Springboks exact revenge over Argentina in thumping victory to seal Rugby Championship title in style

The Springboks claimed their first Rugby Championship title since 2019 after they comfortably overcame Argentina 48-7 at Mbombela Stadium on Saturday evening.

Victory helps exact revenge over Los Pumas following the shock 29-28 reversal at Santiago del Estero last weekend and it was a determined and well-deserved result.

Tries from Aphelele Fassi (2), Pieter-Steph du Toit (2), Cheslin Kolbe, Malcolm Marx and Jesse Kriel helped the Springboks to a maximum haul in a dominant effort in Nelspruit.

The five-point success sees Rassie Erasmus’ outfit pick up the Rugby Championship silverware with an eight-point buffer from the All Blacks, who finished in second spot.

The silverware was a fitting present for Eben Etzebeth on the day he became South Africa’s most-capped player after he surpassed the great Victor Matfield’s 127 mark.

It was the perfect start from a fired-up Bok outfit as they looked to make a statement following that Round Five defeat and they more than made an impressive opening.

Sustained pressure on Los Pumas’ line that included several scrum penalties was eventually rewarded when Fassi crashed over off a smart Manie Libbok pass.  The conversion was successful from scrum-half Jaden Hendrikse, who was handed the kicking duties over his fly-half following that costly late missed penalty last week.

The advantage was doubled on 15 minutes when a quarterback-esque sneak from Du Toit saw him ground, despite the best efforts of form Pumas fly-half Tomos Albornoz.

Argentina desperately needed a response in front of the vocal home supporters and they got it on 20 minutes when Albornoz raced under the posts after a lovely set play.

However, the visitors’ joy was shortlived when an offside from a kick ahead resulted in Hendrikse knocking over a simple penalty goal that made it a 17-7 cushion for the Boks.

Felipe Contepomi’s team were also further setbacks soon after when star inside centre Santiago Chocobares was withdrawn from the action on 26 minutes following a knee injury before wing Mateo Carreras was yellow carded for taking out Fassi in the air.

South Africa would make their numerical advantage pay as tries before the break from lethal duo Fassi and Kolbe made it a 27-7 gap which was a fair reflection of the first 40.

The second period took a while to find its flow and the scoreline reflected it, with no change on the board until the 69th minute as both teams struggled to find their mojo.

Argentina’s woes were compounded 15 minutes prior to that, however, when Pablo Matera was yellow-carded for head contact at a ruck.  It was later upgraded to red.

There was worse to come too for Los Pumas as Santiago Carreras was yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-on when attempting an intercept and the Boks duly feasted.

A maul try from replacement Marx was followed up by Du Toit crashing over and the icing on the cake saw Kriel claim a late score as the celebrations could finally begin.

The teams

South Africa:  15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements:  16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Kwagga Smith, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Handre Pollard, 23 Lukhanyo Am

Argentina:  15 Santiago Carreras, 14 Rodrigo Isgro, 13 Matais Moroni, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Gonzalo Garcia, 8 Joaquin Oviedo, 7 Santiago Grondona, 6 Juan Martín Gonzalez, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 4 Pedro Rubiolo, 3 Joel Sclavi, 2 Julian Montoya, 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements:  16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Ignacio Calles, 18 Pedro Delgado, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Pablo Matera, 21 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 22 Lucio Cinti, 23 Juan Cruz Mallia

Referee:  Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees:  James Doleman (New Zealand), Craig Evans (Wales)
TMO:  Glenn Newman (New Zealand)

All Blacks finally end winless Wellington run and ease final quarter woes with an impressive victory over Wallabies

The All Blacks finished their Rugby Championship campaign in style when they clinched a deserved 33-13 victory against the Wallabies in Wellington on Saturday.

The home side were full value for their win as they dominated for long periods and eventually outscored the Wallabies by five tries to one, with Caleb Clarke leading the way with a brace.

Sevu Reece, Will Jordan and Tamaiti Willians also crossed the whitewash while Beauden Barrett succeeded with four conversions.

