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Argentina without Augustin Creevy for Wallabies test
Argentina will look to continue on from their spirited performance against the All Blacks in Buenos Aires over the weekend against the Wallabies in Brisbane this Saturday, but will have to do so without talismanic hooker Augustin Creevy.
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The Pumas came up just short of a first-ever victory against New Zealand at Estadio Jose Amalfitani, going down in a thrilling 20-16 defeat in their Rugby Championship opener.
Leading the way from up front was veteran rake Creevy, who showed plenty of passion, intent and leadership in his 48-minute outing.
Unfortunately for Mario Ledesma’s side, the 34-year-old won’t be available for their upcoming clash against Australia at Suncorp Stadium, with a shoulder injury ruling the nation’s former skipper out of contention.
In his absence, impressive back-up hooker Julian Montoya is expected to start in the No 2 jersey.
Creevy and Montoya were two of many Pumas players that caught the eye in their tense clash with the All Blacks in front of a boisterous home crowd, with stand-in Kiwi captain Sam Cane in awe of how well the Argentines played.
“The Pumas are very accurate, very good one-on-one defenders and make a nuisance at the breakdown,” he said post-match.
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“They might not pinch the most ball but they certainly know how to slow it down. Their ability to just get back on their feet and keep coming off the line shows real desire.
“They put us under pressure from the first whistle right up to the last second of the game.”
His words should not be taken lightly by an under-firing Wallabies side, which was well-beaten 35-17 by an understrength Springboks team at Ellis Park in Johannesburg hours before the All Blacks’ clash against the Pumas.
Composed of mostly Jaguares players with a few European-based stars, the Argentines, captained by star loose forward Pablo Matera, are full of belief and possess the potential to threaten the very best sides in the world, as seen on the weekend.
With that being said, Matera said both he and Ledesma were frustrated rather than happy with their ability to almost upset the All Blacks for the first time in their history, leaving the Wallabies with a big task on their hands in the Queensland capital in five days’ time.
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“We took another step but in the first half we were too structured. Then we took a little more risk and went well,” Matera said.
“He [Ledesma] has worked hard to improve the level of the team and now against Australia we need more again.”
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