Ireland defeated Argentina 42-12 in Dublin in the match that opened the home leg of the Nations Championship. Ireland thus secured a bonus-point victory by scoring six tries, while Argentina remained winless away against Ireland after 12 attempts.
Ireland led 21-5 at half-time. Tries for Ireland were scored by Hugo Keenan (three), Dan Sheehan, Prendergast and Kelleher. Prendergast converted five, and Frawley one. Argentina scored two tries through wing Mateo Carreras, with one conversion by Albornoz.
Ireland was led from the bench by head coach Andy Farrell, with Dan Sheehan as captain. In the Irish team, Craig Casey was selected at scrum-half ahead of Jamison Gibson-Park, while Nick Timoney was included in place of Josh van der Flier. Timoney turned Albornoz and then supplied Sheehan for Ireland's second try. Rob Baloucoune broke through the middle of the field and passed to Hansen, who sent Keenan over for a try. Ryan Baird stole a line-out, and Hansen again found Keenan for his second try.
Argentina had problems with injuries and penalties. Justo Piccardo and Ephraim Elias received yellow cards, with Elias penalised for a high tackle on Keenan. Argentine captain Julian Montoya went down for a head injury assessment before half-time, and his replacement Leonel Oviedo was also withdrawn for a head injury assessment. Loose-head prop Boris Wenger had to come on at hooker. Ireland lost Sheehan to a head knock after his second try was disallowed.
Within two minutes of the restart, Prendergast scored his first international try to secure the bonus. Carreras scored his second try three minutes later following a run by Santiago Chocobares. Keenan completed his hat-trick after a pass from Baird, and Kelleher scored a try from a maul. Irish replacement tight-head prop Sam Illo received a yellow card in the 60th minute for a early push in a maul. A seventh try eluded Ireland.
Ireland thereby moved to the top of the northern hemisphere table ahead of the matches involving France, Scotland and England this weekend. Next week Ireland host Fiji, while world champions South Africa come to Dublin on 21 November. In 2024 and 2025, Ireland opened the autumn with defeats to the All Blacks, and concluded the summer with a 40-21 defeat to New Zealand in Auckland. Argentina arrived in Dublin with just one win in six matches this year. Last year Argentina beat Farrell's British and Irish Lions in Dublin. The referee was Luke Pearce (RFU), with assistant referees Hollie Davidson (SRU) and Morne Ferreira (SARU), television match official Andrew Jackson (RFU), and independent match official Matteo Liperini (FIR).
