Argentina Crash against Ireland amid Endless Forward Disruptions

Los Pumas were well below their best against Ireland on Friday in Dublin. The home side were comfortable winners in a match featuring eight tries with the men-in-green scoring six of them. The 42-12 result means Ireland are all smiles and Argentina need a reset ahead of next weekend’s matches.

Argentina had a solid start. On 9 minutes Mateo Carreras scored his first of two tries in the match. In a Tucumán combination, Tomás Albornoz put up a cross-kick for Carreras to score in the left corner. Albornoz missed the conversion attempt but the start was nonetheless highly positive for the South Americans.

Ireland responded quickly. In their first entrance into the Argentine 22, Ireland came away with a try. Fullback Hugo Keenan scored his first of three tries. With it, Ireland held a 7-5 lead on 14 minutes. From there the Irish held the lead for the remainder of the contest.

The two remaining first-half tries were both scored by Ireland. The home side again came away with seven points in their second entrance into the Argentine 22 after Dan Sheehan capitalized on a break from Nick Timoney. The third Irish score turned the tide of the match with Kennan’s second score coming on 28 minutes.

Kennan’s second score coincided with the first of endless forward disruptions. Los Pumas’ skipper Julián Montoya went off for an HIA on 28 minutes and never returned. His replacement, Leonel Oviedo went off for an HIA of his own on 36 minutes to return on 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, Los Pumas were playing with 14-men. On 34 minutes, Justo Piccardo was yellow carded for being offside while defending meters out from the try zone. The South Americans were under pressure but this time held their line and the half ended with Ireland leading 21-5.

The second half started with a bang for Ireland. Sam Prendergast broke the line and ran from halfway to score for the hosts. Los Pumas responded with Mateo Carreas scoring his second, and Argentina’s last, try of the match. It came just before Piccardo returned to the field.

 

The gap was 16 points with 35 minutes remaining. However, any doubt over a comeback was swiftly quashed with Hugo Kennan completing his hat-trick on 49 minutes. The score was another that raised questions over Argentina’s defensive arrangement. The same could be said six minutes later when Rónan Kelleher scored from a lineout to maul.

Neither side added points after the 55th minute. The final try did come against a 7-man Pumas forward pack. Efraín Elías had been yellow carded for a high tackle on Hugo Kennan with the Irishman lowering his height as the Pumas tackled him.

The loss of Elías was another disruption to the forwards but far from the only one. As in the first half, Leonel Oviedo was forced off for another HIA and the scrums were again uncontested. In addition, Marcos Kremer and Joel Sclavi were also both forced off for HIA’s with both men ultimately also returning.

The Irish remain in Dublin to prepare for next weekend’s assignment against Fiji. Los Pumas travel to Genoa to face Gonzalo Quesada’s Italy.

 

NOTES

• Ireland successfully retained their undefeated home record against Argentina.
• Hugo Keenan scored a hat-trick of three tries for Ireland.
• Joel Sclavi, Pedro Rubiolo, Juan Martín González, Santiago Chocobares and Juan Cruz Mallía made their first appearances of 2026 for Los Pumas.
• New Zealander Sean Jansen earned his first test start for Ireland.

 

SCORING

IRELAND (42)
TRY – H Keenan 3 (13′, 28′, 49′),  D Sheehan (24′), S Prendergast (41′), R Kelleher (54′)
CON – S Prendergast 5/5 (14′, 25′, 29′, 41′, 50′) C Frawley 1/1 (55′)
YC – S Ilio (60′)

ARGENTINA (12)
TRY – M Carreras 2 (9′, 45′)
CON – T Albornoz 1/2 (45′)
YC – J Piccardo (34′), E Elías (54′)

LINE-UPS

IRELAND
1 Andrew Porter, 2 Dan Sheehan, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 4 Joe McCarthy, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 6 Ryan Baird, 7 Nick Timoney, 8 Sean Jansen, 9 Craig Casey, 10 Sam Prendergast, 11 Mack Hansen, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 14 Robert Baloucoune, 15 Hugo Keenan

Replacements: 16 Rónan Kelleher, 17 Tom O’Toole, 18 Sam Illo, 19 James Ryan, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Ciaran Frawley, 23 Jamie Osbourne

ARGENTINA
1 Boris Wenger, 2 Julián Montoya, 3 Francisco Moreno, 4 Guido Petti, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 6 Juan Martín González, 7 Marcos Kremer, 8 Pablo Matera, 9 Gonzalo García, 10 Tomás Albornoz, 11 Mateo Carreras, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 13 Justo Piccardo, 14 Bautista Delguy, 15 Juan Cruz Mallía

Replacements: 16 Leonel Oviedo, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Efraín Elías, 20 Juan Martín Scelzo, 21 Simón Benítez Cruz, 22 Gerónimo Prisciantelli, 23 Lucio Cinti

 

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Luke Pearce (GB-ENG)
Assistant Referees: Hollie Davidson (GB-SCO); Morne Ferreira (South Africa)
Television Match Official: Andrew Jackson (GB-ENG)
Split Screen/FPRO: Matteo Liperini (Italy)