The Wallabies claimed a historic first series win on Argentine soil despite being held to a thrilling 28-28 draw by a defiant Argentina at Estadio Malvinas Argentinas in Mendoza, a result that left Les Kiss’s side with mixed emotions after squandering both a 14-0 lead and a two-man advantage in the dying minutes.
Key moments
16 mins – TRY DISALLOWED AUSTRALIA: Wilson appears to streak away and score under the posts after McReight and Lonergan combine down the short side from a lineout, but the TMO rules that Bell’s foot was on the touchline before getting his pass away. Australia denied.
20 mins – TRY AUSTRALIA: The Wallabies won’t be denied a second time. Off the lineout, Suaalii hits the angle at pace before Wilson rides two tacklers and spins in contact to ground the ball. Lonergan converts. (Argentina 0–7 Australia)
27 mins – YELLOW CARD ARGENTINA: Franco Molina is sent to the sin bin for cynically slowing the ball at a ruck as Australia hammer the line with pick-and-go phases. Bell is held up over the line before the referee goes back for the card.
28 mins – TRY AUSTRALIA: Australia make the extra man count immediately. Carry after carry sucks in defenders before Lonergan passes to Tupou acting as a pivot, and the ball is worked wide left for Jorgensen to pin his ears back and finish in the corner. Lonergan converts from the sideline. (Argentina 0–14 Australia)
33 mins – YELLOW CARD AUSTRALIA: Jeremy Williams is sent to the sin bin for diving off his feet and illegally playing the scrum-half after Argentina build sustained pick-and-go pressure inside the 22.
36 mins – TRY ARGENTINA: Argentina’s pack finds its rhythm. A formidable scrum five metres out earns a penalty, and after a series of short carries, captain Matera bursts through from close range right under the posts. Carreras converts. (Argentina 7–14 Australia)
39 mins – TRY ARGENTINA: A set-piece stunner levels the scores right before the break. Argentina win the lineout at the back and Moro drops a superb inside ball to Mendy, who bursts through a gap to score to the left of the posts. Carreras converts. (Argentina 14–14 Australia)
Half-time: Argentina 14–14 Australia. A half of three acts. A dour opening 20 minutes gave way to Australian dominance as Wilson and Jorgensen crossed during Molina’s sin-binning. Argentina fought back ferociously through Matera and Mendy after Williams was binned, and Wright conceded a needless penalty for shoving Benítez Cruz after the play was dead, giving the Pumas a golden chance. Suaalii’s defensive pressure forced the knock-on that ended the half with the scores level.
47 mins – TRY AUSTRALIA: Australia tap and go from a penalty five metres out. Bell is stopped short, Canham goes close, and McReight pounces on the retreating defence to burrow over. Lonergan converts. (Argentina 14–21 Australia)
49 mins – Lonergan’s restart strikes Jeremy Williams on the head for an accidental offside, handing Argentina a scrum inside the Wallabies 22.
55 mins – TRY ARGENTINA: Relentless forward pressure from the Pumas eventually tells. After Isgró and Cruz inject some spark, Ruiz picks and goes at pace from close range and drives over with the support of teammates. Carreras converts. All square again. (Argentina 21–21 Australia)
65 mins – TRY ARGENTINA: Argentina take the lead for the first time. After 23 phases of sustained pressure and one-up runners hammering the line under a penalty advantage, Matera completes his brace by slamming the ball down under the posts. Carreras converts. (Argentina 28–21 Australia)
68 mins – YELLOW CARD ARGENTINA: Cinti is sent to the sin bin for a deliberate knock-down that denied McReight a clear run to the right. Australia kick to the corner.
70 mins – PENALTY TRY + YELLOW CARD ARGENTINA: The Wallabies work the ball from right to left through the hands with the overlap on, but Carreras deliberately knocks down the final pass to prevent a certain try. The referee awards a penalty try and sends Carreras to the sin bin. Argentina down to 13 men. (Argentina 28–28 Australia)
76 mins – Cale wins a turnover and Australia launch an attack with a two-man advantage. The ball reaches Wright on the left but Lonergan’s pass goes behind, knocked on. Crucial missed opportunity.
