The Wallabies opened their four-Test 2002 November tour with a scrappy win over Argentina at the River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires, winning 17-6 after leading by 14-6 at the break.
It was far from a good performance from the world champions, and had it not been for dreadful goal kicking by Pumas flyhalf Felipe Contepomi -- who missed seven penalties out of nine attempts at goal -- the Wallabies would have started their tour on a very sour note.
While Contepomi had a nightmare at flyhalf for the home side, his opposite number, Stephen Larkham, kept the Wallabies going forward with superb tactical kicking.
Larkham did not run with the ball much, but the one tume he did, he set up left-wing Stirling Mortlock's try -- the only five-pointer of the game -- just before the break.
Outside centre Matt Burke added three first-half penalties for the Wallabies.
During the same time Contepomi missed five kicks at goal. Had he been successful, the Pumas could have led by 21-14 at half-time.
From an Australian point of view, two of the few highlights of the game were Test debuts for hooker Adam Freier and openside flanker David Croft, who both earned their first caps from the bench.
Winger Wendell Sailor made his appearance early in the game, when Ben Tune limped off with what looked like a hamstring injury.
It was not a pretty match, and the two cards handed out by referee Kelvin Deaker in injury-time -- to Mortlock and Pumas lock Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe -- proved just that. Both teams got stuck into each other regularly.
The Pumas' handling was also not up to standard, and the game did not come close to last year's Test in Argentina, when the All Blacks managed to beat the home team by 24-20 in the final minute.
The Wallabies now jet off to Europe, with their next Test against Ireland in Dublin. They will have to improve considerably, or the third tour match, against England at Twickenham, can end in defeat.
The teams:
Australia: 1 Patricio Noriega, 2 Jeremy Paul, 3 Bill Young, 4 Justin Harrison, 5 Daniel Vickerman, 6 Matt Cockbain, 7 George Smith, 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 George Gregan (c), 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Stirling Mortlock, 12 Matthew Burke, 13 Dan Herbert, 14 Ben Tune, 15 Mat Rogers
Reserves: Elton Flatley, David Giffin, Wendell Sailor, Chris Whitaker, David Croft, Ben Darwin, Adam Freier
Argentina: 1 Omar Hasan Jalil, 2 Federico Mendez, 3 Mauricio Reggiardo, 4 Rimas Alvarez Kairelis, 5 Ignacio Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Rolando Martin, 7 Santiago Phelan, 8 Gonzalo Longo Elia, 9 Agustin Pichot, 10 Felipe Contepomi, 11 Diego Albanese, 12 Lisandro Arbizu (c), 13 Jose Orengo, 14 Jose Nunez Piossek, 15 Ignacio Corleto
Reserves: Martin Durand, Roberto Grau, Mario Ledesma Arocena
Unused: Gonzalo Camardon, Nicolas Fernandez Miranda, Juan Fernandez Miranda, Pedro Sporleder
Attendance: 65000
Referee: Deaker k.
Points Scorers:
Australia
Tries: Mortlock S.A. 1
Pen K.: Burke M.C. 3, Flatley E.J. 1
Argentina
Pen K.: Contepomi F. 2
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