Australia do enough in ugly match

Argentina ... 6 Australia ... 17 The Wallabies have called up replacements winger Mark Bartholomeusz and hooker Brendan Cannon after taking a battering in their win over Argentina in the opening international of their four-match tour.

The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) said Bartholomeusz would replace Ben Tune, who hurt a hamstring early in the Buenos Aires match on Saturday.

Cannon is flying to Dublin to join the Wallabies squad ahead of Saturday's international against Ireland after first-choice hooker Jeremy Paul also aggravated a hamstring injury he suffered in training.

The ARU said Paul is expected to remain on tour with some hope that he will play again in the matches against Ireland, England and Italy.

Other players in doubt for the Ireland game are centre Matthew Burke (bruised leg) and full back Mat Rogers (rib cartilage).

The Australian press reported yesterday that the Wallabies were upset after the match, with accusations of eye-gouging, punching and kicking by Argentine players.

They also claimed to have been spat on by the crowd at River Plate Stadium each time they ran on to and from the playing field.

Coach Eddie Jones said: "This was a very hard match so we're satisfied with the win. But we are disappointed with the way Argentina played and their tactic of playing the man and not the ball."

England-based Pumas scrumhalf Agustin Pichot returned fire at Australia, saying they were guilty of some of their own accusations.

"Australia came here to play negatively, they are cheats," Pichot said. "We play aggressively, but they play negatively. They pull our shirts and they step on you and they do it in a very professional way."

Outside centre Matthew Burke kicked three penalties for the Wallabies and Stirling Mortlock claimed the only try of a lacklustre encounter, which ended with Argentina being booed off the field by a 50,000 crowd at the River Plate stadium.

"We haven't played as badly as this for a long time," said Pumas winger Diego Albanese, who barely got a chance to show his burning pace. "We're very angry with ourselves.

Hooker Adam Freier and flanker David Croft both came off the bench in the second half to make their Wallabies debuts. Winger Wendall Sailor, who has been nursing an injured knee, came on in the first half to replace Tune.

Neither side managed to settle in a bad-tempered first-half.

The Wallabies drew first blood in the fourth minute with a Burke penalty, but Contepomi tied the scores in the 25th minute with a penalty, making amends for one he had missed minutes earlier.

Burke then converted two more penalties to give Australia a 9-3 lead, while Contepomi converted one more and missed two others.

The only try of the match came in first-half stoppage time when Stephen Larkham released Mortlock and the Australian winger zipped down the left flank to score in the corner to give Australia a 14-6 half-time lead.

There was little improvement after the break. Tempers continued to flare and the game turned into a succession of rucks, with neither team capable of putting together any flowing moves.

ARGENTINA: Corleto; Nunez Piossek, Orengo, Arbizu (capt), Albanese; Contepomi, Pichot; Reggiardo, Mendez, Hasan, Fernadez Lobbe, Alvarez, Phelan, Martin, Longo. Replacements: Grau for Reggiardo (61 mins), Ledesma for Mendez (66 mins), Durand for Phelan (75 mins).

AUSTRALIA: Rogers; Tune, Burke, Herbert, Mortlock; Larkham, Gregan (capt); Young, Paul, Noriega, Vickerman, Harrison, Cockbain, Smith, Kefu. Replacements: Sailor for Tune (13 mins), Croft for Cockbain (59 mins), Freier for Paul, Giffin for Vickerman (both 68 mins), Darwin for Noriega, Flately for Burke (both 75 mins).