78 mins – Lonergan throws a poor pass at first receiver, causing Wright to knock on for a relieving Argentina scrum outside their 22.
80+1 mins – Argentina hold their scrum, run the ball from their own 22, and Roger eventually boots the ball into the stands to end the match, collapsing to his haunches in tears.
Full-time: Argentina 28–28 Australia
In a contest played in four-degree temperatures and sleeting rain that featured eight tries, four yellow cards and a penalty try, the Wallabies twice looked to have the match won — first when Harry Wilson and Max Jorgensen crossed in a dominant opening 30 minutes, and again when back-to-back deliberate knock-downs from Lucio Cinti and Santiago Carreras reduced Argentina to 13 men with 10 minutes remaining. But poor execution with ball in hand let the hosts escape, and Nicolás Roger booted the ball into the Mendoza stands to end a match he could barely believe his side had survived.
The draw extended Kiss’s unbeaten record to five matches — four wins and a draw — and secured the Puma Trophy for the first time since 2022. Tom Wright marked his 50th cap in fitting fashion, running out first ahead of his teammates, though even he was not immune to the chaos, conceding a needless penalty for shoving Simón Benítez Cruz after the play was dead at the end of the first half.
“Securing that trophy is definitely one of the things that we came here to do, without a doubt,” Kiss said. “We probably took control of patches of that game and put ourselves in a good position to win it but as it is over here, it’s tough. The boys are a little bit disappointed that they just didn’t go on with it for sure. Mixed feelings in a way, but there is something that we did come here to achieve, and we got that.”
The Wallabies started slowly, with Filipo Daugunu dropping the kick-off to hand Argentina a scrum 13 metres from the Australian line inside the opening minute. The hosts pressed hard through their scrum in a scrappy opening quarter but could not breach the gold defensive wall, with Josh Canham producing a crucial early turnover to relieve the pressure.
Australia thought they had broken through in the 16th minute when Wilson streaked away to score under the posts after Fraser McReight and Ryan Lonergan combined down the short side from a lineout. But the TMO spotted that Angus Bell’s foot had fractionally crossed the touchline before getting his pass away, and the try was chalked off.
Wilson would not be denied a second time. Four minutes later, off the top of a lineout, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii hit the angle at pace before Wilson rode two tacklers and spun in contact to ground the ball. Lonergan converted, and the Wallabies were up and running.
The visitors then laid siege to the Argentine line, winning penalty after penalty as the hosts’ discipline crumbled. Franco Molina was eventually sent to the sin bin for a series of infringements, and Australia made the extra man count immediately. Carry after carry sucked in defenders before Lonergan passed to Taniela Tupou, who acted as a pivot, and the ball was worked wide left for Jorgensen to cross untouched in the corner. Lonergan’s sideline conversion made it 14-0 and Australia had not conceded a first-half try for the first time all year.
It would not last. Jeremy Williams was binned for cynical play in the 33rd minute, and Argentina’s pack found immediate traction. A formidable scrum five metres out yielded a penalty, and after a series of short carries, captain Pablo Matera burst through from close range to score under the posts. Four minutes later, on the stroke of half-time, Argentina produced a stunning set-piece move from a lineout: Moro dropped a superb inside ball to Ignacio Mendy, who burst through a gap to score and level the match at 14-14.
The Wallabies were fortunate not to go behind before the break. Wright conceded a penalty for his shove on Cruz after grounding the ball in-goal, and Argentina opted for a scrum five metres out as the clock turned red. Only a clutch defensive read from Suaalii, who flew up to force a knock-on from the last play, prevented the hosts from taking the lead into the sheds.
Whatever Kiss said at half-time worked — again. McReight burrowed over from close range in the 47th minute after Australia tapped a penalty five metres out, restoring the lead at 21-14. But Lonergan’s restart struck Williams on the head for an accidental offside, handing Argentina a scrum inside the Wallabies’ 22, and the hosts used the platform to launch a sustained assault that ended with hooker Ignacio Ruiz driving over from close range to level the scores once more.
