Red-zone ruthlessness, one big call, and Hooper’s hammer blow: why Australia held off Argentina in Jujuy
This one said that Australia under Les Kiss can build a lead the hard way and then live with the chaos. At 1,200m in Jujuy they were brutally efficient in the Pumas’ 22 and mean enough at the set piece to bank a 22-7 platform, then stubborn when the game flipped into an aerial arm-wrestle they were losing. It also said they’re not remotely the finished product: exits wobbled, the high ball stung them for an hour, and a yellow card kept the door open. But they left with the win because they made the right plays in the right places and landed the one counterpunch that mattered.
Kiss had warned, “It’s going to be fast and physical… They’ll come out fast, frenetic, passionate. We just have to be ourselves and be fast and in control in our way.” He got exactly that contest from Argentina. His team’s answer was control where it counts: three visits, three first-quarter tries, and a halftime nudge that changed the conversation in both sheds.
Argentina
Australia
G. Prisciantelli (13'), J. Moro (36'), B. Wenger (51')
Tries
B. Paenga-Amosa (6'), C. Gordon (10'), F. McReight (19'), T. Hooper (54')
S. Carreras (14', 37', 51')
Conversions
R. Lonergan (11', 20')
Penalties
R. Lonergan (40+1')
The platform was old-fashioned and effective. Repeated penalties around the drive and tight carries put the Australians in the red zone and they cashed everything. Brandon Paenga-Amosa profited first off maul pressure, Carter Gordon slipped through soon after, and Fraser McReight finished a short-range surge on 19 minutes. With Ryan Lonergan steering and knocking over two conversions plus a 40+1’ penalty, 22-14 at the break felt like value for a pack that squeezed and a nine who kept the board moving. That late first-half three-pointer mattered; after a long spell of Pumas territory it sent the Wallabies in with something more than a single score and cooled the stadium for a beat.
Argentina’s route back was clear and effective. They kicked to compete, won more than their share in the air, and camped in the Wallabies’ half as the altitude did its work. Geronimo Prisciantelli and Joaquin Moro were sharp tracking those contestables, Santiago Carreras was flawless off the tee, and tight patience near the line paid out twice. Australia helped: Harry Potter’s deliberate knockdown on 24 minutes invited pressure and their exits frayed, gifting the hosts more chances to reload. When Boris Wenger crashed over from close range just after the break to make it 22-21, the pattern felt set in Pumas colours.
The match turned on two actions inside seven minutes. First, at 48’ the TMO scrubbed what would have been Prisciantelli’s second for a forward pass. That call didn’t kill Argentina’s surge—Wenger still scored soon after—but it prevented the scoreboard flip and bought Australia a breath. Then came the punch back: Gordon and Hunter Paisami burst through midfield, the carries finally went over the gain line again, and Tom Hooper finished the only truly clean Wallaby sequence of the half for 27-21. That was the winner. Simple, direct, decisive.
From there, Australia learned on the fly. They tidied their contestable reception around the hour, stopped giving Carreras free entries, and leaned into what was working from the start: scrum and maul. The fresh heft of Angus Bell off the bench told straight away—an early second-half penalty eased the squeeze—and another big scrum in the last quarter helped them play where they needed to, in the Pumas’ half. They still gave Argentina hope: Jeremy Williams spilled one over the line at 71’, and Ben Donaldson missed the Hooper conversion that might have stretched the buffer. But the defence from five metres out held when it had to, and the discipline improved enough to close.
Match Stats
CARRIES
CLEAN BREAK
DEFENDER BEATEN
TACKLE
MISSED TACKLE
TURNOVER WON
TURNOVERS CONCEDED
PENALTY CONCEDED
YELLOW CARD
POSSESSION
SCRUMS
LINEOUTS
Individuals shaped the texture. Hooper was the game’s hinge, not just for the finish but for the tone of his carries when momentum threatened to run away. McReight was busy and accurate on both sides of the ball, taking on leadership when Alaalatoa departed, and Valetini did the unglamorous metres that let the nine and ten play. Lonergan managed the first half smartly and his 44’ exit with a forearm knock exposed Australia’s control—Tate McDermott brought tempo but not always order. Gordon’s day was mixed: a score, the line break for the winner, a brief HIA, and a couple of loose moments in exit, which is about where Australia’s backline sits right now—dangerous, not yet tidy.
For Argentina, Prisciantelli was electric in the backfield and their back three as a unit won the aerial exchanges until Australia adjusted. Moro was immense—20 tackles and heavy traffic carries—while Matera kept folding bodies in contact. Carreras did his job off the tee and asked questions with ball in hand. But accuracy at key beats cost them: held up over the line early, a needless scuffle penalty from Wenger in the first half, and the forward pass that wiped a momentum try. Add the maul defence indiscipline that fed Australia’s early points and there’s your difference.
Does the six-point margin flatter the visitors? Not really. The Pumas had enough ball and position to win but didn’t take enough of it; Australia, conversely, turned pressure into points when it counted and found a way to choke the last 20. If the TMO call stands the other way, the shape shifts. Equally, if Williams grounds his chance, it’s done earlier. That’s the balance of it.
What next? Australia take to Mendoza knowing they can bank an away series if they replicate their red-zone efficiency and bring the aerial fix from minute one instead of minute 60. Clean up the exits and the card count and they’ll like their chances. Argentina carry a workable blueprint—kick, compete, squeeze, then pound away in the red zone—but they must stop feeding penalties around the maul and be calmer in the last pass. The series is alive because both sides showed enough to think the rematch will look the same, only sharper.
