Argentina vs. Australia: 5 Key Battles That Will Shape Rugby Championship Clash

The Wallabies arrive in Mendoza following their late collapse against South Africa, looking to end their tournament on a high.

They find a Pumas team still searching for that long–awaited first win in the Rugby Championship.

With a lengthy journey in their legs and a storm swirling around a mid–flight incident involving Kurtley Beale and a Wallabies staff member that has been followed by Beale’s axing from the squad, per the Sydney Morning Herald, Argentina could be sniffing their moment.

Let’s have a look at the key battles.

Argentina have hemorrhaged 120 caps of experience from their back row with the departure of Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe and Juan Manuel Leguizamon, per the Sydney Morning Herald.

Coach Daniel Hourcade has turned to Benjamin Macome and Rodrigo Baez in their places. They face a daunting task against the double act of Michael Hooper and Scott Fardy.

Both men were in inspired form last week in South Africa and have been two of Australia’s stand–out performers in 2014.

Hooper’s searing pace and industry at the breakdown will put the new-look Pumas duo to the test, while Fardy’s physicality will be a tough proposition for the home side.

If Hooper imposes his game on the hosts, it could be a long afternoon for Hourcade’s men.

Having identified a clear gulf in quality between Nos. 6 and 7 on either side, the same could be said of Nos. 1 and 3 when looking at the front rows.

This time, it could and should be Argentina on home soil who have the upper hand.

Marcos Ayerza has been excellent during the competition and will be the favourite to cause all sorts of strife for Aussie tight–head Sekope Kepu.

On the other side, Argentina have swapped Ramiro Herrera for Nahuel Tetaz, who will not be short on motivation to prove he deserves a permanent starting spot. James Slipper could be on the wrong end of that desire.

If Argentina force some early cracks to appear at scrum time, do not expect the ball to see much daylight as they look to turn those cracks into chasms.

Matt Toomua has been declared fit for Australia and goes head-to-head with Juan Martin Hernandez.

The Pumas legend was showing signs of his old brilliance earlier in the tournament, but we haven’t seen his influence quite so much in the last two rounds.

Toomua plays the part of second receiver superbly and can put the abrasive Tevita Kuridrani into those holes that were so gaping in the Argentine rearguard last week against New Zealand.

Hernandez needs to shut Toomua down at source with a trademark hit or two if he is to ensure Australia don’t cut loose out wide

The monstrous Manuel Montero has been dropped for the more experienced Lucas Amorosino this weekend.

Montero scored a memorable try in the 23-24 defeat to Australia on the Gold Coast but also committed a cardinal handling error that gifted Australia an ultimately decisive try.

Amorosino possesses a little more guile than the younger man, and may well have been picked to produce that ingenuity from deep.

Wallabies coach Nick Scrivener has highlighted the threat the home team will pose from their own territory, per the Sydney Morning Herald: “They can put you out of shape very quickly, we saw that at the end of the last game. We gave them possession in the 22 and they scored straight away.”

Australia have their own blend of youth and experience with Adam Ashley-Cooper and Joe Tomane patrolling the wide berths, and they'll hope this pair will have the positional awareness not to be caught out by any such long-range raids.

The statistics for carries in this year's tournament, per the New Zealand Herald’s Stats Centre, suggest a problem area for the Pumas.

Only one Argentine is among the top 10 carriers, hooker and captain Agustin Creevy.

He has had a fantastic tournament, no question. But the fact that none of his other countrymen figures suggests the Pumas have been trying to put width on the ball or have kicked too much of it away before doing the dirty work.

They have, perhaps, neglected to do enough of the "hard yards" to establish a platform from which to play.

This is confirmed by the presence of five of their players in the leading 10 positions for offloads. Had all that offloading borne fruit, they would probably not be staring down the barrel of another winless season.

By asking his forwards to carry more and only offload once behind the gain line, we could see that problem remedied for Daniel Hourcade’s men. It remains to be seen if the Wallabies have worked this out.