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Argentina then produced the best passage of rugby from either side in the series. A rolling maul made 15 metres, and after being held up over the line, the hosts kept hammering through 23 relentless phases of one-up runners and pick-and-go pressure under a penalty advantage. Matera, who had been immense all evening with his work rate, finally crashed over for his second to put Argentina ahead for the first time at 28-21.
The match turned dramatically in the 68th minute when Cinti was yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-down that denied McReight a clear run down the right. Two minutes later, with Australia working the ball through the hands with an overlap on the left, Carreras stuck his hand out to prevent a certain Daugunu try. The referee awarded a penalty try and sent Carreras to the sin bin, levelling the scores at 28-28 with Argentina down to 13 men.
But the Wallabies could not land the finishing blow. Carter Gordon, who had come on at fly-half, departed with a leg injury, leaving Kalani Thomas and Lonergan to share playmaking duties. Matera won a crucial turnover at a ruck when Jorgensen was isolated, and Lonergan threw a poor pass to Wright that resulted in a knock-on inside the Argentine 22. The hosts held their nerve, ran the clock down from their own 22, and Roger booted the ball into the stands to end the match — the young fly-half collapsing to his haunches in tears.
Wilson was candid about the disappointment. “The boys were hurting with the result,” the captain said. “We really wanted to win that, and there’s a lot of disappointment. But to bring another trophy home, it hopefully brings a bit of momentum and some confidence in the group going to the Springboks.”
McReight, who topped the tackle count with a mammoth 26 and scored a try, reflected on the broader picture. “It was a tough battle out there,” he said. “We started really strong and were lucky right on that half-time break not to concede more points. That second half was quite up and down, but we’re grateful that we maintained an unbeaten record for the past four weeks. But there’s clearly a lot to work on.”
Kiss acknowledged the need to sharpen the Wallabies’ game management ahead of tougher tests to come. “We’re not going to catastrophise it, but there’s one or two key moments, three moments, that just allows them to stay in the game,” he said. “The boys are talking about it. They know there’s a little bit more we can improve in terms of establishing how we get our exits properly, how we turn the ball back in front of our forwards at the right time. Two or three moments is all we’re talking about, but that’s Test rugby — it comes back to bite you.”
The Wallabies now have three weeks before a one-off Test against the Springboks in Perth on 27 September, followed by the Bledisloe Cup series against New Zealand. Gordon’s leg injury will be assessed by scans, adding another layer of concern to the fly-half position that has plagued Australia throughout 2026.
Teams
Argentina: 15 Santiago Carreras, 14 Rodrigo Isgró, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Faustino Sánchez Valarolo, 11 Ignacio Mendy, 10 Nicolás Roger, 9 Simón Benítez Cruz, 8 Joaquín Moro, 7 Guido Petti, 6 Pablo Matera (c), 5 Franco Molina, 4 Efraín Elías, 3 Pedro Delgado, 2 Ignacio Ruiz, 1 Boris Wenger.
Replacements: 16 Leonel Oviedo, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Francisco Moreno, 19 Tomás Lavanini, 20 Juan Martín Scelzo, 21 Facundo Cardozo, 22 Gonzalo Bertranou, 23 Mateo Soler.
Australia: 15 Tom Wright, 14 Max Jorgensen, 13 Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, 12 Len Ikitau, 11 Filipo Daugunu, 10 Ben Donaldson, 9 Ryan Lonergan, 8 Harry Wilson (c), 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Jeremy Williams, 4 Josh Canham, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Billy Pollard, 1 Angus Bell.
Replacements: 16 Josh Nasser, 17 Aidan Ross, 18 Massimo De Lutiis, 19 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 20 Charlie Cale, 21 Kalani Thomas, 22 Carter Gordon, 23 Isaac Henry.
Match details
Argentina 28 (Tries: Matera 2, Mendy, Ruiz; Conversions: Carreras 4/4)
Australia 28 (Tries: Wilson, Jorgensen, McReight, Penalty Try; Conversions: Lonergan 3/3)
Half-time: 14–14
Yellow cards: Molina (Argentina, 27′), Williams (Australia, 33′), Cinti (Argentina, 68′), Carreras (Argentina, 70′)
Venue: Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza
Referee: James Doleman (New Zealand)
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