Can Argentina produce another landmark moment after a 2024 of real progress? During the Rugby Championship, The Independent took a look at why rugby’s great outlier stand on the brink of history:

Head coach Felipe Contepomi says Argentina have only a “slim” chance of toppling Ireland as he bids to mastermind another impressive scalp on his return to Dublin.

Former Leinster fly-half Contepomi has guided Los Pumas to a series of statement results in 2024, winning away to New Zealand, in addition to beating France, Australia and world champions South Africa.

Andy Farrell’s hosts go into their second autumn fixture on the back of a deflating 23-13 defeat to the All Blacks.

Yet Contepomi, who guided his side to a record 50-18 win away to Italy last weekend, insists producing an upset at the Aviva Stadium will be a tall order.

Asked if he sensed an opportunity based on Ireland’s previous outing, the 47-year-old said: “No, no, not at all.

“We know it’s a slim opportunity but it’s there. Every game starts from zero.

“What happened in the last game is nothing to do with what’s going to happen on Friday.”

Captain Caelan Doris wants Ireland to bring an extra edge against Argentina following the frustration of their disheartening defeat to New Zealand.

The number eight admits Andy Farrell’s starting XV have “pressure to perform” after 14 of the players who began the 23-13 loss to the All Blacks were retained.

Felipe Contepomi makes three changes to the Argentina side that beat Italy, with vice captain Pablo Matera recalled on the flank after serving a suspension and a returning Guido Petti also adding back five ballast in the pack. Matias Moroni takes the place of Matias Orlando at inside centre, while the versatile Santiago Carreras has recovered sufficiently from a calf issue to offer fly half and full-back cover on a bench that also includes uncapped centre Justo Piccardo.

Argentina XV: 1 Thomas Gallo, 2 Julian Montoya (captain), 3 Joel Sclavi; 4 Guido Petti, 5 Pedro Rubiolo; 6 Pablo Matera, 7 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 8 Joaquin Oviedo; 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 10 Tomas Albornoz; 11 Bautista Delguy, 12 Matias Moroni, 13 Lucio Cinti, 14 Rodrigo Isgro; 15 Juan Cruz Mallia.

Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Ignacio Calles, 18 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Santiago Grondona; 21 Gonzalo Garcia, 22 Santiago Carreras, 23 Justo Piccardo.

There is just a single change to the Ireland starting team despite defeat to New Zealand as Robbie Henshaw steps in for Bundee Aki at inside centre. Of greater intrigue is a bench reshuffle that sees a promising Leinster pair in prop Thomas Clarkson and fly half Sam Prendergast primed for debuts; at the other end of the experience spectrum, club colleague Cian Healy will match the record cap tally of Brian O’Driscoll if he makes his 133rd appearance for Ireland.

Ireland XV: 1 Andrew Porter, 2 Ronan Kelleher, 3 Finlay Bealham; 4 Joe McCarthy, 5 James Ryan; 6 Tadhg Beirne, 7 Josh van der Flier, 8 Caelan Doris (captain); 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 10 Jack Crowley; 11 James Lowe, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 13 Garry Ringrose, 14 Mack Hansen; 15 Hugo Keenan.

Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Ryan Baird, 20 Peter O’Mahony; 21 Craig Casey, 22 Sam Prendergast, 23 Jamie Osborne.

Right, with kick off in Dublin rapidly approaching, let’s take a closer look at those two line-ups...

Argentina have never beaten Ireland in Dublin but are well capable of snapping that statistic. Pumas head coach Felipe Contepomi has extensive inside knowledge of the hosts having spent a decade with Leinster as a player and a coach. The 47-year-old, who succeeded Michael Cheika following last year’s fourth-placed finish at the World Cup, has also masterminded some impressive results. Argentina, who sit fifth in the Test rankings – above Scotland, England and Wales, have already beaten France, New Zealand and world champions South Africa in 2024.

A sizeable chunk of Ireland’s autumn squad were still at primary school when Cian Healy made his Test debut against Australia in 2009. Fifteen years on, the veteran prop is poised to make history by moving alongside former team-mate Brian O’Driscoll as Ireland’s most-capped player. Having largely provided back-up for first-choice loosehead Andrew Porter during the Farrell era, the 37-year-old will win the 133rd cap of his career, if he is brought on from the bench. “He’s been a legend of our squad for all these years and he continues to be so,” said Farrell.

The All Blacks defeat was a sour start to the autumn for Ireland. Following a big billing and plenty of expectation, a capacity Aviva Stadium crowd was largely subdued as the below-par hosts slipped to a first home loss in more than three years. Ireland are determined to bounce back – and have a track record of doing so. Only once during the reign of head coach Farrell, which spans 51 games, have they been beaten twice in a row: defeats to Wales and France at the start of the 2021 Guinness Six Nations.

News broke yesterday of a potential breakaway rugby competition that could revolutionise the sport. The Independent understands that while discussions have taken place, they are at a “very, very early” stage.

Here’s the full story: