Wallabies v Pumas: Stats, lineups and everything you need to know
Wallabies attack coach Stephen Larkham believes the key to earning a first victory of the 2017 Rugby Championship against Argentina on Saturday is to stop thinking about winning.
Both sides come into this weekend’s meeting in Canberra without a success to their name, the Wallabies having drawn 23-23 with the Springboks following successive defeats to New Zealand, while the Pumas lost twice to the Springboks before they fell away in the final stages against the All Blacks last Saturday.
As a result, neither side retains a realistic chance of topping the table, but Larkham knows there is still plenty at stake as his men look to recover from letting slip a 10-point lead against South Africa last time out.
“We’d spoken about the last couple of games where we probably had an opportunity to win them and didn’t and maybe some guys were thinking about outcomes in the final few minutes of the game,” he said.
“We want to make sure that thought process is not in the players’ minds at all, so in our preparation leading into this game, it’s certainly not about the outcome it’s about the way we prepare and play on the day.
“We’re aware that we’re responsible for rugby in Australia in general to make sure we’re getting results but the best way to do that is not to think about the outcome but more the preparation and your performance in the moment.”
The Wallabies’ sole change to their starting XV sees Rob Simmons replace Rory Arnold at lock, while Argentina have made four alterations to the team that gave New Zealand a scare before going down 39-22.
Israel Folau retains his place for the hosts, at the end of a week which saw the full-back cause a stir on social media with a tweet expressing his refusal to support the gay marriage movement in Australia.
Who's excited for game day?! ????? #AUSvARG #TRC2017 pic.twitter.com/xhKfEx78JE
— Wallabies (@wallabies) September 14, 2017
Wallabies 21
Pumas: 5
Draw: 1
KEY PLAYERS
Bernard Foley (Australia): The Wallabies’ fly-half kicked a perfect five from five – a crucial contribution – in last week’s draw with the Springboks and he will need to be accurate from the tee once again if he is to capitalise on any Puma ill-discipline.
Emiliano Boffelli (Argentina): Moved from the wing to full-back for this test, Boffelli provides a double-pronged threat for the Pumas. He knocked over two monster penalties against New Zealand last weekend – one from well inside his own half – so Australia will have to be wary of transgressing from anywhere within 55 metres.
LINE-UPS
Wallabies: Israel Folau, Henry Speight, Tevita Kuridrani, Kurtley Beale, Reece Hodge, Bernard Foley, Will Genia; Scott Sio, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Sekope Kepu, Rob Simmons, Adam Coleman, Ned Hanigan, Michael Hooper (captain), Sean McMahon.
Pumas: Emiliano Boffelli, Matias Moroni, Matias Orlando, Jeronimo de la Fuente, Ramiro Moyano, Nicolas Sanchez, Martin Landajo; Lucas Noguera Paz, Agustin Creevy, Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, Guido Petti, Matias Alemanno, Pablo Matera, Javier Ortega Desio, Tomas Lezana.
PRE-MATCH TALK
Larkham on Beale: “He adds a very important link in our game, Bernard and Willy [Genia] are controlling everything in tight and KB’s the man who calls for the ball when it’s on out wide. We couldn’t be happier with the way that he’s performed so far.”
Argentina captain Creevy: “It’s always a good opportunity for us and I think we are qualified to play equal to Australia. There have been tight matches but we could never stay here with the win and I think this Saturday we are ready to leave everything to win.”
KEY STATS
– Australia have won 13 of their last 14 games against Argentina, including each of the last four meetings between the nations.
– Argentina have won only one of their six tests so far this year. The last time they finished a calendar year with a lower win rate was when they went winless from three games in 1976.
– The Wallabies have scored 73 per cent (8/11) of their tries on the opening phase of possession, the highest percentage of any team in the competition.
– Folau has made 32 carries for 351 metres this tournament, 97m more than any other player has managed.
– Creevy has already won five turnovers this tournament, the equal most of any player alongside Malcolm Marx, despite playing just 180 minutes.
