Argentina Edges Australia on Last-Minute Try in Rugby Championship

A last-minute try by No. 8 Juan Martin Gonzalez lifted Argentina past Australia 34-31 in a dramatic finish to a Rugby Championship match the Wallabies thought they had on Saturday.

Recalled winger Mark Nawaqanitawase scored from a 95-meter intercept try with five minutes remaining to put Australia ahead 31-27.

It marked the first time the Pumas have beaten Australia in successive tests. Argentina won 48-17 in San Juan last August before Dave Rennie was fired as coach and replaced by Eddie Jones after an unsuccessful spring tour of Europe.

Jones faces the prospect of taking the Wallabies to France for the Rugby World Cup without a win unless Australia can rebound in either of their two Bledisloe Cup matches against New Zealand and a warmup against France next month.

Early on, Jones’ five team changes from last week’s heavy loss to South Africa in Pretoria looked good as Nawaqanitawase, powerhouse center Samu Kerevi and giant lock Will Skelton led the Wallabies to a 10-0 lead.

A quick tap and sharp footwork from Nawaqanitawase put Australia deep on the attack and, with the Pumas defense stretched, Quade Cooper found Kerevi lurking out wide and the center’s inside ball was enough for Len Ikitau to dive over in the corner in the fourth minute.

But Ikitau injured his shoulder while scoring and soon after was sent to hospital for scans. Having no outside backs on the bench forced the Wallabies into a reshuffle with Carter Gordon’s introduction at inside center breaking up the potent Cooper-Kerevi midfield partnership.

The entire complexion of the match changed — the Wallabies attack was clunky and disjointed while Cooper and Gordon, two playmakers, looked vulnerable defensive beside each other.

The Wallabies found themselves hanging on at halftime with a player down following the sin-binning of lock Richie Arnold for deliberately slowing the ball down.

The Pumas fought their way back through a try to fullback Emiliano Boffelli, who converted and added a penalty to leave the match even at 10-10 at halftime.

The visitors took the lead for the first time when hooker and captain Julian Montoya forced his way over five minutes into the second half before Wallabies halfback Nic White darted over to level the scores again.

When winger Mateo Carreras beat a tired Dave Porecki to score out wide in the 68th, Argentina led 26-17. But a Kerevi try, then Nawaqanitawase’s solo effort gave the home side an apparent match-winning lead.

But the Wallabies conceded an off-the-ball penalty and Argentina set up an attacking lineout. The Pumas hammered the tryline, trying to burrow through until Gonzalez went over the top of defenders and scored.

“We need to enjoy this win because we worked really hard over the week and bounced back from a tough game,” Montoya said.

“We want to be fighting for every ball, every meter and every contact. We know the game is not going to be perfect, there are going to be bad moments. We need to enjoy this win . . . ”

Australia captain James Slipper, replacing injured regular skipper Michael Hooper, said the penalty count — 14-10 against the home side — hurt them.

“Ill-discipline really hurt us tonight again,” Slipper said. “Yellow card, a couple of penalties put us at the wrong end of the field. You can’t win test matches playing that sort of rugby. We’ve got to turn that around.

“There’s quite a few of us who have to look at those individual penalties and rectify it quickly. Performances like that, we won’t go far at the World Cup.” AP

July 15, 2023