Los Pumas stay alive with record rout of Wallabies

MATCH REPORT: Argentina stayed alive in the Rugby Championship with a record, 67-27, rout of Australia in Santa Fe on Saturday.

Trailing 3-20 on the half-hour mark, Los Pumas burst into life and scored 38 unanswered points to put the match beyond doubt.

A try just before the 70-minute mark gave the Wallabies a slim hope of a comeback, but four tries in the final 10 minutes resulted in Australia’s biggest loss ever.

They moved up to second place in the standings, eight points behind South Africa.

With two Tests against the Springboks – at Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades (in Santiago del Estero) on September 21 and at the Mbombela Stadium (in Nelspruit) a week later – Los Pumas can still clinch the title.

A week after the Wallabies fought back from 0-10 down to win the opening Test 20-19 in the rain in La Plata, the Pumas took their revenge as Australia conceded the most points and suffered the biggest margin of defeat in a Test – beating the 61-22 hammering they copped in South Africa in 1997.

* To recap all the Santa Fe drama, CLICK HERE!

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This time, in brilliant sunshine, Australia looked on song again when Ben Donaldson found joy down the blindside to set up fullback Andrew Kellaway for their second try and create a 17-point buffer.

Back row forward Carlo Tizzano had earlier barged over for the game’s first try after a Los Pumas’ penalty goal.

But the hosts flicked the switch 10 minutes before the break, Mateo Carreras finishing some superb work from Pablo Matera before skipper Julian Montoya breached the ragged Wallabies defence.

They came close to scoring again before the break but didn’t relent at the resumption, an early unforced error from Marika Koroibete gifting field position that led to Juan Martin Gonzalez scoring.

Pablo Matera’s try came after Schmidt had replaced his halfbacks, who could only watch as Argentina hit top gear and Joaquin Oviedo’s try made it 38 consecutive points.

Koroibete was pushed into touch after scrumhalf Tate McDermott put him through a gap, the replacement No.9 doing it himself, tapping and darting through traffic to stop the rot.

There was still a glimmer of hope with 10 minutes to play, Argentina emphatically shutting the door in a devastating final passage that created some unwanted history for Schmidt’s men.

Juan Cruz Mallia strolled over twice in mere minutes and Oviedo added another to complete the carnage.

Australia’s next assignment is the first of two Bledisloe Cup matches against New Zealand in Sydney on September 21.

The scorers

For Argentina
Tries: Carreras, Montoya, Gonzalez, Matera, Oviedo 2, Mallia 2, Cinti
Cons: Albornoz 6, Carreras 2
Pens: Albornoz 2

For Australia
Tries: Tizzano, Kellaway, McDermott
Cons: Donaldson 2, Lynagh
Pens: Donaldson 2

Yellow card: Andrew Kellaway (Australia, 78 – cynical foul, offside near his own line)

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 Guido Petti, 3 Joel Sclavi, 2 Julian Montoya (captain), 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 (captain), 7 Carlo Tizzano, 6 Rob Valentini, 5 Jeremy Williams, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Matt Faessler, 1 Angus Bell
Replacement: 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
Assistant referees: Ben O’Keeffe, James Doleman
TMO: Marius Jonker

* Additional reporting by AAP