Joseph Suaali'i in action for Australia against Argentina. Photo: Mark Metcalfe
Australia's resurgence as a rugby superpower has been further enhanced with a 28-24 win over Argentina in Townsville.
Replacement prop Angus Bell scored the winning try after 86 minutes, with the Pumas' discipline failing them badly, when it was needed most.
After a whistle-heavy first 20 minutes, that saw Santiago Carreras knock over two penalties for Argentina, the 29-degree heat saw the officials enforce a mandated water break. The pause seemed to help the home side, who scored off an attacking lineout, when Nic White squeezed through a gap punched by captain Harry Wilson.
However, just moments later and despite a big shove from the Wallabies scrum, Santiago Chocobares found a huge gap down the blindside to set Bautista Delguy up to score a long-range try for the Pumas.
If that one was good, Mateo Carreras' effort not long after was even better. The Argentinian backs exploited weak Wallaby edge defence to set the winger up and, while his namesake Santiago Carreras couldn't convert either, he added another penalty to make the halftime lead 21-7.
After the break, the Joseph-Aukuso Suaali'i show began. He crashed over in the 47th minute to cut the lead to a try and the Wallabies' luck continued, when Mateo Carreras was shown a yellow card for repeated team infringements while defending their line.
Suaali'i took advantage straight away, stepping and using his raw power to score and draw the scores level, thanks to James O'Connor's conversion.
From then on, the Pumas discipline kept letting them down, as they gave away a string of penalties that kept the Wallabies on attack for the final stages of the game. However, they couldn't score, despite Len Ikitau going very close.
With their only entry into the Wallaby half, the Pumas manufactured a penalty for Juan-Cruz Mallia to slot and give what they thought was a matchwinning lead.
Only a minute remained on the clock, but crucially the kickoff was knocked on and handed the Wallabies a scrum on the last play of the game. That turned into a penalty, which saw the Wallabies suddenly camped on the Pumas line.
Finally, after a series of penalties, Wilson opted for a tap and go, which saw Bell crash over to score the winner.
The two sides meet again next weekend in Sydney.
Read how the game unfolded here:
