Publications
Partners
Twickenham - Argentina captain Agustin Creevy will have "revenge" on his mind when he leads his Pumas out against Australia at Twickenham on Saturday in the first Rugby Championship match played in the northern hemisphere.
The vastly experienced hooker still remembers vividly the pain and hurt he and his countrymen felt when beaten 29-15 by the Wallabies in a World Cup semi-final at Twickenham, England's southwest London headquarters, a year ago.
That loss, and the subsequent defeat by South Africa in the third place playoff, was a disappointing way for the Pumas to bow out of a tournament where they won a host of new admirers around the world with their new adventurous, attacking style.
Having managed to record just a single victory in their five Championship matches so far this season, and with crucial World Cup points at stake, the Pumas need to bounce back from a crushing 36-17 defeat by tournament winners and reigning world champions New Zealand in Buenos Aires last weekend.
But Creevy was confident the Twickenham effect, allied to passionate support from Argentinian fans, can help return his side to winning ways.
"Losing that semi-final to Australia hurt a lot and there is something of a feeling of revenge for us," Creevy told reporters at Twickenham on Friday.
"That is also the case with losing to them (36-20) in Perth a few weeks ago.
"It is also a wonderful opportunity for us to play again at Twickenham Stadium, one of the nicest in the world and scene of so many good memories of a year ago. It is a very important place for the history of rugby and I will never forget those World Cup memories.
"But, hopefully, this time we can get the right result and get our second win of this season's Championship," with the Pumas looking to add to their 26-24 victory over South Africa in round two.
"Playing Australia here will bring us some good luck. Playing a home Championship game outside Argentina is an exciting experience and we feel very comfortable. We feel very much at home here.
"We had incredible support during the World Cup, and for that semi-final. And we are expecting many Argentinian fans to support us during the game, with around 45-50,000 people expected to watch.
"There is a big Argentinian population in England and hopefully as many of them as possible can come along.
"It is also a very important game for us in terms of the World Cup rankings. If we can beat them (Australia) here it will help our ranking a lot."
The Pumas' only Rugby Championship victory over Australia came two years ago when they upset the Wallabies 21-17 in Mendoza.
And with Australia bringing some young blood into their pack, Creevy hopes his hardened forwards can capitalise on the Wallabies relative inexperience.
"Australia have made many changes but are still a strong team," said the 31-year-old Creevy, capped 54 times by his country.
"They have brought some young players in but we also have a few inexperienced players. It is going to be a really hard game but we will be ready for it and I am feeling good about what we can do to them.
"The forward battle will be hard and physical, and will be the important one of the game. We have to be strong in that area, and control the game as much as we can."
Teams:
Argentina
15 Joaquín Tuculet, 14 Matías Moroni, 13 Matías Orlando, 12 Jerónimo De la Fuente, 11 Ramiro Moyano, 10 Santiago González Iglesias, 9 Martín Landajo, 8 Leonardo Senatore, 7 Javier Ortega Desio, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Matías Alemanno, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 2 Agustín Creevy, 1 Lucas Noguera
Substitutes: 16 Julian Montoya, 17 Santiago García Botta, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Marcos Kremer, 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamon, 21 Tomás Cubelli, 22 Gabriel Ascarate, 23 Lucas González Amorosino
Australia
15 Israel Folau, 14 Dane Haylett-Petty, 13 Samu Kerevi, 12 Bernard Foley, 11 Reece Hodge, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Lopeti Timani, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Dean Mumm, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Stephen Moore (captain), 1 Scott Sio
Substitutes: 16 James Hanson, 17 Tom Robertson, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Kane Douglas, 20 Scott Fardy, 21 Leroy Houston, 22 Nick Phipps, 23 Tevita Kuridrani
