Reece Hodge misses late winner for Wallabies

December 05, 2020
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Ultimate Rugby

Two weeks after their 15-15 draw, the Wallabies and Argentina Pumas saw out their 2020 campaigns with a nailbiting 16-16 tie in the Tri Nations finale.

Australia came back in the second half after trailing 13-6 at half time to eventually draw but Wallabies fullback Reece Hodge missed a penalty a minute before the final whistle blew which could has sealed the win for the Wallabies.

Heartbreaking for Reece Hodge 😢#ARGvAUS #TriNations pic.twitter.com/EnAaILj8xa
— Ultimate Rugby (@ultimaterugby) December 5, 2020

A yellow card to powerhouse lock Marcos Kremer at the 15-minute mark gave Reece Hodge the chance to open the scoring and the fullback made no mistake. Argentina were able to equalise with 14 men though as Nicolas Sanchez scraped a penalty of his own over the crossbar and the Pumas had the lead soon after when Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper was sent to the sin bin following an illegal clean out.

A powerful Pumas rolling maul then allowed Argentina to go coast-to-coast with Bautista Delguy fending and stepping his way through the Wallabies defence for the first try. Australia turned to the boot in the second half as the game shifted into a battle for territory and the Wallabies won the early exchanges to allow Hodge to close the gap to 9-13.

A red card to Lukhan Salakaia-Loto didn’t help the Wallabies cause though with the reserve lock sent off following a shoulder to the head of Santiago Grondona of Argentina.

The Pumas edged the lead back out to seven points from the ensuing penalty, but the card fired the Wallabies into gear and Hooper barged over for a converted try with 15 minutes left, to level the scores.