Rugby Championship: Australia fight back to beat Argentina in Salta

  • 07/10/2018

Australia have rounded out a morning of Rugby Championship comebacks with a 45-34 win over Argentina in Salta.

After trailing 31-7 at halftime and receiving some stern words from coach Michael Cheika, the Wallabies bolted back into the contest in the second half.

They ran in five unanswered tries in a 38-3 blitz to avoid their first-ever championship wooden spoon.

That came just hours after the All Blacks completed a remarkable comeback of their own in Pretoria, where they fought back from a 30-13 deficit to nab a 32-30 win.

Argentina got off to the ideal start, as they shot to a 14-0 advantage in the space of just four minutes off the back of shambolic Australian defence.

Two more Pumas tries about the 30 minute mark had the visitors staring down the barrel of a heavy defeat.

But Cheika's empassioned half-time lecture clearly hit its mark, as a different-looking side took the pitch for the second stanza.

Izack Rodda, Israel Folau and Dane Haylett-Petty powered the Wallabies to three tries in the space of seven minutes to silence the crowd, until David Pocock and Haylett-Petty (again) drove nails into the coffin.

The result means Australia finish third in the 2018 Rugby Championship, just a point above Argentina.

Newshub.