Tupou, Sio to start as Wallabies look to continue Pumas dominance

Taniela Tupou and Scott Sio have come into the Wallabies' starting side for Saturday's Tri Nations clash against Argentina.

Sio replaced the injured James Slipper as one of three changes to the starting team for the encounter in Newcastle.

Tupou and Ned Hanigan are also in, replacing Allan Alaalatoa and Lachlan Swinton respectively.

Australia are coming off a win over the All Blacks earlier this month, while Argentina stunned New Zealand last week.

"After being left out in our last Test we got the reaction we expected from Scott, his preparation this week has been excellent and his experience will be invaluable against Argentina," Wallabies head coach Dave Rennie said.

"As a group, we know respect is earned daily and understand the importance of backing up our last performance with another quality effort on Saturday night.

"The tournament is evenly poised and our fate is in our own hands. We saw how much passion Argentina play with in their performance last weekend and we're excited by the challenge in Newcastle."

#YourTeam is ready for Newcastle!READ MORE: https://t.co/dPDHbvPg9J Saturday 21 November 7:45PM AEDT McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle Tickets: https://t.co/JLMryHuevt @Foxtel @Channel10AU #ARGvAUS @eToro #TriNations2020 #YourTeam #OurJourney pic.twitter.com/avaqAUjpDa
— Wallabies (@wallabies) November 19, 2020

New Zealand top the table but will be replaced by the winner of the clash between Argentina and Australia, who sit second and third respectively.

The Wallabies have won 17 of their past 19 Tests against Argentina, whose last success came in September 2018.

But the Pumas are eyeing back-to-back wins against fellow Tier 1 opposition for the first time since beating Italy and France in June 2016.

Unsurprisingly after their win over the All Blacks, Argentina's starting team is unchanged, while Santiago Socino, Facundo Isa and Emiliano Boffelli have replaced Facundo Bosch, Tomas Lezana and Lucio Cinti on the bench.

¡Listos los 23! Estos son los jugadores que saldrán a la cancha el próximo sábado 21/11 ante @wallabies. #VamosLosPumas #VamosArgentina pic.twitter.com/v5L6zpMqUE
— Los Pumas (@lospumas) November 19, 2020

Australia: Tom Banks, Tom Wright, Jordan Petaia, Hunter Paisami, Marika Koroibete, Recce Hodge, Nic White; Scott Sio, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Taniela Tupou, Rob Simmons, Matt Philip, Ned Hanigan, Michael Hooper, Harry Wilson. Replacements: Folau Fainga'a, Angus Bell, Allan Alaalatoa, Rob Valetini, Liam Wright, Jake Gordon, Noah Lolesio, Filipo Daugunu.

Argentina: Santiago Carreras, Bautista Delguy, Matias Orlando, Santiago Chocobares, Juan Imhoff, Nicolas Sanchez, Tomas Cubelli; Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, Julian Montoya, Francisco Gomez Kodela, Guido Petti, Matias Alemanno, Pablo Matera, Marcos Kremer, Rodrigo Bruni. Replacements: Santiago Socino, Mayco Vivas, Santiago Medrano, Santiago Grondona, Facundo Isa, Gonzalo Bertranou, Emiliano Boffelli, Santiago Cordero.