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Argentina crushes the Wallabies 48-17 in the Rugby Championship at the Estadio Bicentenario in San Juan

Argentina crushes the Wallabies 48-17 in the Rugby Championship at the Estadio Bicentenario in San Juan

The Pumas get revenge for last week’s Rugby Championship loss to the Wallabies, thrashing Australia in San Juan.

Look back at the action in our blog.

live updates

By Simon Smale

Dave Rennie: ‘We’re better than that’

Dave Rennie is speaking to Stan Sport.

“Massive disappointment,” he says.

“It’s not good enough.

“We conceded four tries with kicks in behind us and certainly got dominated in the collision area.

“We created opportunities but we’ve got to be patient our ruck is not a disaster and we just weren’t clinical enough.”

He says that the Wallabies lacked cohesion in the match and looked desperately frustrated, adding “We’re better than that.”.

“We want to earn the respect of the country and you’re never going to do that with performances like that.”

By Simon Smale

James Slipper: Wallabies ‘Probably fell short of standards’

Here’s the skipper, James Slipper.

“Clearly disappointed,” he says.

“Off the back of a good performance last week we wanted to back it up.

“Probably fell short of today’s standards.”

He says that the Argentinans were just the better team on the day.

“They got the momentum and the crowd behind them and they’re a tough team to play catch up football against,” he says.

With all teams sitting on one win each, Slipper says the Rugby Championship is even poised, but the Wallabies are excited to get home.

“I think we’re excited to get home. It’s been a really tough tour for us.”

By Simon Smale

Key Event

Argentina beat Wallabies 48-17

Wow, what a stunning result and a brutal scoreline for the Wallabies to stomach.

The Wallabies were tactically outclassed by former coach Michael Chieka and there’s no hiding it.

The Argentinians kicking out of hand was better, the breakdown was better and they capitalized on the big moments better than the Wallabies.

It’s the biggest ever win by Argentina over Australia.

By Simon Smale

Key Event

80+2′ What a try Argentina!

Oh that’s magnificent from both Tomas Cubelli and try-scorer Tomas Albornoz.

Cubelli took the ball off the back of the scrum and darted through a gap, chipping ahead and that allowed Albornoz to collect and score.

The kick is successful and it’s 48-17!

By Simon Smale

Man of the Match: Thomas Gallo

The player of the match has just been announced to a raucous ovation.

It’s the Argentina prop, Thomas Gallo off the back of his two-try performance.

By Simon Smale

Key Event

78′ Try Argentina!

Lovely try to seal the win from Emiliano Boffelli!

The Wallabies lost the ball at a ruck and then Lucio Cinti put boot to ball, rolling it in behind and Boffelli ran around Markia Koroibete to dot down the bobbling in the corner.

The kicking game has been superior all day, the Wallabies have been punished for mistakes, and that’s the game in a microcosm.

By Simon Smale

77′ Wallabies scrum

Argentina were pushing for another score but lost the ball forward thanks to some solid Wallabies defense on their right edge.

By Simon Smale

74′ Penalty Argentina

Reece Hodge is on and his first involvement is to tackle an Argentinian in the air from another up and under contestable kick.

Argentina put a couple more phases together but we’ll come back for that infringement on half way.

They’ll kick for the corner and have a lineout on the 22.

By Simon Smale

72′ Penalty Argentina

The Wallabies were on the charge, looking to build some phases but Ikitau threw the ball over the line while being tackled and it will be an Argentina line out.

Nope, it will be a penalty, Tate McDermott pinged for a push off the ball as frustrations boil over.

By Simon Smale

69′ Argentina penalty!

Oh the Wallabies can’t keep their discipline!

The ruling is that the Wallabies did not release the ball in the tackle and the hosts get a relieving penalty.

By Simon Smale

67′ 50:22 from Tait McDermott!

Oh that will help the cause!

What a kick from the Queensland scrumhalf!

If the Wallabies score from here, a lineout on the five meters, then things could get very interesting!

By Simon Smale

Key Event

65′ Try Wallabies!

