Momentum meets momentum as Australia host Argentina in Townsville
Argentina smashed Australia 67-27 the last time the two nations faced off in the Rugby Championship a year ago but nobody is expecting anything similar when they meet in the tropical heat of Townsville this weekend.
Victories over the British & Irish Lions and All Blacks this year prove the Pumas have by no means dipped but Australia's transformation over the last 12 months means they go into Saturday's match as slight favourites.
A win in the third test of the Lions series followed by one of the great upsets of the modern era against the Springboks and a narrow defeat in their second match in South Africa have put a spring in the step of Wallabies fans.
Coach Joe Schmidt knows it is vital that his team carry the momentum they have earned through the back-to-back tests against the Pumas before they take on the All Blacks to close out the competition.
"There were a number of things I think we righted along the way, it's not a sudden solution that we needed to find, and I'm pretty sure that the players are conscious of what they need to deliver now," Schmidt told reporters in Townsville on Thursday.
"It's hard to connect something from a year ago with what we're currently doing, but certainly there've been a few connections, and part of that connection is the quality of the Pumas side. We're expecting it to be super tough."
Consistency of selection is one of Schmidt's mantras and he welcomed back skipper Harry Wilson and flyhalf Tom Lynagh from injury at the first opportunity when he named his team on Thursday.
Andrew Kellaway slots in at fullback in place of the injured Tom Wright, while Tom Hooper, who might have had to make way for Wilson, moves into the second row after Will Skelton returned to his French club.
PUMAS ON A HIGH
The Pumas arrived in North Queensland on a high after beating the All Blacks for the first time on home soil in round two of the championship.
Coach Felipe Contepomi lost flyhalf Tomos Albornoz to a hand injury but has a ready-made replacement in Santiago Carreras, who brought Argentina home against New Zealand after coming on as a replacement in Buenos Aires.
The Pumas have beaten Australia in three of their last four meetings and victories in Townsville and Sydney over the next two weeks would see them leapfrog the Wallabies in the world rankings ahead of December's World Cup draw.
On top of that, with all four teams having won one and lost one in the first two rounds, it would put the Pumas in a good position for a shot at a first Rugby Championship title.
Contepomi has confidence in his battle-hardened players but is wary of a Wallabies team who have now been coached for more than a year by Schmidt, who he knows well from his time as a player in Ireland.
"I like watching his teams, I don't like playing against his teams," he joked to reporters on Thursday.
"We know Joe is meticulous, he's detail-oriented, and he's bound to have something prepared. So, if you add to that the quality the Australians already have as athletes ... it's going to be a very tough match.
"We're friends, but enemies for 80 minutes."
