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Wallabies center Jordan Petaia takes a break against the Pumas at McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle on Saturday.
The Wallabies provided an opportunity to assert their dominance in the Tri Nations series and have once again exited Newcastle without a win after a no-try draw on Saturday.
With just under three minutes to go and the scores set at 15-15, No. 10 Reece Hodge, who had not missed a kick all night, had a penalty attempt that came right off the posts.
Although his opponent, Nicholas Sanchez, missed one of his six penalty attempts, Hodge looked devastated after full time failed to put the finishing touches on what was actually a severe matter.
Despite a frantic final period, the frustrating stalemate remained in what was the Wallabies’ first draw since a 9-6 result against Wales in 2018.
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Australia have now failed to come out of Newcastle with wins in two attempts, or score a try for that matter, while the Waratahs have also bundled their two games in the city in recent years.
“We just couldn’t convert there in the second half,” Wallabies captain Michael Hooper said.
There will always be question marks on whether Argentina could bounce back after last week’s incredible display against the All Blacks and they will be happy to come out with two competition points.
Australia, New Zealand and Argentina are all locked at six points, although the Pumas have one game in hand with two games to play.
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Wallabies fullback Tom Banks takes a high shot for the Pumas on Saturday.
Argentina was stoic once again on defense this week and remained patient as the match progressed.
This was certainly a shock for the purists with less ball in play than normal.
The only person who might not care about the result will be Michael Cheika, given that he has had a foot in both fields.
Last week at Bankwest Stadium, Cheika was not on the field for warm-ups, but decided to be visible before kick-off, though not on a team polo shirt. Without a doubt, there was a reason why he did it.
He turned down interviews in the lead up to this match, clearly he didn’t want to talk about it, but there would always be a lot of intrigue.
Cheika, who retired after the Wallabies’ failure at the World Cup last year, was in the middle of halftime and barked orders at the Pumas players.
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Taniela Tupou got hooked at halftime after giving away some penalties.
His breakdown at halftime in Salta feels like a lifetime ago.
There was as much spice as the match seven days earlier, with Taniela Tupou and a man half her size, Sánchez, engaging in some hostile shoving on the back of a ruck.
But Argentina captain Pablo Matera could find himself in serious trouble after appearing to pull Brandon Paenga-Amosa’s hair.
None of the referees picked it up at the time and, surprisingly, Paenga-Amosa was penalized for an illegal hit seconds before.
Matera played on the edge against the All Blacks, but his brain fade is likely to catch Sanzaar’s attention.
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Wallabies hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa takes a break at Newcastle.
Hunter Paisami appeared several times at the first receiver and was happy distributing but also taking the line. His left foot almost resulted in a try for Jordan Petaia, but the youngster’s foot was right on the dead ball as he tried to plan the ball down.
After one penalty goal each, the Wallabies failed to score despite having a mountain of territory and possession.
A shaky lineout and handling errors did not help his cause. While there were individual moments of excellence with the ball in hand, a lack of cohesion on the baseline prevented Australia from getting paid where it counted.
Marika Koroibete crossed over the left edge after a hot potato pass from Tom Banks, but went slightly forward and after a third Hodge penalty, Australia went to the sheds up 9-6; the same final score during the infamous Wallabies Test against Newcastle at the same location in 2012.
The Pumas were warned before the break about multiple infractions and referee Paul Williams didn’t forget after the break when he sent hooker Julian Montoya for a 10-minute period.
