era: Part 2 off to the worst possible start. That this defeat came against a second-string Springboks side, with the first XV dispatched to New Zealand to counter the All Blacks, only salted the wound.
Preamble
Jonathan Howcroft
Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of Australia v Argentina in round two of The Rugby Championship. Kick-off at Sydney’s Commbank Stadium is 7.45pm.
It might be early days in the international season, but this already has the feel of a must-win clash for both sides. The Wallabies were hammered in South Africa last time out, while the Pumas were thumped on home turf by the All Blacks. With the World Cup just around the corner, now is not the time to be playing catch-up.
It’s anyone’s guess where Australian rugby is at the moment, with changes in the boardroom and a Hail Mary sent Eddie Jones’s way after he was sacked by England. It’s a familiar pattern for a sport that long ago lost its foothold as Australia’s team and seems unsure how to win back the armchair fans.
Jones’s first XV was hardly a massive departure from the Dave Rennie era, suggesting selection alone has not been behind Australia’s inability to win a TRC since 2015. However, the positives to take away from Pretoria came off the bench with Carter Gordon’s try-scoring debut hinting at a bright future for the young playmaker. Otherwise it was a familiar tale with ill-discipline yet again costing the Wallabies dearly.
I’ll be back with teams news and insights from the two camps shortly. If you want to get in touch at any point you can always send me an email.