Comments on RugbyPass
I’d say France was far more hard done by in the 2011 final than the All Blacks in this game. Joubert simply refused to call a penalty against the All Blacks in the last quarter even directing an All Black to drop a ball he picked up in an offside position rather than penalizing him. This article also totally discounts the efforts of PSTD. Ask Jordie how well he played. Or the backup flank who played hooker for the entire game. Siya was also a brilliant tackle by Richie from scoring a blinder. Pollard was also fantastic. Look I don’t like the boks style but the only thing more questionable than the content of this article is the timing of it. Get over it already
139 Go to commentsDad Marty was also a handy rugby player for Linwood back in the day. Great bloke. Sensational softball career.
2 Go to commentsWhat ifs are always dangerous. If you look at the game before Sam cane got sent of SA was dominating. You could make the argument the going down to 14 men rallied the troops and made them have to play to win which is always dangerous.
139 Go to commentsOmg… you are bruised And battered Benny. Stop crying … the scoreboard speaks. What a pathetic lover you are.. 🤣🤣🤣
139 Go to commentsPacific Lions, cry me a river
139 Go to commentsThis is the single worst piece of journalism I have ever seen since your last one. As a neutral, who really states that there should be an asterisk next to a win? You are an utter embarrassment to real AB fans, journalism and that joke of a house which pays you for this nonsense. Get a life, Ben.
139 Go to commentsGuys. Cancel the World Cup champions after this analysis. It changes everything. Ben knows. We’ll have to unengrave the Bokke off the trophy and hand it to the ABs, now that I’ve been enlightened about this illegitimate win. This needs to be done. Now!
139 Go to commentsBen is right here though, Springboks were woefully poor with the advantage they had throughout this game. The France match was heroic because that was an even contest this match had it taken place in Rugby Championship would have been an easy win for NZ. If anything this match should tell the Bok coaches that a lot of this team should be changed. They beat this same NZ team by record margin with the same circumstances but with a different core. They bring back the tried and tested guys and they nearly botch this game.
139 Go to commentsI knew who wrote this article from the first few words in the headline…lol. The red card actually did the ABs a favour. It galvanized them, only then did they step up a gear. Before that there was zero momentum.
139 Go to commentsFirstly the foul on Bongi was a planned move just like the NZ master plan with Bryce Lawrence you kiwis are filthy fux perhaps try to play a cleaner game next time I doubt that’s possible tho but don’t worry world rugby is on yr side they trying to take away all the BOKS strengths to help all you weakling as Jeremy Clarkson would say LA OO ZA ERR..🤣
139 Go to commentsAbsolutely spot on Ben. I certainly wouldn't gloat over a win like that. Frustrating as it is it's done and dusted and history will forever show the result.
139 Go to commentsHo hum.
139 Go to commentsNo question they were the better team. But that is the beauty of sport isn’t it!
139 Go to commentsEveryone is into Hurling in Ireland according to Porter, but only 11 of Ireland's 32 counties enter a team into the national competition. Same old blarney.
1 Go to commentsLet’s be honest. The draw and scheduling in the World Cup was a joke but South Africa found a way after having to go the hard (nearly impossible) way to the Cup Final via France and England. NZ had a hard game against France (lost) and had 5 weeks to prepare for the Quarter, 3 weeks knowing it was Ireland. NZ theerfore had to win one big game against an Irish team who played SA and then Scotland 7 days before. They won and it was de facto a semi final because they were playing a relatively weak Argentina team and it was a walk over. In the final a very rested NZ team was playing a very tired SA team and still lost. They couldn’t score more than 11 points. Put another way SA had to find a way to win while tired and they achieved that. NZ should thank their lucky stars that they fixed the scheduling in 2015 otherwise they would be dealing with a Bok treble.
139 Go to commentsPerhaps if Bongi wasn’t targeted and removed from the game in the first 3 minutes it would have been quite a different game. Maybe if NZ also faced the same competition the Boks faced to their win NZ would have looked quite different. The final score shows who outplayed who.
139 Go to commentsRubbish article! Abuladze played most of Exeters matches when fit. He got injured against Glasgow a while ago and is out for the rest of the season, thats why he hasnt played for Exeter and Georgia recently. Do some proper research next time!
1 Go to commentsGotta love it when kids throw their toys out the pram and can’t hack it with the grown ups debate. Here’s looking at you turlough! 😉🤣
148 Go to commentsThey lost the game period move on
139 Go to commentsSpringboks won! Stop winging. You can change the game however much you and your rugby colonizing IRB want to and the Springboks will win you at that too. Your mind is colonized my friend get a life
139 Go to comments