Key events
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Full-time: Australia 28-24 Argentina
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CONVERTED TRY! Australia 28-24 (Bell, 80+6)
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PENALTY! Australia 21-24 Argentina (Mallia, 79)
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CONVERTED TRY! Australia 21-21 Argentina (Sua’ali’i, 63)
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Yellow Card! (Mateo Carreras, 63)
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CONVERTED TRY! Australia 14-21 Argentina (Sua’ali’i, 47)
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Half-time: Australia 7-21 Argentina
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PENALTY! Australia 7-21 Argentina (Carreras, 36)
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CONVERTED TRY! Australia 7-18 Argentina (Carreras, 31)
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TRY! Australia 7-11 Argentina (Delguy, 29)
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CONVERTED TRY! Australia 7-6 Argentina (White, 24)
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PENALTY! Australia 0-6 Argentina (Carreras, 12)
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PENALTY! Australia 0-3 Argentina (Carreras, 5)
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Kick-off!
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Argentina XV
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Australia XV
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Preamble
Victorious Wallaby skipper Harry Wilson was immense once again. He’s given his immediate reaction to the host broadcaster.
On the dramatic conclusion to the match and his decision to repeatedly decline the penalties on offer.
There was obviously a lot happening there and I guess full credit to the team. We could have gone for goal there and taken the draw. It was a tough game, but everyone believed that we could finish the job and the boys wanted to win a game as well, as a group on the field, everyone sort of feeling the moment. And the crowd was 25,000 people pleading for us to tap it and try and win the game. And that really probably was the difference in the choice at the end.
On the game of two halves:
Probably our discipline in the first half, it really did hurt us there and we just wanted to hold onto the ball for a few more phases, not give them easy outs with penalties. And I thought we did that and I’m very proud of the boys.
We weren’t at our best today, but to find a way to get a win against such high quality opposition, it’s a real credit to them. They’re such a world class forward pack and we knew that coming into it. So we knew we had to be ready for it up front. And then obviously we’ve got some backs with a lot of speed. And if we get them a bit of front foot ball, they’re great to watch.
That was a desperate, breathless, final few minutes of time added on. Credit to Wilson and the Wallabies for pushing for victory when a draw was repeatedly on the table.
Full-time: Australia 28-24 Argentina
The Wallabies pinch victory from the jaws of defeat.
CONVERTED TRY! Australia 28-24 (Bell, 80+6)
Paenga-Amosa taps and goes again. Tizzano, Wilson, inches from the line… Ikitau dummies his drive, offloads to Bell, and he cannot be stopped! Australia have done it!
O’Connor seals the deal.
80+5 mins: Tizzano, Paenga-Amosa, and Ikitau all try to burrow under the blue wall. Penalty advantage! O’Connor tries the crossfield kick to the right corner but overhits it and Jorgensen knocks on. Back to the original infringement. This is torture!
80+5 mins: Australia are going to tap and go, again declining the three points.
80+4 mins: Australia secure the 5m lineout on the left. The maul forms. Argentina resist then Paenga-Amosa and Ikitau both hit the line hard. There’s a penalty advantage as Argentina dive in off their feet. Ikitau and Kellaway come again, then O’Connor tries to loop a pass over to the right wing but it comes off hands and play returns to the original infringement.
80+2 mins: The scrum holds – just – and Australia spread to the left. McDermott marshals a series of one-out drives and earns a penalty advantage, Sua’ali’i splinters to the right and reaches the 22. Play returns infield but the penalty is called and Australia have a massive decision – do they accept the draw, or go for the win? They kick to the corner!
80 mins: O’Connor’s short restart is perfect and forces an Argentinian knock-on. One attacking drive remaining for the Wallabies to force a result.
PENALTY! Australia 21-24 Argentina (Mallia, 79)
With one minute on the clock, the fullback strokes Argentina into the lead!
78 mins: This is a massive moment in the match. 35m out, 15m in from the right touch. The penalty against Tizzano for not rolling away, slowing down Argentina’s ball.
77 mins: Australia box kick to halfway. Carreras takes it superbly and the Pumas get into their running again. They go to the right, recycle to the left. The interchange forwards are industrious, hitting the gainline. Mallia spots a gap and almost wriggles through – and he earns a penalty advantage in kickable range!