For the Wallabies, Fraser McReight scored a try and Noah Lolesio added a conversion and two three-pointers off the kicking tee.

It was a momentous result for New Zealand as they ended a five-match winless run in Wellington ― stretching back to 2018 and they also scored points for the first time during the final quarter of a match in this year’s Rugby Championship.

The Wallabies made a fine start and had a great opportunity to open the scoring as early as the third minute when Andrew Kellaway caught the All Blacks’ defence napping.

He launched an attack from just inside New Zealand’s half before booting the ball ahead inside their 22.  Barrett failed to deal with the bouncing ball and Jake Gordon pounced but knocked on while trying to dot down.

Australia continued to attack inside New Zealand’s 22 and five minutes later they were rewarded when McReight barged over for the opening try from close quarters.

The All Blacks seemed shell-shocked by the intensity of the Wallabies’ onslaught as they continued to launch several attacks, but the home side did well to soak up that early pressure and soon opened their account.

In the 16th minute, Wallace Sititi launched an attack close to the halfway line and did brilliantly to draw in three defenders before offloading to Anton Lienert-Brown, who set off towards the Wallabies’ try-line.  He still had plenty of work to do and found Reece with a beautifully weighted skip pass and the wing outpaced the cover defence on his way over the try-line.

Lolesio responded with a penalty soon after, before Jordan left his stamp on the match with a moment of magic.  This, after he gathered a pass from Barrett just outside Australia’s 22 and the full-back did brilliantly to step past two defenders before racing away to score his try.

Despite that score, the Wallabies remained competitive and McReight came close to scoring his second try in the latter stages of the half but was held up while crossing the whitewash.

The visitors continued to attack inside New Zealand’s 22 and Lolesio eventually added another penalty in the 35th minute after New Zealand were blown up for offside play on defence.

Despite that score, the All Blacks had one more trick up their sleeve as just before half-time they launched a flowing attack deep inside Wallabies’ territory.  Lienert-Brown turned provider again as he found Clarke with a deft offload and the flyer sliced through the visitors’ defence before scoring his first try.

Barrett added the extras which meant the match was still evenly poised with the home side leading 19-13 at the interval.

A win in Wellington 😎#AllBlacks pic.twitter.com/ihYHlLPQ8m

― All Blacks (@AllBlacks) September 28, 2024

Both sides stayed true to their attacking roots during the rest of the match, although the home side came out firing after the restart and were soon camped inside the Wallabies’ half.

And after taking the ball through several phases off the back of a lineout close to Australia’s try-line, Williams crashed over for their fourth try to extend his side’s lead.

The All Blacks continued to dominate as the half progressed and had a try from Tupou Vaa’i disallowed, five minutes later, after a handling error in the build-up.

That setback did not deter the hosts and in the 65th minute, Clarke ran onto a pass from Damian McKenzie and shrugged off two defenders before crashing over for his second five-pointer.

That score knocked the wind out of the Wallabies’ sails and secured the result for the All Blacks and, in doing so, they also ended their six-year hoodoo in Wellington.

The teams

New Zealand:  15 Will Jordan, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Anton Lienert-Brown, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9  TJ Perenara, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Wallace Sititi, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Scott Barrett (c), 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot
Replacements:  16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Tamaiti Williams, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Luke Jacobson, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Damian McKenzie, 23 David Havili

Australia:  15 Tom Wright, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Dylan Pietsch, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Harry Wilson (c), 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Jeremy Williams, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Matt Faessler, 1 Angus Bell
Replacements:  16 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 17 Isaac Kailea, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 20 Langi Gleeson, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Ben Donaldson, 23 Josh Flook

Referee:  Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Assistant Referees:  Karl Dickson (England), Damian Schneider (Argentina)
TMO:  Eric Gauzins (France)

Los Pumas down shell-shocked Springboks in Santiago thriller to set up Rugby Championship title decider

Argentina have now beaten all three Rugby Championship opponents after they triumphed over the Springboks 29-28 in Santiago.

