What time and TV channel is Ireland v Argentina on tonight?
A night for atonement is in store for Ireland against Argentina, Andy Farrell and the team's legions of fans hope, after the shock of such a poor performance that resulted in last week's loss to New Zealand
Ireland are quickly back in the saddle after their loss to New Zealand and looking for a massive improvement against a very dangerous Argentina side.
Andy Farrell is glad of the rapid turnaround and the chance for his players to atone for their error-strewn display in the 23-13 defeat at the Aviva Stadium last Friday.
But Ireland are facing a Pumas side full of intent - Argentina have made a lot of the fact that while they have beaten Ireland twice at World Cups, they have never won in Dublin. The sides' last meeting at the Aviva Stadium was in November 2021, when the Pumas lead through an early converted try, but Ireland pulled away to a 53-7 victory.
READ MORE: Opening Ireland's hurt locker has ensured Andy Farrell's side always bounce back
READ MORE: Ireland v Argentina: All has changed for Felipe Contepomi as he returns to his old home
Argentina have worked on being more consistent in the meantime and the visitors arrive full of confidence on the back of their 50-18 victory over Italy last Saturday, plus a trio of victories in the Rugby Championship this year against the All Blacks, South Africa and Australia.
They also have a head coach in Felipe Contepomi who knows so many of the Irish players very well, having coached them at Leinster. He also understands the Irish style and attitude, having played and coached here in two spells in the country.
So while last week's fixture was undoubtedly the big one of the four for Ireland in their Autumn Series, tonight's game is now a very important one for Farrell and his players after their surprisingly weak effort seven days ago.
Where is the game on?
The game takes place at the Aviva Stadium
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What time is kick-off?
The match kicks off at 8pm on Friday.
What TV channel is it on and can I stream it?
It is being shown live on Virgin Media 1 and TNT Sports 1.
Betting Odds
Ireland 1/6 to win, Argentina 4/1 to win; draw 25/1
Teams
IRELAND: Hugo Keenan (Leinster); Mack Hansen (Connacht), Garry Ringrose (Leinster), Robbie Henshaw (Leinster), James Lowe (Leinster); Jack Crowley (Munster), Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster); Andrew Porter (Leinster), Rónan Kelleher (Leinster), Finlay Bealham (Connacht); Joe McCarthy (Leinster), James Ryan (Leinster); Tadhg Beirne (Munster); Josh van der Flier (Leinster), Caelan Doris (Leinster, capt).
Replacements: Rob Herring (Ulster), Cian Healy (Leinster), Thomas Clarkson (Leinster), Ryan Baird (Leinster); Peter O’Mahony (Munster), Craig Casey (Munster), Sam Prendergast (Leinster), Jamie Osborne (Leinster).
ARGENTINA: Juan Cruz Mallia; Rodrigo Isgro, Lucio Cinti, Matias Moroni, Bautista Delguy; Tomas Albornoz, Gonzalo Bertranou; Thomas Gallo, Julian Montoya, Joel Sclavi; Guido Petti, Pedro Rubiolo; Pablo Matera, Juan Martin Gonzalez, Joaquin Oviedo.
Replacements: Ignacio Ruiz, Ignacio Calles, Francisco Gomez Kodela, Franco Molina, Santiago Grondona, Gonzalo Garcia, Santiago Carreras, Justo Picardo.
Team news
There is just one change to the Ireland starting line-up with Robbie Henshaw replacing his former provincial team-mate Bundee Aki, who is dropped from the matchday squad. But there are four changes to the Ireland bench, and two players are in line for their Test debuts tonight.
Sam Prendergast has been called Johnny Sexton's long term replacement but he is set to make his senior international bow off the bench, with Jack Crowley among those deemed lucky by Andy Farrell to keep their place after last week. Prendergast's promotion means that Ciarán Frawley, who failed to take his chance off the bench against the All Blacks, is out of the matchday 23.
Still without Tadhg Furlong and with Tom O'Toole ruled out with a head injury, Prendergast's Leinster colleague Thomas Clarkson is named on the bench as tighthead cover for Finlay Bealham. Clarkson was originally named in a five-strong training group who were brought in for experience but he has been fast-tracked into the matchday squad.
Craig Casey will have been disappointed to lose out to Conor Murray as Jamison Gibson-Park's back-up last week, but Casey gets his chance this time. Similarly, Ryan Baird is restored to the bench in place of Iain Henderson and Farrell will demand an impact from both players.
Argentina make three changes to the line-up from last weekend, with Pablo Mantera returning to the back row after suspension. Matthias Moroni has been selected at inside centre at Matias Orlando's expense while Guido Petti is added to the second row.
What they are saying
Andy Farrell on dealing with the pressure brought on by last week's performance: "Pressure’s good. It’s what concentrates the mind, you see where your character’s at. We want to win all our games but the opposition is always going to have a say in that.
"I think this is perfect because we’ve got another top, top drawer opposition coming and we want to test ourselves because we feel like we let a few people down last week.
"It’s the best medicine for you actually, to get back on the horse. I’m sure there’s a bit of disappointment with a few of the lads that they don’t get to do that but they understand as well that it’s about the team, it’s about the squad.
"But that’s why I said it’s the perfect game because it’s very similar in as far as the quality of the opposition and where you need to be to draw out that performance from yourselves.
"In fact they’ve always been dangerous in recent years. You look at the history of World Cups, etc, they’ve always been very dangerous in one-off games, but their consistency of high performance in recent years is a credit to Felipe and his coaching staff.”
Felipe Contepomi on sensing an opportunity in Ireland's difficulty: “No, not at all. We know it’s a slim opportunity but it’s there.
"Every game starts from zero. What happened has nothing to do with what’s going to happen on Friday. Ireland aren't a bad team from one game to another and we're not a great team because we played one great game.
"We're only building our team. We've done some good things, we've a lot of things to improve - and Ireland probably have things that they would like to get right on Friday. So it's going to be a massive challenge and we know what we're coming up against."
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