Embattled Argentina look to finish rollercoaster tour with win

By Ian Ransom

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Shorn of captain Pablo Matera and two other players after old racist posts resurfaced on social media, a depleted Argentina will look to cap a rollercoaster tour of Australia with victory over the Wallabies in the Tri-Nations finale on Saturday.

Both sides still have a mathematical chance of wresting the title away from New Zealand, though the Pumas would need to win by 93 points and Australia by 101 at Western Sydney Stadium for that to happen.

Yet the clash is likely to be fiercely contested, with the teams determined to salvage pride from campaigns that had earlier held promise but ultimately turned sour.

Argentina, the toast of the rugby world last month after beating New Zealand for the first time, head into Saturday's clash after a major embarrassment that came hot on the heels of their 38-0 drubbing by the All Blacks.

Racist comments posted online more than seven years ago by Matera, lock Guido Petti and hooker Santiago Socino resurfaced this week to throw the squad into crisis.

The three were stood down on Tuesday, with Matera stripped of the captaincy, but all were reinstated on Thursday in an astonishing u-turn by the Argentine Rugby Union (UAR).

While coach Mario Ledesma has chosen not to select any of them in his matchday squad, that decision was made to protect rather than punish them, he said.

"All I can say about these three fine players and great men is that they are great human beings," he told reporters on Thursday.

"They have been suffering a lot this week, their families have been suffering a lot this week, and it's really sad to see.

"Obviously they acknowledge what they did and they are really regretful and ashamed of what they did, and we all are."

Centre Jeronimo de la Fuente will lead the side in place of Matera, with Matias Alemanno replacing Petti in a new second row with Marcos Kremer.

Santiago Grondona takes Matera's spot at blindside flanker.

While watching Argentina's troubles with some bemusement, Dave Rennie's Wallabies have had their share of agonising to go through since a 15-15 draw with the Pumas two weeks ago.

Rennie was furious that his rebuilding side squandered a nine-point lead in that match, with the result all but costing them the chance of silverware.

Recalling the fit-again flyhalf James O'Connor and switching Reece Hodge to fullback, Rennie has demanded smarter game management from his players.

"A win on the weekend will mean that we’ve got more to build on but certainly we had a chance for silverware if we got it right a couple of weeks ago," he said.

"We’ve talked a lot about this being a springboard to next season (and) not talking about it being the last test of the year."

(Editing by Peter Rutherford)