The hosts scored four tries on the day with Mateo Carreras, Pablo Matera, Joel Sclavi and Tomas Albornoz scoring with the fly-half also kicking three conversions and a penalty in an epic shift.

Meanwhile, South Africa managed three tries in Santiago through Aphelele Fassi, Jesse Kriel and Cobus Reinach with Handre Pollard kicking two penalties and two conversions.  Manie Libbok also kicked a penalty.

The Springboks were very fast out of the gates with Fassi scoring in just the third minute thanks to a lovely Pollard pass with the fly-half adding the extras as he would four minutes after that when Kriel cantered through giving the visitors a dream start.

Looking to compound the pressure, the Springboks kicked a penalty through Pollard in the 12th minute to take a commanding lead early with the world champions expecting to pull away but that was not the case.

Los Pumas burst into life and played Carreras in down the left hand side for the first try from the hosts in the 14th minute as Albornoz got his kick.  Argentina would exploit the same side with Kurt-Lee Arendse in the sin bin seven minutes later this time Matera crossing the white whitewash for a converted try.

The onslaught did not stop there as Sclavi (26”) and Albornoz (34”) both scored tries, one of which was converted, to suddenly shoot Los Pumas into a strong position.  The Springboks needed to stop the bleeding and Reinach showed his awareness and experience to score in the corner from a quick tap taking the sides into half-time after Pollard missed the conversions.

The second-half would not follow the same rate of scoring although Pollard did kick a penalty in the 43rd minute and Libbok in the 50th minute as the Springboks looked to slow the game down and take control.

The visitor’s control of the game did improve but not enough to make further difference on the scoreboard opening the door for Albornoz to kick the decisive penalty in the 68th minute.

The last minutes were filled with nerves as Libbok had a chance to win in from the tee in the dying minutes but he pulled his kick handing Los Pumas a famous victory in Santiago.

This sets up a massive battle in Nelspruit next weekend where the same side will slug it out for the Rugby Championship title.

Teams

Argentina:  15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Joaquin Oviedo, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Franco Molina, 3 Joel Sclavi, 2 Julian Montoya, 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements:  16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Ignacio Calles, 18 Pedro Delgado, 19 Gudio Petti, 20 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 21 Gonzalo Garcia, 22 Santiago Carreras, 23 Matias Moroni

South Africa:  15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Lukhanyo Am, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Salmaan Moerat (c), 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements:  16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Jaden Hendrikse, 23 Manie Libbok

60-minute All Blacks survive second-half Wallabies scare to retain the Bledisloe Cup in Sydney thriller

The All Blacks retain the Bledisloe Cup despite a nervous last 20 minutes in their 28-31 win over the Wallabies in Sydney on Saturday.

Both sides scored four tries a piece with the hosts going over the whitewash with Fraser McReight, Matt Faessler, Hunter Paisami and Tom Wright with Noah Lolesio kicking all the conversions in a flawless day from the tee.

The All Blacks’ points came from Will Jordan, Rieko Ioane, Caleb Clarke and Ardie Savea tries as Damian McKenzie kicked four conversions and a very important penalty that proved decisive.

It was the All Blacks who flew out of the blocks early with Jordan making the most of his late switch to full-back after Beauden Barrett’s withdrawal by finding a pocket of space and showing his acceleration to score in just the second minute.  Mckenzie was on hand to kick his first conversion of the day.

The visitors did not let up as they looked to double down on their fast start finding plenty of space down the left side to set up Ioane for yet another Bledisloe Cup try in the ninth minute as fly-half McKenzie had no issue with the kick.

Unfortunately for the Wallabies two tries became three in the first 15 minutes as Clarke barged his way through two defenders to cross the whitewash for yet another converted try.  However, this time the hosts responded with a brilliant set move off a line-out that had McReight in space after a series of lovely passes.  Lolesio would add the extras.