76 mins: It’s been all Australia this half but Argentina are now gifted a scrum free-kick to allow them to establish some territory.
75 mins: Gah! 40m out, Australia attack off the back of the scrum but McDermott and Ikitau don’t connect with timing and the runner spills possession in contact.
74 mins: Argentina maul off their lineout just inside their own half. The ball disappears under a mass of humanity with both sets of players waiting for the referee’s arm… it points Australia’s way!
73 mins: Argentina, now back to a full complement of defenders, hold their line resolutely under immense pressure. The Wallaby lineout on the left wing leads to a crisp drive infield but with the crossbar casting a shadow over the breakdown there’s an incorrect entry and the Pumas can kick clear.
71 mins: Scrum penalty to Australia. Kellaway takes it quickly – too quickly – and the rest of his backline is unsettled. Eventually O’Connor is late on his pass to Tizzano and the ball hits the grass. But the TMO is getting involved again. The referee blew his whistle twice to announce the initial free-kick, which is what confused Kellaway, and so play returns to the original infringement and Australia kick deep.
69 mins: Argentina are wilting late on here in Townsville. Kellaway’s bomb is fielded by Carreras but he coughs up possession in contact near halfway under pressure from Toole. The Pumas have two minutes remaining with just 14 men on the field.
67 mins: The Pumas get another reprieve with a scrum penalty, but they just kick possession back to their hosts.
65 mins: Argentina eat up some time at the scrum then try to milk the clock in midfield on Australia’s 22 but the Wallabies pounce on the breakdown and get lucky with a couple of ricochets to clear their lines. The Pumas come again, this time down the right, but a simple pass to Delguy is grasses with the winger blinded by the sun. Kellaway seizes the moment, chipping into the vacant corridor and gathering his own ball. The gold jerseys stream forward in support but the ball doesn’t come out cleanly and Argentina hold on.
CONVERTED TRY! Australia 21-21 Argentina (Sua’ali’i, 63)
Sua’ali’i has a second! From the set-piece the Wallabies expand from right to left. Jorgensen almost gets through the line but that honour instead falls to Sua’ali’i who crosses just to the left of the uprights. The O’Connor conversion is unmissable. What a turnaround this is in Townsville.
Yellow Card! (Mateo Carreras, 63)
With the penalty eventually called Mateo Carreras is sent to the bin for being the unlucky man at the end of a second spell of repeat offsides for Argentina this second-half.
63 mins: The Wallabies come again, spreading to the right then bedding in for repeat phases in the corner. The advantage is called as Wilson, Ikitau, and Paenga-Amosa all burrow into the blue wall.
61 mins: Australia win good lineout ball just inside Argentina’s half. O’Connor changes the direction of attack superbly, floating a long ball from inside back to the left touchline for Wilson. The skipper chips and chases – then charges down the clearing kick! HOw will it bobble? Argentina’s way – just – and Ovideo does well to avoid the dropout, just getting back into play.
59 mins: Another healthy delay as Australia’s scrum is set and reset. Eventually Australia cut left with Jorgensen, who feeds Sua’ali’i, but after hitting the line hard he’s too cute on the ground and his ambitious offload finds blue hands. The Pumas counter down the right but spill possession in tight. O’Connor spots an acre of space in behind Argentina’s defence and kicks long – but it’s agonisingly one roll too long and the Pumas can take play all the way downfield.
Or not. The TMO has spotted something behind play against Chocobares, God knows how many phases ago, and Australia are gifted a penalty.
And now there’s another drinks break.
Rugby.
56 mins: The left-winger Carreras has had enough and goes for a run, but with Argentina enjoying go-forward the ball is tossed horribly forward by Petti and the move breaks down. The Pumas have threatened to rip this game open in the past ten minutes or so without quite hitting their marks.
Australia have nearly emptied their bench already, including O’Connor, in a bid to get back into this match.
55 mins: A rare minute of duelling kicks. How novel.
54 mins: From a lineout on the right wing near halfway Argentina are soon bursting down the left following another demonstration of their crisp catch-and-pass running rugby. The chip ahead becomes a second kick but McDermott does well on the ground as the last line of defence. The Pumas aren’t finished though and Carreras snipes through from five-eighth – but there’s an obstruction and the Wallabies can breathe a sigh of relief.
