On Saturday morning, the available seats were sold out, so the Malvinas Argentinas stadium looks packed for this match that begins the path of the Pumas and the Wallabies in the Championship. Throughout the week, the Argentine players participated in actions that promoted rugby, in different places of the Cuyo city.
They met 36 times with six wins for Argentina and 27 for the Wallabies. There were three draws. In this tournament, in which the national team has participated since 2012, they met 18 times and the Oceanic team celebrated 14 times. The Argentines won two: in 2014 in Mendoza 21-17 and four years later as a visitor at the Cbus Super in Robina 23-19. There were a couple of ties in 2020, when South Africa did not participate and a Tri Nations was made: 15-15 and 16-16, one in each country.
“We’re already starting to see some of the things we want. We are lucky because there are many games ahead of us”, he pointed out. Michael Cheika, who tried to minimize the fact of facing his country’s team. “Some players adapted quickly, others take longer. We are always trying to improve, while we want to be competitive match by match, mentally, physically and tactically. The objective is very clear for us: we want to put the team in a situation where they can be competitive against all the teams: the powers, those in the middle like us, and those that are developing. Because those are the teams that we are going to face in the World Cup. We have to be prepared to have the game to face all of them.”
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This Saturday’s premiere at the Malvinas Argentinas Stadium represents an unbeatable opportunity to enhance the good feelings left by the victory in the series against Scotland last month and continue to consolidate as a team. In that context, Australia appears as the most “earthly” of the adversaries. Also in the process of reconstruction and, beyond the undeniable individual quality of its players, it suffers from some structural flaws that make it permeable.
Without Nicolás Sánchez or Benjamín Urdapilleta, injured again, Cheika insists with Santiago Carreras as driver. This time, with the return of the experienced Tomás Cubelli as a media partner. On the bench appear Lautaro Bazán Vélez (1 cap) and the possible debutant Tomás Albornoz as a replacement. The formation: Juan Cruz Mallía; Santiago Cordero, Matías Orlando, Jerónimo de la Fuente and Emiliano Boffelli; Santiago Carreras and Tomas Cubelli; Marcos Kremer, Pablo Matera and Juan Martín González; Tomás Lavanini and Matías Alemanno; Francisco Gómez Kodela, Julián Montoya (c) and Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro.
It was in this city where the Cougars they last won at home for the Rugby Championshipit was here where they achieved the first victory in their history in the contest. Four years have passed since the 32-19 victory against South Africa in Mendoza, the last achieved by the Rugby Championship at home, which marked the highest point of performance of the national team after fourth place in the World Cup in England. Four years earlier, here too, a 17-match winless streak had been snapped with a 21-17 success against Australia, the first in the tournament’s history.
The news surprised on Friday night: the Wallabies reported that Michael Hooper, their captain, was returning back to Australia, so he will not be in today’s game or next Saturday’s in San Juan. “I’m not mentally fit,” said the player himself. A very sensitive loss, which has an emotional impact on the visiting team and, of course, on the game. The Lineup: Tom Wright; Jordan Petaia, Len Ikitau, Hunter Paisami, and Marika Koroibete; Quade Cooper and Nic White; Fraser McReight, Rob Valentini, and Jed Holloway; Matt Philip and Darcy Swain; Allan Alaalatoa, Folau Fainga’a and James Slipper (c).
The Malvinas Argentinas stadium, in Mendoza, is the epicenter of the starting signal. There, the Pumas begin their journey in the Rugby Championship 2022. And he does it against the Wallabies, the rival against whom they got their first win in this competition. From now on, the coverage of THE NATION Argentina-Australia, an exciting duel that will begin at 4:10 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN2.