It would always be difficult to keep the All Blacks out again who got rewarded for their defensive pressure as Sevu Reece picked a loose ball to play in Savea who ran in under the sticks for a converted score becoming the highest try-scoring forward in All Blacks history in the process.

The hosts would have the final say of the first half as hooker Faessler timed his breakaway from a maul to perfection and Lolesio kicked a difficult conversion to keep the Wallabies in the contest.

New Zealand started the second period with some good pressure leading to a penalty for McKenzie in the 45th minute taking the All Blacks crucially out of the two-converted try difference.

The contest tightened up as the Wallabies grew into the game leading to a lull in scoring with the All Blacks scoring two disallowed tries before the hosts eventually crashed over for a converted try from Paisami with 15 minutes to go.

The Wallabies continued to push and finally got their reward with a 79th-minute converted try from full-back Wright once again converted by Lolesio.  This would take the hosts within three points of the All Blacks but it was not to be as New Zealand retained the Bledisloe Cup again.

Teams

Australia:  15 Tom Wright, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Nic White, 8 Harry Wilson (c), 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Jeremy Williams, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Matt Faessler, 1 Angus Bell
Replacements:  16 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 17 James Slipper, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 20 Langi Gleeson, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Tom Lynagh, 23 Dylan Pietsch

New Zealand:  15 Will Jordan, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Cortez Ratima, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Wallace Sititi, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Scott Barrett (c), 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot
Replacements:  16 Asafo Aumua, Tamaiti Williams, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Sam Darry, 20 Luke Jacobson, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Harry Plummer

Australia butcher 17-point lead as Julian Montoya’s milestone inspires Argentina to record win

Argentina captain Julian Montoya had a dream match in his 100th appearance for his country as Los Pumas took apart Australia 67-27 in Santa Fe which is the most points a team has scored against the Wallabies and the country’s biggest defeat.

Los Pumas managed nine tries on the day through hot-stepping wing Mateo Carreras, the milestone man Montoya, Juan Martin Gonzalez, Pablo Matera Joaquin Oviedo (2), Juan Cruz Mallia (2) and Lucio Cinti all crossing the whitewash.

Fly-half Tomas Albornoz was on point with the boot, kicking six conversions and two penalties.  Substitute Santiago Carreras also added two from his boot.

The Wallabies only managed three tries in the Santa Fe heat through Carlo Tizzano, Andrew Kellaway and Tate McDermott with Ben Donaldson kicking two penalties and two conversions.  Replacement Tom Lynagh also kicked a conversion.

It did not take long for the scoreboard to tick over as Albornoz nudged over a penalty after just four minutes.  This would be the hosts’ last points for nearly 30 minutes as Donaldson cancelled out the Argentine penalty with one for Australia after six minutes.

The Wallabies looked to double down on their momentum and did just that with the tireless Tizzano being rewarded with a converted score after 15 minutes.  Donaldson would add another penalty eight minutes later before Max Jorgensen expertly played in Kellaway for his try.

Almost as if it was a flick of a switch, Argentina burst into life scoring two tries through Carreras and skipper Montoya in the last 10 minutes of the first period.  The hosts would follow suit in the second half scoring three tries through Gonzalez, Matera and Joaquin Oviedo in the first 24 minutes of the half.  Albornoz nailed all of the conversions to give Argentina a strong lead.

Australia managed to scratch together their final try of the game with some quick thinking from McDermott powering him over with 11 minutes to go.  However, it would go severely downhill for the visitors as the floodgates well and truly opened with Mallia bagging a brace, Oviedo scoring his second and Cinti strolling overall in the final 10 minutes.

What started as a positive performance for Australia fell apart into a string of forgettable records for Joe Schmidt.