52 mins: Argentina are committed to their running game this afternoon, and led by winger Mateo Carreras they beat Australia’s first line of defence again. They look for repeat offloads in the middle of the park but there’s one too many as Bell snaffles a simple interception and lower the tempo of the contest.
50 mins: Australia miss their kick for touch so Argentina go back to their running game to eat up metres. They cross the 22 at speed but as they cut to the left they run out of room and the Wallabies bundle the ball carrier into touch. The lineout is secure, Jorgensen gains valuable metres and the clearing kick takes both teams back to halfway.
CONVERTED TRY! Australia 14-21 Argentina (Sua’ali’i, 47)
This second attack lacks the same incision and White is forced to box kick – but Toole’s aggression turns it into a promising bomb and then both teams commit a mass of bodies to the breakdown with the ball in dispute. Argentina then commit one, then two, then three advantage penalties at the breakdown! The Wallabies won’t be budged though and grind away for precious metres until Ikitau makes the difference, standing up his opposite number and drawing in a second defender before popping out a superb offload for Sua’ali’i on the burst to bullock over!
Lynagh adds the simple extras and Australia are back into this contest.
46 mins: Australia gather the dropout on the left and Valetini sets up a powerful drive. They go through phases infield then spot some room on the right and go through hands. The passing isn’t crisp though and momentum stalls so by the time it reaches Jorgensen he’s forced to kick again. Which he does to perfection, forcing another dropout!
44 mins: The first lineout steal of the day goes Argentina’s way! On halfway they secure possession and accept a series of slow phases until expandin to the left – where Sua’ali’i monsters Cinti, ripping the ball from his grasp. The ball is passed back to Jorgensen who kicks an inch-perfect ball in behind the Argentina defence that is touched down for a dropout. That was superb vision.
42 mins: Lynagh doesn’t find touch with his cleaing kick following the restart so Argentina hurl themselves at the gold line down the right wing. The ball is recycled nicely to the left touchline before the phases slow and move infield. The Wallabies defend solidly as the Pumas grind and earn a penalty as two Argentines cross paths and commit an obstruction.
The teams are back out for the second half. It remains warm in Townsville but the shadows from the stands now cover more of the playing surface, cooling the playing conditions.
Joe Schmidt has his players surrounding him in a ring as he delivers an unusually collective half-time address. Presumably he’s telling his charges to focus on the breakdown and remedy the 8-3 penalty count against his side.
That was very old-Australia areas: poor discipline at the breakdown, avoidable handling errors, and a lack of go-forward up front. These are very evenly-matched sides and the gap currently stands at two spilled balls punished by decisive set-piece running rugby.
Argentina’s front foot defence has been superb, as has their decision-making off the back of the scrum. The first try, to the right corner, showed beautiful timing between 9 and 12, then the second, to the left, was all about confidence and freedom of expression through multiple pairs of hands.
Half-time: Australia 7-21 Argentina
After a stop-start half full of errors, penalties, and reset scrums, it’s Argentina who head to the air conditioned changing rooms with a healthy 14-point advantage.
40 mins: That decision turns out to be a dreadful one as Argentina are penalised as the scrum is being set and Australia kick to touch to bring a chastening half to its conclusion.
39 mins: Australia do well to slow the ball down on halfway but the box kick lands in blue hands and White is penalised on the ground in kickable range. Carreras dribbles a kick through the line that Kellaway does well to gather but Argentina are then quickest to the ruck. Instead of the three-point penalty the Pumas accept a 5m scrum deep in the left corner.
37 mins: Again Australia go to their backs and make good ground until Kellaway kicks straight to his direct opponent. The Pumas regain possession, the Wallabies are offside, and Argentina are back on attack.
PENALTY! Australia 7-21 Argentina (Carreras, 36)
From just to the right of the posts 30m out Carreras continues his excellent half with the boot.
33 mins: Australia are shellshocked. Kellaway and Lynagh try to run their way out of defence and get it all wrong. Eventually the latter is mauled at the breakdown and Carreras has another golden opportunity to extend Argentina’s lead.
