Argentina\u2019s Pumas will roll into Australia with belief and momentum, carrying the weight of history and expectation after splitting their home series against the All Blacks in the opening rounds of The Rugby Championship.<\/p>\n
A 41-24 defeat in C\u00f3rdoba had threatened to cast a familiar shadow, but Felipe Contepomi\u2019s side responded in the best way possible. The 29-23 victory at V\u00e9lez Sarsfield was not just a win\u2014it was the win: Los Pumas\u2019 first-ever triumph over New Zealand on Argentine soil. For a squad still piecing together its identity under Contepomi, it was a statement that Argentina is no longer content with occasional upsets. They want consistency.<\/p>\n
That pursuit continues over the next two weeks in Australia, where Los Pumas face the Wallabies on September 6 in Townsville and again on September 13 in Sydney. Both fixtures arrive at a pivotal time in the tournament, with Argentina seeking to back up their breakthrough performance at home with results abroad.<\/p>\n
The Pumas know the challenge well. Their last trip to Townsville ended in a 27-8 defeat in 2021, a night remembered more for the debuts of Mateo Carreras, Joaqu\u00edn Oviedo and Rodrigo Mart\u00ednez Manzano than for the scoreline. Sydney, however, has been kinder. In 2023, Los Pumas edged Australia 34-31 at Parramatta\u2019s CommBank Stadium, a result that underscored their ability to win tight contests away from home. This year\u2019s Sydney clash shifts to Allianz Stadium, where Contepomi\u2019s group will again test themselves against a Wallabies outfit in transition.<\/p>\n
Argentina\u2019s recent history against Australia offers both encouragement and caution. Last year\u2019s encounters in Argentina produced a one-point Wallaby win in La Plata, followed by a resounding 67-27 Argentine victory in Santa Fe. Those matches highlighted Los Pumas\u2019 ability to punish defensive lapses but also exposed their inconsistency from week to week. Contepomi\u2019s task is to close that gap.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe closed the year at home with a great win against the All Blacks in Buenos Aires, which gives us a lot of energy for the challenging tour that lies ahead,\u201d Contepomi said. \u201cIt is important that in the next five weeks away from home, we can continue to build as a team and grow day by day. We are very grateful for the support received during these weeks in Argentina, and we are sure that we will find many fans cheering in Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n
That support matters. For a team that thrives on emotion and momentum, the Pumas\u2019 following abroad often provides the extra push needed in the tightest contests. It will need to, because Australia remains a formidable opponent, even in flux.<\/p>\n
Los Pumas enter this tour with 13 all-time victories in The Rugby Championship\u2014five against Australia and four each against New Zealand and South Africa. With a balanced squad blending experienced names such as Pablo Matera, Juli\u00e1n Montoya and Marcos Kremer alongside young talents like Santiago Chocobares and Rodrigo Isgr\u00f3, Contepomi has options across the park.<\/p>\n
The mission now is clear: prove that beating New Zealand at home wasn\u2019t the peak, but the platform.<\/p>\n
Los Pumas Squad To Face Wallabies\u00a0Forwards<\/p>\n
Ignacio Calles, Francisco Coria Marchetti, Juan Mart\u00edn Gonz\u00e1lez, Santiago Grondona, Marcos Kremer, Pablo Matera, Franco Molina, Juli\u00e1n Montoya, Joaqu\u00edn Oviedo, Lucas Paulos, Guido Petti, Thomas Rapetti, Pedro Rubiolo, Ignacio Ruiz, Joel Sclavi, Mayco Vivas, Boris Wenger<\/p>\n
Backs<\/p>\n
Sim\u00f3n Ben\u00edtez Cruz, Mateo Carreras, Santiago Carreras, Santiago Chocobares, Lucio Cinti, Bautista Delguy, Benjamin Elizalde, Gonzalo Garc\u00eda, Rodrigo Isgr\u00f3, Juan Cruz Mall\u00eda, Ignacio Mendy, Agust\u00edn Moyano, Justo Piccardo, Ger\u00f3nimo Prisciantelli, Nicholas Roger<\/p>\n
Watch Free Springboks Replay<\/p>\n
Watch the Springboks game against the Australia Wallabies free on FloRugby’s YouTube channel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
How To Watch Rugby Matches In The United States On FloRugby<\/p>\n
The URC will stream all its matches on FloRugby and the FloSports app in the United States. FloRugby and FloSports also are the U.S. home to:\u00a0<\/p>\n
FloRugby also is home to match archives and match replays.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Join The Rugby Conversation On FloRugby Social<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Argentina\u2019s Pumas will roll into Australia with belief and momentum, carrying the weight of history and expectation after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":97262,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-97261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}