Australia 31-34 Argentina: Pumas pinch late Rugby Championship win as Eddie Jones' Wallabies woes continue
Jeronimo de la Fuente, Julian Montoya, Mateo Carreras, Juan Martin Gonzalez score tries as Argentina deservedly beat Australia late on in Sydney in Rugby Championship clash; Eddie Jones' woes in charge of Australia continue, having lost heavily to South Africa in Round 1
Last Updated: 15/07/23 2:05pm
Juan Martin Gonzalez scored a late winner as Argentina stunned Australia 34-31 in the Rugby Championship on Saturday to leave the Wallabies in disarray and without a win two games into the second Eddie Jones era.
Australia had scored two quick tries late in the game to overturn a 10-point deficit and take a 31-27 lead with five minutes remaining, but the Pumas loose forward dived over a ruck on the Wallabies line to secure a famous victory.
Cheered on by a small but noisy band of their compatriots at the same Parramatta Stadium where they first beat the All Blacks in 2020, the Pumas secured only a third win over the Wallabies on Australian soil.
Australia 31-34 Argentina - Score summary
Australia - Tries: Ikitau (5), White (53), Kerevi (72), Nawaqanitawase (75). Cons: Cooper (7, 54, 73, 77). Pens: Cooper (12).
Argentina - Tries: De la Fuente (25), Montoya (46), Carreras (69), Gonzalez (79). Cons: Boffelli (27, 46, 70, 80+1). Pens: Boffelli (21, 60).
Samu Kerevi, Mark Nawaqanitawase, Len Ikitau and Nic White scored Australia's tries, while Jeronimo de la Fuente, skipper Julian Montoya and Mateo Carreras also crossed for the Pumas.
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Early on, Jones' five team changes from last week's heavy loss to South Africa in Pretoria looked good as Nawaqanitawase, powerhouse centre Kerevi and giant lock Will Skelton led the Wallabies to a 10-0 lead.
A quick tap and sharp footwork from Nawaqanitawase put Australia deep on the attack and, with the Pumas' defence stretched, Quade Cooper found Kerevi lurking out wide and the centre's inside ball was enough for Ikitau to dive over in the corner in the fourth minute.
But Ikitau injured his shoulder while scoring and soon after was sent to hospital for scans. Having no outside backs on the bench forced the Wallabies into a reshuffle with Carter Gordon's introduction at inside-centre breaking up the potent Cooper-Kerevi midfield partnership.
The entire complexion of the match changed - the Wallabies attack was clunky and disjointed while Cooper and Gordon, two playmakers, looked vulnerable defensivly beside each other.
The Wallabies found themselves hanging on at half-time with a player down following the sin-binning of lock Richie Arnold for deliberately slowing the ball down.
The Pumas fought their way back through a try to full-back Emiliano Boffelli, who converted and added a penalty to leave the match even at 10-10 at half-time.
The visitors took the lead for the first time when hooker and captain Montoya forced his way over five minutes into the second half before Wallabies half-back White darted over to level the scores again.
When winger Carreras beat a tired Dave Porecki to score out wide in the 68th minute, Argentina led 26-17. But a Kerevi try, then Nawaqanitawase's solo effort gave the home side an apparent match-winning lead.
But the Wallabies conceded an off-the-ball penalty and Argentina set up an attacking lineout. The Pumas hammered the try-line, trying to burrow through until Gonzalez went over the top of defenders and scored.
"We need to enjoy this win because we worked really hard over the week and bounced back from a tough game," Montoya said.
"We want to be fighting for every ball, every metre and every contact. We know the game is not going to be perfect, there are going to be bad moments. We need to enjoy this win."
Australia captain James Slipper, replacing injured regular skipper Michael Hooper, said the penalty count - 14-10 against the home side - hurt them.
"Ill-discipline really hurt us tonight again," Slipper said. "Yellow card, a couple of penalties put us at the wrong end of the field. You can't win Test matches playing that sort of rugby. We've got to turn that around.
"There's quite a few of us who have to look at those individual penalties and rectify it quickly. Performances like that, we won't go far at the World Cup."
Rugby Championship fixtures and results 2023
- Round 1: South Africa 43-12 Australia - Saturday, July 8
- Round 1: Argentina 12-41 New Zealand - Saturday, July 8
- Round 2: New Zealand 35-20 South Africa - Saturday, July 15
- Round 2: Australia 31-34 Argentina - Saturday, July 15
- Round 3: Australia vs New Zealand - Saturday, July 29 - 10.45am, Sky Sports Action (GMT)
- Round 3: South Africa vs Argentina - Saturday, July 29 - 4.05pm, Sky Sports Action (GMT)