Australia 23 - 19 Argentina: Wallabies leave it late to spare blushes - Top Rugby Stories - Scotsman.com Australia avoided an upset after a second-half revival allowed them to escape with a 23-19 win over a spirited Argentina outfit at Skilled Park in Robina, Queensland yesterday. Scorers: Australia: Tries: McCabe, Ioane. Cons: Barnes 2. Pens: Barnes 2, Beale. Argentina: Tries: Leonardi, Cabello. Pens: Hernandez 3. The Wallabies looked set for a shock defeat after two Argentine tries had them behind 19-6 midway through the second period. However, the quickfire double only served to spark the home side into action, with tries from Pat McCabe and Digby Ioane saving the hosts. The Pumas had looked good value for their lead on 50 minutes, after Tomas Leonardi charged down a Quade Cooper kick and then crossed the line. Two minutes later, the Pumas tore Australia up on the right side and finished with tryscorer Julio Farias Cabello mobbed by ecstatic team-mates. Juan Martin Fernandez, the Argentina captain, missed both conversions but made no mistake with his 57th-minute penalty goal, which put the visitors in the box seat for an improbable win. But McCabe had the reply for the Wallabies on the hour mark, bursting through to put the ball down near the posts on an assist from the influential Cooper. Then Nick Phipps opened the door for Australia's follow-up with a blindside run on the left that put Ioane in the clear and over the line, releasing the pressure valve for under-fire coach Robbie Deans. Berrick Barnes, the full-back experiment in place of Kurtley Beale, added the extras on both occasions to give the Wallabies a 20-19 edge that the tiring Pumas could not recover from. Australia: Barnes, Shipperley, Ashley-Cooper, McCabe, Ioane, Cooper, Phipps, Samo, Hooper, Dennis, Sharpe (c), Douglas, Alexander, Polota Nau, Robinson. Subs: S Fainga'a, Slipper, Higginbotham, Gill, Sheehan, A Fainga'a, Beale. Argentina: Gonzalez Amorosino, Camacho, Bosch, Fernandez, Agulla, Hernandez, Landajo, Fernandez Lobbe (c), Leguizamon, Cabello, Albacete, Carizza, Figallo, Guinazu, Roncero. Subs: Creevy, Orlandi, Senatore, Leonardi, Vergallo, Rodriguez, Imhoff.