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

Australia earned their second successive Rugby Championship win on Saturday, beating Argentina 32-25 at the Cbus Super Stadium to keep alive any dim title hopes.

Ewen McKenzie's team were never going to have an easy time of things against Daniel Hourcade's line-up, and a late surge from the visitors may have seen matters end a lot differently. Paul Williams of Rugby World emphasised the small differences:

Coming into this matchup, the Wallabies held a fine record over the Pumas, as OptaJonny pointed out:

And it took Michael Hooper less than two minutes to set the hosts on their way to victory, the captain crossing over to send his team into an early lead, but it wouldn't last.

That's thanks to Argentina showing some initiative through 22-year-old Manuel Montero, who took the scores to one try apiece just four minutes later. Following a successful conversion, the score read 7-5 in the Pumas' favour.

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There was no way the game could live up to such a pace, however, and Australia proved to be their own worst enemy as a long line of handling errors foiled them at every turn.

In truth, the Wallabies could have scored several more in the first half, but as matters would have it, neither team would cross over again in the opening period.

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Bernard Foley slotted a kick at goal just as the half-time hooter was sounded, McKenzie's hosts trotting in at half-time with a 14-7 lead.

And as was the case in the first half, the Cbus Super Stadium erupted as Australia got off the mark early in the second half, and again it was captain Hooper doing the honours.

ESPN Scrum confirmed the openside's second of the game—only the second time in his career that he scored twice in the same fixture:

That score came as a result of Argentinian error, but Australia continued to make mistakes in possession. Ruckin Good Stats showed just how poor the Wallabies were at retaining the ball:

And it was here, in the last 20 minutes, that the game entered its most intense phases. A Peter Betham try in the 59th minute put Australia 29-13 up, but that wouldn't be enough to dampen the spirits of the travelling outfit.

Argentina's backs continued to chip away at their counterparts, and in the space of seven minutes, outside centre Marcelo Bosch and fullback Joaquin Tuculet had each dotted down to bring the game within four points at just 29-25.

Nicolas Sanchez could only convert one of the scores, however, and with Foley adding a penalty to his tally just minutes later, it was a missed opportunity for Hourcade's fly-half that ultimately told on the scoreline.

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The Pumas persevered in their rebellion against the home power and it looked like a late scrum deep in enemy territory might be enough to clinch a draw, but it wasn't to be.

Following last week's last-gasp victory over the Springboks, this was another fixture in which the Wallabies had to show extreme resolve to get their hands on the four points.

McKenzie's side remain third in the table, but the coach will take heart in some lessons learned from the closely fought match, one in which the Pumas were again unfortunate to come up with nothing more than a bonus point.