Wallabies stunned by Pumas in wild finish

A past infinitesimal effort by No.8 Juan Martin Gonzalez lifted Argentina past Australia 34-31 successful a melodramatic decorativeness to a Rugby Championship lucifer the Wallabies thought they had connected Saturday.

Recalled winger Mark Nawaqanitawase scored from a 95m intercept effort with 5 minutes remaining to enactment Australia up 31-27.

It marked the archetypal clip the Pumas person beaten Australia successful successive Tests.

Argentina won 48-17 successful San Juan past August earlier Dave Rennie was fired arsenic manager and replaced by Eddie Jones aft an unsuccessful outpouring circuit of Europe.

Jones faces the imaginable of taking the Wallabies to France for the Rugby World Cup without a triumph unless Australia tin rebound successful either of their 2 Bledisloe Cup matches against New Zealand and a warmup against France adjacent month.

Early on, Jones' 5 squad changes from past week's dense nonaccomplishment to South Africa successful Pretoria looked bully arsenic Nawaqanitawase, powerhouse centre Samu Kerevi and elephantine fastener Will Skelton led the Wallabies to a 10-0 lead.

A speedy pat and crisp footwork from Nawaqanitawase enactment Australia heavy connected the onslaught and, with the Pumas defence stretched, Quade Cooper recovered Kerevi lurking retired wide and the centre's wrong shot was capable for Len Ikitau to dive implicit successful the country successful the 4th minute.

But Ikitau injured his enarthrosis portion scoring and soon aft was sent to infirmary for scans.

Having nary extracurricular backs connected the seat forced the Wallabies into a reshuffle with Carter Gordon's instauration astatine wrong centre breaking up the potent Cooper-Kerevi midfield partnership.

The full complexion of the lucifer changed — the Wallabies onslaught was clunky and disjointed portion Cooper and Gordon, 2 playmakers, looked susceptible successful defence beside each other.

The Wallabies recovered themselves hanging connected astatine halftime with a subordinate down pursuing the sinbinning of fastener Richie Arnold for deliberately slowing the shot down.

The Pumas fought their mode backmost done a effort to fullback Emiliano Boffelli, who converted and added a punishment to permission the lucifer adjacent astatine 10-10 astatine halftime.

The visitors took the pb for the archetypal clip erstwhile hooker and skipper Julian Montoya forced his mode implicit 5 minutes into the 2nd fractional earlier Wallabies halfback Nic White darted implicit to level the scores again.

When winger Mateo Carreras bushed a bushed Dave Porecki to people retired wide successful the 68th, Argentina led 26-17.

But a Kerevi try, past Nawaqanitawase's solo effort gave the location broadside an evident match-winning lead.

But the Wallabies conceded an off-the-ball punishment and Argentina acceptable up an attacking lineout.

The Pumas hammered the tryline, trying to burrow done until Gonzalez went implicit the apical of defenders and scored.

"We request to bask this triumph due to the fact that we worked truly hard implicit the week and bounced backmost from a pugnacious game," Montoya said.

"We privation to beryllium warring for each ball, each metre and each contact. We cognize the crippled is not going to beryllium perfect, determination are going to beryllium atrocious moments. We request to bask this win."

Australia skipper James Slipper said the punishment number — 14-10 against the location broadside — wounded them.

"Ill-discipline truly wounded america contiguous again," Slipper said.

"Yellow card, a mates of penalties enactment america astatine the incorrect extremity of the field.

"You can't triumph Test matches playing that benignant of rugby. We've got to crook that around.

"There's rather a fewer of america who person to look astatine those idiosyncratic penalties and rectify it quickly. Performances similar that, we won't spell acold astatine the World Cup."