Len Ikitau dives over after being tackled – he popped back to his feet and strolled over the line unapposed.

So that’s the application from the referee just as with the previous try.

Funny, the commentators aren’t nearly as unhappy with that decision…

Can the Wallabies launch a comeback?

By Simon Smale

64′ Wallabies subs

I haven’t mentioned every sub, but Billy Pollard is on. Great story there, the Brumbies hooker has had a hell of a journey to get to Argentina on time and he comes on to make his Test debut.

By Simon Smale

Key Event

64′ Try Argentina!

11 phases of precise and incisive play by the Argentinians get the reward it deserves.

Thomas Gallo looked like he was tackled short, perhaps the referee said he hadn’t been held, but he got up and dove over the line…

Hmmm, not sure about that on replay, but the officials were happy.

There were two penalties in the move through against Fraser McReight we heard the referee say, adding that the Reds man going to be sent to the bin.

The conversion is good and the lead is now 26, Argentina 36-10 ahead.

By Simon Smale

62′ Penalty Argentina

The Wallabies are really struggling to beat this blue and white defensive line, being forced to kick deep while the Argentinians have time to kick high and contest

Rob Valentini closed the gap that Juan Cruz Mallia tried to run into, and gives away the penalty by blocking him.

Again, the commentators seem to think that Valentini didn’t close that gap, but I don’t think they’re quite right. He didn’t do much, admittedly, but he did close out that lane for him to run in to.

Argentina kick deep for a lineout.

By Simon Smale

58′ Knock on Argentina

Oh the Wallabies get away with one there.

Argentina were flooding forward again, Matias Moroni with a decent run initially.

There was an intercept thrown to Petaia, who almost apologetically gave it straight back to the Argentinians.

Taniela Tupou put a thumping tackle in the midfield that barely interrupted the Pumas’ mometum.

A chip in behind isolated James O’Connor and the Argentinans counterrucked to win the turnover, but then knocked the ball on five meters out from the Wallabies line.

By Simon Smale

55′ Penalty Argentina

The Wallabies are caught offside as Argentina flood forward with some nice passing plays.

The hosts are swarming all over the breakdown to create that quick ball which resulted in the offside penalty.

The penalty is just inside the Wallabies half, but they’ll kick for touch this time.

By Simon Smale

Key Event

53′ Penalty goal Argentina!

The Argentinians kicked deep straight away off the lineout after seeing a big gap in behind.

The Wallabies get back through Tom Wright but as he runs the ball back he gets isolated.

The kick from the ten-meter line is good from Emiliano Boffelli and the gap is out to 19 points, 29-10.

By Simon Smale

52′ Wallabies turn the ball over

Some good ball movement right and left from the Wallabies but then a pass out the back goes behind and it will be out for a lineout, that Argentina takes quickly.

By Simon Smale

50′ Penalty Argentina

Gee, the last couple of scrums have been all over the place.

That one moved sideways at a rate of knots before Taniela Tupou was pinged.

They kick up towards halfway.

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Sports

Newcastle Knights hold off Wests Tigers 14-10, North Queensland Cowboys defeat Canterbury Bulldogs 28-14

A Wests Tigers NRL player carries the ball as he is tackled by a Newcastle Knights opponent.

Newcastle has alleviated pressure on under-fire coach Adam O’Brien, holding on for their first victory in more than a month with a 14-10 win over Wests Tigers.

In Sunday’s earlier match, North Queensland consolidated second place on the ladder with a 28-14 win victory over Canterbury in Bundaberg.

After leading 14-0 at halftime, the Knights were forced to protect a two-point lead through a nervous final 16 minutes at Campbelltown Sports Stadium.

They did it without David Klemmer, who remained sidelined following last week’s controversial incident involving a Newcastle trainer.

The victory marked their first since round 16, while it was just the club’s third success since April.

And it came after a week where pressure had intensified on O’Brien as the embattled club dealt with the fallout from the Klemmer drama, the Knights’ poor form and the coach’s post-match press conference after their loss to Canterbury

But it did not come easy.

