All you need to know about Ireland v Argentina

Ireland will aim to bounce back from a disappointing defeat by New Zealand when they host Argentina in their second Autumn Nations Series match on Friday.

The Six Nations champions looked far from their best against the All Blacks as they fell to a third loss in five games.

With that in mind, Andy Farrell's side will be desperate to produce a vastly improved performance against the Pumas.

Here is all you need to know about Ireland v Argentina.

You can follow blow-by-blow action on Friday with our live text commentary on Friday.

You can also listen by tuning into BBC Sounds, BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra or BBC Radio Foyle, with audio also available on the BBC Sport website & app.

For all the build-up and analysis, make sure to follow the Irish Rugby page.

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell will name his team on Wednesday afternoon at 14:00 GMT.

Argentina will also announce their line-up on Wednesday.

New Zealander Paul Williams will be the man in charge on Friday evening. His assistant referees will be Welshman Craig Evans and fellow Kiwi Angus Mabey.

Richard Kelly, also of New Zealand Rugby, is the television match official (TMO).

Ireland will provide a squad update on Monday. Tadhg Furlong missed the New Zealand game through injury while another prop, Tom O'Toole, took a blow to the head shortly after coming off the bench against the All Blacks.

Outside half Santiago Carreras has been added to the Argentina squad for the Ireland game after recovering from a calf injury, while veteran loose forward Pablo Matera returns from suspension.

As mentioned, Ireland come into the game on the back of a dispiriting evening against the All Blacks, their first home defeat since the 2021 Six Nations.

Hoping to avenge last year's World Cup quarter-final loss, Ireland failed to fire, with numerous errors proving costly as New Zealand ran out 23-13 winners.

In contrast, Argentina warmed up for their trip to Dublin with a thumping 50-18 win over Italy in Udine on Saturday.

The Pumas ran in seven tries against the Azzurri with fly-half Tomas Albornoz scoring 20 points.

Argentina, who reached the semi-finals at last year's World Cup, also secured some big results in the Rugby Championship, beating the All Blacks in Wellington and world champions South Africa at home. They also scored 67 points in a home win over Australia.

Ireland and Argentina have played each other 19 times at Test level, their first encounter coming in 1990.

The Irish have won 13 of those, including all 10 at home, the most recent being a resounding 53-7 win in November 2021.

Argentina do, however, possess some notable wins against the Irish having prevailed in three out of their four World Cup encounters.

The most recent of those came in the 2015 quarter-finals in Cardiff. With Ireland favourites to earn a semi-final berth for the first time, the Pumas raced into a 17-0 lead and eventually won 43-20.

It was a hugely painful evening for Joe Schmidt's Ireland, who were missing Paul O'Connell, Johnny Sexton, Peter O'Mahony, Sean O'Brien and Jared Payne because of injury.

Robbie Henshaw, Conor Murray, Cian Healy and Iain Henderson, all of whom featured in that quarter-final, are still in the Ireland squad while the likes of Santiago Cordero and Matias Alemanno are still in the Argentina panel.

Argentina head coach Felipe Contepomi will need no introduction to Irish fans.

The former fly-half spent was at Leinster from 2003 to 2009. His time with the province ended in bittersweet fashion with a cruciate injury ruling him out of the 2009 European Cup final win over Leicester.

His injury elevated a young Johnny Sexton to the starting line-up, the future Ireland captain's 50-yard drop-goal helping the club seal a 19-16 win and their first European Cup.

Contepomi returned to Leinster in 2018 as backs coach, spending four years in Leo Cullen's backroom team before leaving to become Argentina boss Michael Cheika's assistant.

Working alongside Cheika, who he played under at Leinster, Contepomi helped the Pumas finish fourth at the World Cup before being promoted to the top job following the Australian's departure.

Contepomi was also a major figure on one of Ireland's darkest days, scoring 11 points to help Argentina to a 30-15 win at the 2007 World Cup, a result that spelled the first ever pool-stage elimination for the men in green.