Ireland vs Argentina: A statistical look

The second full round of fixtures in this year’s Autumn Nations Series saw a mix of tight clashes and resounding victories – we take a look at some of the key stats from the weekend.

After the Southern Hemisphere sides recorded a clean sweep against their northern rivals one week earlier, Europe’s best managed to restore some pride during the second full round of fixtures in this year’s Autumn Nations Series.

Ireland defeated Argentina on Friday night in Dublin, before France edged past New Zealand 24 hours later at the Stade de France. However, the Springboks and Australia kept their 100% record intact, with victories over England and Wales respectively.

Ireland vs Argentina

The Aviva Stadium hosted another Friday night fixture, with Ireland taking on Argentina in their second match of the series. After the opening half – and particularly the first seven minutes – it looked like Ireland had put the defeat to New Zealand well behind them.

However, the Pumas came roaring back to finish within three points of Ireland, who failed to score a single point in a half of rugby in Dublin for the first time since 2015, in the second half of a Rugby World Cup warm-up game against Wales.

In attack, Ireland’s two halves of rugby were a real contrast. In the first period they made seven entries into the Argentina 22, averaging 3.1 points per entry. However, the final 40 minutes saw Ireland make it into the red zone just four times, failing to come away with points on any occasion.

Ireland’s expected points (xP) tally shows the difference between their efficiency in the two halves. In the opening 40 minutes Ireland outscored their 16.7 xP by over five points (22) while in their scoreless second-half their xP was only slightly lower at 15.6.

Credit must go to Argentina too though, as they upped their game in the second half – something they’ve done on so many occasions in 2024. Indeed, in their two Autumn Nations fixtures this year they’ve outscored their opponents 43-8 in the second half.

There was certainly no lack of effort from the two sides with both teams hitting a double century of tackles (Ireland 203, Argentina 204). Since Opta have recorded this data (2010 onwards) it is the first time a fixture between two Tier One nations has seen both teams make 200+ tackles.