After keeping their 14-point lead through to the 53rd minute, the Knights cracked when Dominic Young failed to take an Adam Doueihi bomb and Brent Naden collected it on the bounce to score

With 17 minutes to play it was 14-10 when Jock Madden put on a nice long ball to send Asu Kepaoa over, as the Tigers enjoyed the majority of the play on the Knights’ line.

With 30 seconds left the Tigers received a set restart for a ruck infringement on the last tackle of the set, giving them four more plays to try to snatch the game.

One play was wasted when Jock Madden opted not to pass, Fa’amanu Brown ran another straight out of dummy-half and Daine Laurie dropped the final chance on the siren to end the match.

Realistically, it summed up a frustrating afternoon for the Tigers.

After pushing North Queensland a fortnight ago and beating Brisbane last week, the joint-venture club was back to looking like the team that sits 15th on the ladder.

The Tigers missed 39 tackles and their only linebreaks came in Kepaoa’s try and from Kelma Tualagi in the last minute to put them on the attack.

They were also clearly beaten out of the blocks, as Enari Tuala bagged a double on the left wing courtesy of a Jake Clifford grubberkick and pass

Tex Hoy also brushed Adam Doueihi aside for another first-half try, creating something out of nothing to help set up a 14-0 halftime lead.

Still, the result would have come as a serious relief for O’Brien as the Knights kicked clear of the wooden-spoon battle and left the Tigers still dueling it out with Gold Coast.

Cowboys continue charge

North Queensland have consolidated their push towards a top-two NRL finish with a grinding 28-14 win over Canterbury in Bundaberg.

The Bulldogs, chasing a third straight win under interim coach Mick Potter, tested the second-placed Cowboys for nearly the duration of the contest before running out of gas on a warm day in sub-tropical Queensland.

Luciano Leilua's hair flies around as he palms off an opponent while running with the ball
The Cowboys burst away from the Bulldogs in the second half.(Getty Images: Albert Perez)

They led 14-12 when Jacob Kiraz soared above Scott Drinkwater to set up Kyle Flanagan early in the second half, firing back after Valentine Holmes kicked a penalty goal to edge them in front, but North Queensland’s forwards then came to the fore.

Powering through the middle with the wind at their backs, Jason Taumalolo, Luciano Leilua and Reuben Cotter sucked two, three and sometimes four tacklers into the ruck to open up space for their edges.

Leilua was the first to benefit on the left edge with 63 minutes played as he charged through three tacklers and scored his first try in Cowboys colours.

Reece Robson zipped out of the ruck in the 69th minute after Cotter’s barnstorming run for Drinkwater to cross.

Drinkwater then completed a second double in consecutive weeks, with the Bulldogs’ goal line defense opening up for the fullback to score the Cowboys’ third in 10 minutes.

While Drinkwater was in stellar form again it was Todd Payten’s interchange forwards who did the damage, with Cotter and Leilua running for 160 and 132 meters respectively and Griffin Neame scoring their first.

They ran away with the result late on but Sunday’s contest didn’t start easily for the Cowboys.

Holmes put the kick-off to start the match out on the full, and Canterbury’s first attacking set was a success when Matt Burton grubbered at Josh Addo-Carr, who gathered ahead of a hesitant Peta Hiku to open their account.

The Bulldogs then defended their line valiantly as North Queensland peppered their edges with 60 per cent possession through 15 minutes.

Taumalolo’s error in contact then gifted the Bulldogs another attacking set, and this time from a middle scrum Burton got on the outside shoulder of Hiku to score their second in 20 minutes.

But an Addo-Carr penalty and some weak middle defense got the Cowboys rolling and Neame cracked Canterbury’s defenses in the 30th minute.

He charged on to a quick play-the-ball for his second try in as many weeks before his side struck again when Chad Townsend and Leilua combined for the former to score his first try of the season.

North Queensland enjoyed the better territory, possession and run meters all with the wind in their face in the opening half. They attempted a field goal to take a slender lead into the sheds but Townsend missed to the left, leaving it 10-all at the break.

AAP/ABC

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