Argentina hosted Australia in the second match of the 2022 Rugby Championship in Mendoza, Argentina. It was a match of two halves where Argentina controlled the match and the scoreboard in the first half which saw them 19-10 in the lead at halftime. Australia, however, upped their game in the second half with a good comeback to beat Argentina 41-26.
Argentina started the match putting Australia under pressure in their quarter and was awarded with a converted try for their efforts. Australia responded by forcing Argentina to concede a penalty in their half which they kicked for 3 points. Thereafter the possession and territory changed hands with both teams using their scoring opportunities. Australia conceded a number of soft penalties which allowed Argentina to stay in the lead on the scoreboard. Australia managed to get more possession and created some attacking play, however, unforced errors and the Argentine defence prevented them from creating scoring opportunities. The dominant Argentine scrum also resulted in scrum penalties against Australia. The halftime score was 19-10 in favour of Argentina.
Australia started the second half with much better play. They launched a blitzkrieg attack on the Argentine try line and were awarded with a converted try. The possession and territory then again changed hands for a while until Argentina scored a brilliant try when they ran the ball from within their own quarter to stay in the lead. However, sustained pressure by Australia on the attack, resulted in a penalty try against Argentina in the 64th minute which put Australia in the lead for the first time in the match. A yellow card given against Argentina further opened the door for Australia to create more attacking opportunities from numerous penalties conceded by Argentina, which they converted into more points to beat Argentina 41-26.
05:54 Pablo Matera scored a try for Argentina which was converted by Emiliano Boffelli (07-00).
08:12 A penalty was given against Argentina in their quarter which was kicked by Quade Cooper (07-03).
10:26 A penalty was given against Australia in their half which was kicked by Emiliano Boffelli (10-03).
14:15 A penalty was given against Australia in their quarter which was kicked by Emiliano Boffelli (13-03).
17:10 Jordan Petaia scored a try for Australia after the ball was played wide from a strong driving maul close to the Argentine try line. The try was converted by Quade Cooper (13-10).
19:20 A penalty was given against Australia in their quarter which was kicked by Emiliano Boffelli (16-10).
20:00 Argentina started the match putting Australia under pressure in their quarter and was awarded with a converted try for their efforts. Australia responded by forcing Argentina to concede a penalty in their half which they kicked for 3 points. Thereafter the possession and territory changed hands with both teams using their scoring opportunities. Australia conceded a number of soft penalties which allowed Argentina to stay in the lead on the scoreboard.
39:10 A penalty was given against Australia in their quarter which was kicked by Emiliano Boffelli (19-10).
40:00 Australia managed to get more possession and created some attacking play, however, the Argentine defence and unforced errors prevented them from creating scoring opportunities. The dominant Argentine scrum also resulted in scrum penalties against Australia.
47:32 Fraser Mc Reight scored a try for Australia after a phase of good attacking play in the Argentine quarter. The try was converted by Reece Hodge (19-17).
54:57 Juan Martín González Samso scored a brilliant try for Argentina after they ran the ball from within their quarter with good interplay between the players that beat the Australian defence. The try was converted by Emiliano Boffelli (26-17).
60:00 Australia started the second half with much better play. They launched a blitzkrieg attack on the Argentine try line and were awarded with a converted try. The possession and territory then again changed hands for a while until Argentina scored a brilliant try when they ran the ball from within their own quarter to stay in the lead.
61:21 Australia was awarded a penalty try after repeated infringements by Argentina on their try line (26-24).
64:01 A penalty was given against Argentina in their half which was kicked by Reece Hodge taking Australia in the lead for the first time in the match (26-27).
64:45 A yellow card was given to Tomás Lavanini from Argentina.
69:41 Folau Fainga’a scored a try for Australia from a penalty lineout driving maul. The try was converted by Reece Hodge (26-34).
84:13 Len Ikitau scored a try for Australia after a long passage of broken play. The try was converted by Reece Hodge (26-41).
Scorers:
Argentina: Tries: Pablo Matera, Juan Martín González Samso. Conversions: Emiliano Boffelli. Penalties: Emiliano Boffelli (4).
Australia: Tries: Jordan Petaia, Fraser Mc Reight, Penalty Try, Folau Fainga’a, Len Ikitau. Conversions: Quade Cooper, Reece Hodge (3). Penalties: Quade Cooper, Reece Hodge
Teams:
Argentina: 15 Juan Cruz Mallía, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Tomas Cubelli, 8 Pablo Matera, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Juan Martín González Samso, 5 Tomás Lavanini, 4 Matías Alemanno, 3 Francisco Gómez Kodela, 2 Julian Montoya (c), 1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro. Replacements: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Thomas Gallo, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Santiago Grondona, 20 Rodrigo Bruni, 21 Lautaro Bazán Vélez, 22 Tomas Albornoz, 23 Matias Moroni.
Australia: 15 Tom Wright, 14 Jordan Petaia, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Nic White, 8 Rob Valetini, 7 Fraser Mc Reight, 6 Jed Holloway, 5 Matt Philip, 4 Darcy Swain, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Folau Fainga’a, 1 James Slipper. Replacements: 16 Lachlan Lonergan, 17 Matt Gibbon, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Nick Frost, 20 Rob Leota, 21 Pete Samu, 22 Jake Gordon, 23 Reece Hodge.
Article by Francois du Toit
