The Wallabies suffered a shocking home defeat to the Los Pumas in last year’s edition, and will be looking to correct their mistakes when they welcome the archrivals to the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on the 27th of July, 2019 as from 20:00 local time. With the Rugby World Cup in sight, this match will offer a very good litmus test for the two sides looking to take part in the global event. None of these team has enjoyed a good run of form making this game very crucial for either side, as they’ll be looking to gain momentum at a very good time.

This will be the first of two home games to be played by the Wallabies in the Rugby Championship this year, with the other game being an away match to the Springboks in Johannesburg. On the other hand, this will be Argentina’s first and last game on the road with the other two matches being played in South America against the All Blacks and the Springboks.

PREVIOUS MATCHES.

Australia’s most recent match was a 37-18 loss to England in the 2018 Autumn Internationals. England were the first to get off the mark early in the first half and it needed a Wallabies try from Isaac Folau to inspire the Aussies into making a first half comeback from 13-3 down. This wasn’t enough though as an early second half try by Daly let the English men off the leash as they scored two more tries with the Wallabies responding only once via a second Folau try for the match.

On the other hand, Argentina were beaten by the Barbarians to the Killik Cup by 38 points to 35. The game was tied at 5 tries each till very late in the match when Jantjies won the game for the Barbarians by a drop goal. Los Pumas were enjoying a commanding lead and they looked to have cemented that when Montoya scored a 55th minute try. However, the Baa-Baas had different thoughts as de Allende and de Jager tries tied the game before Jantjies completed the dramatic comeback.

FORM

Since the 45-34 Rugby Championship win over the current opponents, Argentina, the Wallabies have played 4 matches winning just once against Italy 26-7 and lost three against Wales, England, and New Zealand. Despite the losses, the Wallabies could take pride in scoring 20 past the world champions New Zealand even though they lost in that game.

Argentina picked only one win in the 2018 Rugby Championship and their form suffered an even deeper slump. Los Pumas have failed to win in the previous four matches that they played so far. Interestingly, the last match that the Los Pumas won was against the Wallabies in Australia by a 19-23 scoreline. Therefore, the Pumas will be viewing this game as one they can win and give them an upturn in form.

HEAD TO HEAD

Since they first met, the Wallabies and Los Pumas have clashed 31 times. Australia has been the dominant one in these fixtures having won 24 times with Argentina winning only 6 times. The remaining match ended in a stalemate and it was played in Argentina. Since the Pumas Trophy inception in 2000, these two teams have played 16 times with Australia winning 14 compared to Argentina’s 2. Notably, Argentina has never won the Pumas Trophy since inception.

PLAYERS TO WATCH.

With Israel Folau out of the Wallabies squad, Australia will miss one of it’s brightest talents in peak form. However, David Pocock has been tipped to make an early comeback after being sidelined since January. The Wallabies will be needing their star-man to adapt quickly as the WC draws nearer.

On the other hand, Los Pumas will be looking up to their shining star, Nicola Sanchez to help them get a result in this game and also put their team on track with the Rugby WC just around the corner.

GAME PREDICTION.

Australia have gained poor results in the recent past but they could pick motivation from the fact that they lost against some of the world’s best teams. On the other hand, Argentina will be motivated by the fact that their win was picked in a fixture like this.

Tight battle but a narrow win for the Hosts, Australia. Australia 27-24 Argentina.