Stephen Larkham bursts forward. (Getty Images)

By Simon Stone, PA Sport, Sydney

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Wing twins Wendell Sailor and Joe Roff saved Australia's blushes as the hosts made an unconvincing start to their defence of the Webb Ellis Trophy.

Though Argentina were well below their best, the Wallabies struggled to convert their possession into points, with only the outstanding Sailor troubling the visitors on a regular basis.

If it had not been for the wayward boot of Pumas fly-half Felipe Contepomi, Australia's failings could have been badly exposed.

As it was, they suffered any way, or at least lock David Giffin did after sustaining an injury which could threaten his participation in the remainder of the tournament.

Giffin took a bone-jarring fall seconds after the interval, the brunt of which he took in the neck area.

It was fairly obvious he could not continue and the Wallaby physios had to treated him for seven minutes where he landed before he was eventually driven off on a stretcher, thought to be still unconscious, to the concern of the entire Australian camp.

Argentina had received a decent pre-match billing and with Australia's recent form patchy to say the least, there were genuine hopes the World Cup could open with a shock result.

What the forecasters did not predict was for the Pumas to start with an acute sense of nerves.

After vowing the occasion would not get the better of them, it promptly did just that.

Worst affected was hooker Mario Ledesma, who saw his first line-out throw snatched by the Aussies after his side had pushed to within a metre of the home line.

That was bad, what followed was even worse as Ledesma proceeded to find himself penalised on five separate occasions for failing to get his line-out throw straight.

The gamble of playing Contepomi at stand-off also backfired as he missed four of his five shots at goal and was also wide with a drop-goal chance. With brother Manuel finding himself in the sin-bin for taking out Mat Rogers while he was in the air, it was a wonder the visitors still had any chance as they trooped off at the interval.

As it was, some pugnacious defence meant they still had the tiniest grip on the game, although no thanks to former rugby league man Sailor, who grabbed a deserved try midway through the opening period when he shrugged off the attentions of three Pumas defenders and crashed over.

Indeed, watching coach Eddie Jones must have been quite heartened, especially as the pack he had expected to come under severe strain actually forced their way on top.

Phil Waugh and David Lyons were particularly effective, while Nathan Sharpe and the unfortunate Giffin cleaned up on their own line-out ball.

Something though was missing.

Maybe it was the clinicalness of their attack for there was no excuse available to prop Bill Young when he fed Joe Roff a forward pass after another Sailor burst had set Australia charging towards the Pumas line.

Instead, Australia had to settle for penalties, which admittedly Elton Flatley had no problem slamming over.

In contrast, Contepomi was having a nightmare, failing again just after the hour mark, leaving the visitors with little option other than to run when the Wallabies next infringed near their own line, and then missing what could have been a vital kick when full-back Ignacio Corleto's touchline effort was given the green light by the video referee.

As it was, Roff's late score took a bonus point out of their reach, which is good news for Pool A rivals Ireland at least.

Teams

Australia: Rogers, Sailor, Burke, Flatley, Roff, Larkham, Gregan, Young, Cannon, Baxter, Giffin, Sharpe, Smith, Waugh, Lyons.

Replacements: Tuqiri for Roff (78), Giteau for Larkham (69), Whitaker for Gregan (78), Paul for Cannon (72), Darwin for Baxter (67), Vickerman for Giffin (41), Cockbain for Smith (67).

Tries: Sailor, Roff.

Cons: Flatley.

Pens: Flatley 4.

Argentina: Corleto, Nunez Piossek, M. Contepomi, Orengo, Albanese, F. Contepomi, Pichot, Hasan, Ledesma, Grau, Fernandez Lobbe, Albacete, Phelan, Martin, Longo Elia.

Replacements: Reggiardo for Hasan (68).

Not Used: Mendez, Alvarez, Durand, N. Fernandez Miranda, Quesada, Martin Hernandez.

Tries: Corleto.

Pens: F. Contepomi.

Sin Bin: M. Contepomi (23).

Att: 83,000

Ref: Paul Honiss (New Zealand).