Wallabies finish strong in Mendoza
The Wallabies scored two late tries to secure a 34-9 bonus-point victory over Argentina in Mendoza.
The visitors led 8-6 at half-time and pulled away in the second half for a victory that left them level on nine points with the All Blacks ahead of an August 8 Sydney showdown.
After struggling for an hour to translate plentiful possession and territory into points, Australia snatched a four-try bonus point with two in the final three minutes.
Earlier on Saturday in Johannesburg, a clever late try from skipper Richie McCaw off a line-out manouevre helped New Zealand defeat South Africa 27-20.
Australia trooped off at half-time wondering why they were only two points ahead against the Pumas after attacking relentlessly while restricting Argentina to a few brief spells of superiority.
The Wallabies virtually owned the ball during the opening stages at the 40,000-seat Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, coming close to scoring several times.
Matt Toomua was an early casualty after a clash of heads with rival inside centre Juan Pablo Socino forced him off the field for a concussion test which he failed.
Quade Cooper, dropped after a 24-20 Brisbane win over South Africa last weekend, came on and Australia finally got some reward with 17 minutes gone.
Fullback Israel Folau collected an aimless Argentine kick inside his half, counter-attacked and flyhalf Bernard Foley unleashed wing Joe Tomane to sprint over the line.
Foley failed to convert and rival flyhalf Nicolas Sanchez narrowed the gap to two points by slotting a penalty on the half hour.
Sanchez, who played poorly in the heavy away loss to New Zealand last weekend, was much improved and earlier came close with an ambitious drop-goal attempt.
Foley fluffed an angled penalty kick from just outside the 22-metre line, but made amends from another kick at goal on 40 minutes.
There was still time for Argentina to win another penalty and Sanchez made no mistake from close range, leaving his side with a flattering two-point deficit at the break.
Although the first part of the second half was more evenly contested, Australia had greater scoring success and stretched their lead to 19-9 by the hour.
Foley kicked two penalties, one a wobbly close-range effort and the other a much smoother shot from a longer distance.
Sanchez trimmed the deficit by three points with his third successful penalty only for Australia to go 10 points clear with a try by replacement lock Dean Mumm that should not have been awarded.
Big-screen replays showed replacement loose forward Michael Hooper passing forward to Mumm – back after a five-year Test absence – who held off several challenges to dot down.
Australia were temporarily reduced to 14 men on 66 minutes when a high, late tackle by Cooper led to a yellow card.
But the sin-binning had little effect with the Wallabies finishing strongly and centre Tevita Kuridrani and wing Adam Ashley-Cooper scored tries with Foley converting one.
Man of the match: There were impressive performances from the likes of Stephen Moore and Israel Folau, but the award has to go to David Pocock who was a menace at the breakdown and also showed how dangerous he can be with the ball in hand.
Moment of the match: The final try was the most significant moment, but even better was Dean Mumm's try which saw the replacement lock hold off a number of tackles on his way to the tryline.
Villain of the match: There was plenty of niggle throughout the match, but Quade Cooper's late and high tackle deserved the yellow card.
The scorers:
For Argentina:
Pens: Sanchez 3
For Australia:
Tries: Tomane, Mumm, Kuridrani, Ashley-Cooper
Con: Foley
Pens: Foley 4
Yellow card: Quade Cooper (Australia, 66 – Foul play, dangerous tackle)
Teams:
Argentina: 15 Santiago Cordero, 14 Gonzalo Camacho, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Martin Landajo; 8 Facundo Isa, 7 Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 6 Javier Ortega Desio, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Manuel Carizza, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustín Creevy (captain), 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements: 16 Santiago Iglesias Valdez, 17 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 18 Matias Diaz, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Leonardo Senatore, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, 23 Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino.
Australia: 15 Israel Folau, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Joe Tomane, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Ben McCalman, 7 David Pocock, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Will Skelton, 3 Greg Holmes, 2 Stephen Moore (captain), 1 James Slipper.
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Dean Mumm, 20 Michael Hooper, 21 Nic White, 22 Quade Cooper, 23 Kurtley Beale.
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Chris Pollock (New Zealand), Stuart Berry (South Africa)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
