Australia began their quest to win back-to-back Rugby World Cup crowns here on Friday with a faltering performance to defeat jittery Pool A opponents Argentina 24-8.
Tries from wingers Wendell Sailor and Joe Roff and four penalties from Elton Flatley saw the 1999 champions off the mark in front of 81 350 spectators at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium, a record World Cup crowd.
But the Wallabies made hard work of victory and could have been put under more pressure had Argentina flyhalf Felipe Contepomi not had a miserable night with the boot, missing four penalties and a drop-goal attempt.
A try in the final 10 minutes from fullback Ignacio Corleto put Argentina to within nine points but Roff struck back immediately after a good break from replacement Matt Giteau to make sure of the win.
Victory came at a cost for Eddie Jones’ Wallabies however, with influential second row David Giffin stretchered off concussed early in the second half after a heavy fall.
An expected physical battle at the scrum never really materialised as Argentina’s fearsome forwards failed to generate any real momentum, looking tentative throughout the first half.
Argentina had alarm bells ringing in Australian ranks after only two minutes however when a quick kick and chase from skipper Agustin Pichot forced Roff to scramble into touch just a metre from the Wallaby line.
But Australia’s defence weathered the storm and soon the Wallabies were quickly into their stride with No.8 David Lyons surging forward tirelessly to put the Pumas on the back foot.
Flatley put Australia 3-0 up with a penalty from 35 metres out after an attack launched with a sniping run from flyhalf Stephen Larkham ended with Argentina offside at a ruck.
Felipe Contepomi squandered a valuable chance to level for Argentina with a missed penalty moments later, and the South Americans’ problems were compounded by hooker Mario Ledesma.
The Argentinian front row stalwart had horrendous problems with his lineout throwing in the first half, denying the Puma forwards a platform with a series of wayward throws.
For Australia meanwhile Larkham was a constant threat, regularly breaking through the Argentina defence with some silky sleight of hand.
Another Larkham break on 15 minutes led to a further Argentinian infringment, leaving Flatley with a simple kick to make it 6-0.
Tails up, Australia then made it 11-0 with a try from Sailor, who wriggled over in the corner after a pop pass from fullback Mat Rogers.
Argentina’s problems worsened when Manuel Contepomi was sin-binned for clattering into Rogers as the No.15 attempted to gather a towering up and under on 25 minutes.
The Pumas battled back and grabbed three points through a Felipe Contepomi penalty but the score was cancelled out with Flatley’s third penalty on the stroke of half-time.
Flatley extended Australia’s lead after the break but poor handling let Australia down as they sought to turn on the style.
One golden chance went begging when prop Bill Young threw a forward pass to Roff with the tryline begging. – Sapa-AFP