Wallabies wary of Pumas' history repeating

The Wallabies' forwards will continue to "have a crack" if they sense an opportunity but remain wary of an Argentinian bounce-back as they chase a fifth-straight win for the first time in five years.

Les Kiss's side held off Los Pumas 27-21 in San Salvador on Sunday (AEST) and, having since jumped them into seventh on the world rankings, will face them again in Mendoza this weekend.

It was far from a polished performance but there were still eye-catching moments, Brandon Paenga-Amosa's opening try chief among them after offloads from locks Jeremy Williams and Josh Canham in the build-up.

"We're encouraged that if we see the picture, go for it, have a crack," hooker Paenga-Amosa said of his "off the cuff" try.

"I looked up and there was four of us down the blindside against three backs (and thought), 'you know what, scrap it let's go'."

Kiss has shuffled his first and second-row in all three games he's coached, but the Wallabies' set-piece dominance has remained, particularly in the line-out.

"They (Argentina) thrive off dominating other packs and that's a strength of ours, taking it to them," Paenga-Amosa said.

"From the get-go, wanted to start off with a bang and we stepped up to the plate. It's been a huge area for us (physicality) and feel like we've delivered every single week."

Australia have won their first Test on both of the last two tours of Argentina, only to be blown away in the second.

In 2022 they won comfortable in Mendoza before suffering a 48-17 thumping in San Juan, while two years ago they followed up a one-point win on a wet night in La Plata with a historic 67-27 loss in Santa Fe.

Los Pumas have also won two of their last three clashes on Australian soil.

"We know they're going to want to come back with a response," Paenga-Amosa said.

"The last few times we've come, we've done really well in the first game and not so well in the second, so we understand what's coming."

Australia had lost six consecutive games, and nine of their last 10 Tests before thumping Italy in Perth earlier this year and beating Japan twice in as many weeks.