Argentina vs. Australia: Score and Report from 2014 Rugby Championship Clash

Argentina pulled off something which has for so long eluded them on Saturday night, beating Australia 21-17 in Mendoza to register their maiden victory in the Rugby Championship.

Signing off the 2014 tournament with aplomb, the Pumas came out on top of a tense fixture between the two, Planet Rugby marking the achievement of Daniel Hourcade's men:

It started off as a frustrating day for the hosts, conceding two tries in the opening 12 minutes to find themselves 14-0 down thanks to scores from Tevita Kuridrani and Scott Higginbotham.

Leonardo Senatore got on the end of a quickly worked passing move to give Argentina a lifeline before the break, but the gap was still noticeable at 14-8.

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It was in the second period that Hourcade's team really found their footing, though, an unusual twist considering the South Americans tend to make a good habit of starting strong and then sometimes wilting as a fixture progresses.

This wasn't to be the case on Saturday, however, and yellow cards for Nick Phipps and Michael Hooper in the second half spelt out bad news for the Wallabies.

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Israel Folau was somewhat fortunate not to join that list thanks to fine refereeing from Nigel Owens, who reversed his initial decision of tackling the opponent in the air, although he perhaps got Hooper's dismissal wrong.

Not too dissimilar to Senatore's try, Juan Imhoff was found free on the right wing to give the Pumas their crucial second score, jumping into a narrow lead with little under 30 minutes left:

Fending off the opponents' assault with such an awkward amount of time left was no easy task, but Ewen McKenzie's line-up wouldn't score another point, Bernard Foley's 47th-minute penalty turning out to be their final contribution.

And that was by no means helped by the visitors' indiscipline, Ruckin Good Stats displaying just how petulant the Wallabies were in the penalty count, along with more significant numbers:

The win symbolises a culmination of the Pumas' progress in recent years, and after three attempts in the competition, Argentina have finally toppled one of their Rugby Championship peers.

And despite still finishing bottom of the table, Hourcade was quoted by The Daily Telegraph's Jamie Pandaram (h/t Fox Sports) in having highly promising words of encouragement for the future:

“It has been a huge effort from many people, we deserved this. This is the beginning of something, but there are still lots of things we need to improve. We are on the right track and confident to keep growing.”

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The autumn internationals now come with a much bigger hope of showing further promise as far as Argentina are concerned, but for Australia, it's a case of McKenzie heading back to the drawing board in some regards.

Next year's Rugby World Cup will be eyed by the Pumas now with a much broader eye for success than was previously the case, a nation with new horizons and new prospects in its sights following a glorious night in Mendoza.