Teams

Argentina:  15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Bautista Delguy, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Gudio Petti, 3 Joel Sclavi, 2 Julian Montoya, 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements:  16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Joaquin Oviedo, 21 Santiago Grondona, 22 Gonzalo Garcia, 23 Santiago Carreras

Australia:  15 Andrew Kellaway, 14 Max Jorgensen, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hamish Stewart, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Ben Donaldson, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Harry Wilson (c), 7 Carlo Tizzano, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Jeremy Williams, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Matt Faessler, 1 Angus Bell
Replacements:  16 Josh Nasser, 17 James Slipper, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Josh Canham, 20 Langi Gleeson, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Tom Lynagh, 23 Josh Flook

Referee:  Pierre Brousset (FFR)
Assistant Referees:  Ben O’Keeffe (NZR), James Doleman (NZR)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (SARU)

Springboks claim epic double over All Blacks ending 15-year wait for Freedom Cup glory

The Springboks continued with their dominance in this year’s Rugby Championship as they clinched an 18-12 victory over the All Blacks in Cape Town on Saturday.

As the scoreline suggests, this was a hard-fought battle and momentum between the sides ebbed and flowed throughout but the Boks finished stronger and eventually outscored their visitors by two tries to none.

Siya Kolisi and Malcolm Marx crossed the whitewash for the world champions with Handre Pollard adding a conversion and a penalty while Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu also succeeded with a three-pointer off the kicking tee.

Damian McKenzie scored all of the All Blacks points courtesy of four penalties.  The win is a momentous one for the Boks as they take a giant step towards winning the Rugby Championship and it also means they win the Freedom Cup for the first time in 15 years.

It is also South Africa’s second successive triumph over New Zealand in the tournament and their fourth win in a row over their arch-rivals.

The opening exchanges were cagey with the two sides feeling each other out, although the home side had their tails up when they had the All Blacks back-pedalling at successive scrums inside the opening 10 minutes.

In the 15th minute, the Springboks were reduced to 14 men when Jasper Wiese received a yellow card for a cynical defensive foul deep inside his 22 and McKenzie slotted the resulting penalty to open the scoring.

New Zealand’s numerical advantage did not last long, however, as shortly afterwards Sevu Reece was also sent to the sin bin after he took Willie le Roux out in an aerial challenge.

The next 10 minutes was a slugfest characterised by several bone-crunching collisions with neither side taking a backward step in contact.

In the 29th minute, the visitors doubled their lead courtesy of another McKenzie three-pointer off the kicking tee after Grant Williams was blown up for going off his feet a ruck.

It wasn’t long before the Boks opened their account via a Pollard penalty after Ardie Savea infringed at the breakdown.

The closing stages of the opening stanza was a tense affair as the All Blacks were camped deep inside the Boks’ 22 and just before the interval McKenzie succeeded with another penalty ― after Ruan Nortje was penalised at a ruck ― which meant the visitors held a 9-3 lead at half-time.

The Boks make it four in a row against the All Blacks … and the Freedom Cup is coming home 🏆#Springboks #ForeverGreenForeverGold #RSAvNZL pic.twitter.com/Sau0OEd4zl

― Springboks (@Springboks) September 7, 2024

Soon after the restart, McKenzie lined up a 53-metre penalty ― after Damian de Allende held onto the ball on the ground ― but his effort fell just short of the cross-bar.

The Boks were soon on the attack inside the All Blacks’ 22 and after Marx and Ox Nche were stopped close to the try-line, Eben Etzebeth crossed the whitewash but his effort was disallowed as the TMO ruled that he dotted down short of the whitewash.

The home side did not panic though and after initially setting up a driving maul on New Zealand’s five-metre line, the ball was taken through some phases before Kolisi crossed for the opening five-pointer in the 50th minute with a hulking carry.

Pollard added the extras, which gave his team the lead for the first time, but he was replaced by Feinberg-Mngomezulu shortly afterwards and the rookie playmaker was soon into the action as he slotted a 40-metre penalty in the 53rd minute.

The tense nature of this encounter continued as the match progressed and in the 59th minute McKenzie added his fourth penalty which meant the match was on a knife’s edge as it entered its final quarter.

