Wallabies break Los Pumas' hearts with late penalty

MATCH REPORT: The Wallabies have rallied in the wet for a 20-19 comeback win against Argentina thanks to a Ben Donaldson penalty kick on the siren.

Australia trailed 0-10 and 7-16 at Estadio Jorge Luis Hirschi in La Plata, just south of Buenos Aires on Saturday, but found a way in driving rain to get their first victory in the Rugby Championship.

Centre Len Ikitau was a bright spark in attack despite the conditions, scrumhalf Jake Gordon impressed, props Angus Bell and Taniela Tupou and loose forwards Carlo Tizzano, Rob Valetini and first-time skipper Harry Wilson were influential.

The Wallabies had scored just one try in two comprehensive losses to South Africa to begin the series and their offensive punch was again lacking early, unable to score despite making just five tackles to the hosts’ 75 in the first 15 minutes.

They held the ball for 27 phases in the opening exchanges, wary of playing too expansively in driving rain.

But they only went backwards with flyhalf Noah Lolesio’s eventual grubber kick easily collected and Argentina gaining territory and opening the scoring with a penalty.

Los Pumas then marched downfield again, Juan Martin Gonzalez scoring from a driving maul as they went ahead 10-0.

Ikitau provided the spark for the visitors, breaking the line after a strong Valetini run and offloading to Tom Wright.

The fullback then flipped a pass to impressive scrumhalf Gordon, who collected around his boot laces and scored under the posts.

Lolesio’s narrow penalty kick miss on half-time left the visitors 7-13 down at the break.

Australia then defended stoutly on resumption but lost a scrum against the feed and the hosts went ahead by nine.

Wilson then regretted his decision to attack the blindside off a five-metre scrum when he was pushed into touch.

But again Ikitau made something happen, beating two players before Valetini crashed over for a vital try to make it a two-point game with 30 minutes to play.

Ten minutes later, Lolesio’s penalty kick put Australia ahead 17-16 but the No.10 then put his side under pressure, going himself from a kick return then throwing a wobbly pass to an isolated Nick Frost that led to a turnover and penalty.

Argentina edged back ahead, by two points, with 10 minutes remaining and missed a chance to seal the result when Gonzalez had the ball knocked from his grasp as he dived to score.

Lolesio then found space after Argentina chipped ahead but couldn’t find freshly-introduced wing Max Jorgensen, who spilled the pass as he tore down the right flank.

They pressed on though, hammering the Argentina line in the centre of the field until winning a penalty with one minute on the clock.

Substitute Donaldson, with his first touch, then soaked up the remaining seconds and slotted the winning kick as the full-time buzzer sounded.

The scorers:

For Argentina:
Try: Gonzalez
Con: Carreras
Pens: Carreras 3, Albornoz

For Australia:
Tries: Gordon, Valetini
Cons: Lolesio 2
Pens: Lolesio, Donaldson

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 (captain),1 Thomas Gallo.
Replacements: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Tomas Lavanini, 21 Santiago Grondona, 22 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 23 Tomas Albornoz.

Australia: 15 Tom Wright, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hamish Stewart, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Harry Wilson, 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 (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Pierre Brousset (France)
TMO: Glenn Newman (New Zealand)