O2 MatchDay Live: Ireland v Argentina
The third and final match of the 2012 GUINNESS Series sees Ireland clashing with old rivals Argentina at the Aviva Stadium. You can keep up-to-date with this afternoon’s game via our O2 MatchDay Live service right here on IrishRugby.ie.
Today’s match between Ireland and Argentina is the 13th Test meeting between the two nations. Ireland have a small lead in terms of victories, having chalked up seven to Argentina’s five.
There has been little between the sides in terms of points scored also – Ireland have scored 233 points over the 12 Tests, with the Pumas managing 225.
The last clash between the sides was at the Aviva Stadium in November 2010. Tries from Stephen Ferris and Gordon D’Arcy helped Declan Kidney’s men beat Argentina 29-9, their highest margin of victory in a Test against the Pumas.
Six players in the Ireland matchday squad have 10 caps or less, compared to just two in the visitors’ selection.
In addition, there are another three players on the Irish bench – David Kilcoyne, Michael Bent and Iain Henderson – who made their Test debuts in the match against South Africa a fortnight ago.
However, the men in green boast three players with in excess of 50 caps compared to just a single player in the Argentina starting line-up.
It will be a proud moment for Ulster winger Craig Gilroy as he wins his first Test cap this afternoon, following his impressive three-try showing in the 53-0 win over Fiji in the non-cap international.
Defeat against the Springboks a fortnight ago condemned Ireland to their fifth consecutive Test defeat – their worst losing run since losing seven in-a-row between 1997 and 1998.
Argentina’s accession into the Rugby Championship has, not surprisingly, seen their recent results falter. The win against Wales and a 16-16 draw against South Africa during the Championship have been their only positive results in the last eight games, rivalling their worst run since 1990.
Meanwhile, Ireland’s Jonathan Sexton requires just two more points to break the 250-point barrier in Test rugby.
Sexton, who wins his 34th cap today, made his debut in a 41-6 win over Fiji in 2009. Ronan O’Gara, the reserve out-half on the Irish bench, leads the way with 1075 points.
We will have live text commentary direct from the Aviva Stadium, so plug in your laptop or turn on the PC and enjoy a flavour of the game live on IrishRugby.ie.
There will be full live text and score updates throughout the coverage, with proceedings getting underway at 2pm.
You can watch live TV coverage of the match on RTÉ Two and BBC Two. Michael Corcoran will also be providing live commentary of the game on RTÉ Radio 1 (DAB, LW 252 and RTÉ.ie), with their coverage beginning shortly before kick-off.
Starting at 1.30pm with our pre-match build-up, you can feel part of the action on IrishRugby.ie with MatchDay Live.
Look out for the MatchDay Live button in the Ireland section or simply click on the link below:
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