In the 61st minute, South Africa were forced to play with 14 men again when Le Roux was yellow carded, after knocking on a pass from Beauden Barrett to Sevu Reece, and McKenzie lined up a shot at goal but his kick struck an upright.

The Boks had a chance to extend their lead in the 67th minute when Feinberg-Mngomezulu attempted a penalty from the halfway line but despite having the distance, his effort was off target.

Five minutes later, the All Blacks had a chance to regain the lead when McKenzie lined up a penalty from 40 metres out but, like Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s earlier kick, his was also wide of the mark.

Things went pear-shaped for the All Blacks in the 72nd minute when referee Matthew Carley also sent Tyrel Lomax to the sin bin, after he took Cheslin Kolbe out off the ball with a shoulder charge.

That proved costly as the Boks put the resulting penalty into touch close to the All Blacks’ try-line and set up a lineout drive from which Marx went over for the match-winning score.

The teams

Springboks:  15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements:  16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Kwagga Smith, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Jaden Hendrikse, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Lukhanyo Am

All Blacks:  15 Will Jordan, 14 Sevu Reece, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Mark Tele’a, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Cortez Ratima, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Wallace Sititi, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Scott Barrett (c), 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Tamaiti Williams
Replacements:  16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Sam Darry, 20 Luke Jacobson, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Beauden Barrett

Referee:  Matthew Carley (RFU)
Assistant Referees:  Andrew Brace (IRFU), Jordan Way (RA)
TMO:  Ian Tempest (RFU)

Australia spoil Agustin Creevy’s farewell clinching a late win in La Plata arm-wrestle

Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies claimed their first win of the 2024 Rugby Championship with a narrow 19-20 triumph in La Plata.

The visitors scored two tries on the day through Jake Gordon and Rob Valetini while Noah Lolesio kicked two conversions and a penalty with Ben Donaldson kicking the winner late on.

Argentina, however, only managed one try through Juan Martin Gonzalez.  Most of their points came from Santiago Carreras’ boot with one conversion and three penalties.  The fly-half’s replacement Tomas Abornoz added a penalty of his own in the second half.

The start of the game saw the two sides looking to apply pressure and adapt to the wet conditions which saw Argentina draw first blood with Carreras’ first penalty in the 10th minute.

Los Pumas would extend their lead in a matter of a few moments with dynamic number eight Gonzalez crashing over for the team’s sole try in the 13th minute.  Carreras was on hand again to add the extras.

The Wallabies did well to keep themselves in the game and it paid off through a Gordon try in the 26th minute that was converted by Lolesio.  That would be all the points for Australia in the first half as Carreras kicked his second penalty six minutes before the break.

The second half started as the first ended with Carreras kicking a penalty, his third and final of the clash.  As they showed in the first 40 the Wallabies were not prepared to go anywhere and evergreen back-row Valetini crossed for a crucial score with Lolesio making no mistake from the tee.

The Test descended into an arm-wrestle as conditions worsened.  Lolesio would add three more points just before the hour mark which was responded to by a penalty from Albornoz.

It looked as if the hosts were going to close out the game but the Wallabies did well to get themselves upfield and secured the winning penalty from right in front through Donaldson to get off the mark in this year’s competition.

The teams

Argentina:  15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Franco Molina, 3 Joel Sclavi, 2 Julian Montoya, 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements:  16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Tomas Lavanini, 21 Joaquin Oviedo, 22 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 23 Tomas Albornoz

Wallabies:  15 Tom Wright, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hamish Stewart, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Harry Wilson (c), 7 Carlo Tizzano, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Matt Faessler, 1 Angus Bell
Replacements:  16 Josh Nasser, 17 Isaac Kailea, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Jeremy Williams, 20 Langi Gleeson, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Ben Donaldson, 23 Max Jorgensen

Referee:  James Doleman (NZR)
Assistant Referees:  Ben O’Keeffe (NZR), Pierre Brousset (FFR)
TMO:  Marius Jonker (SARU)