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Australia have claimed second place in this season’s Rugby Championship after defeating Argentina by 33 points to 21 at Twickenham in London.
All the wash-up from the Wallabies’ win over Argentina
» Match report: Wallabies win at Twickenham
» What changes should the Wallabies make for Bledisloe 3?
» DIY player ratings
» Re-live all the action with our live blog
» WATCH: All the highlights from the match
The match was willing and fiery but a stop-start affair with ill-discipline an issue for both sides – 24 penalties awarded – and both set pieces having their issues.
The Wallabies still managed to win this match despite conceding 66 percent possession to Argentina, making 108 tackles to 42 overall, feeding off a number of Puma errors and utilising their greater strike power on the counter-attack with Argentina’s inaccuracies ultimately costing them in the end.
Here are six talking points to consider from this morning’s encounter.
Wallaby discipline
Perhaps an obvious choice to start off with. While the performance of referee Mathieu Raynal is perhaps worthy of dissecting, four penalties for high tackles in the first half resulting in two yellow cards to Michael Hooper and Adam Coleman placed the Wallabies under immense pressure, fortunately for them the Pumas were unable to capitalise. The officious nature of the referee notwithstanding, the benchmark had been set and the Wallabies failed to adapt.
Wallaby leadership
As with the discipline already mentioned, the players didn’t seem to be on the same page at times, looking lethargic and disjointed. A case in point would be the Pumas try from a quick tap shortly after halftime, which was well taken to be fair, but it was quite noticeable how none of the Wallabies were paying much attention to what was happening. The senior players certainly need to be sharper in this area, keeping their charges awake to the game situation.
Samu Kerevi
He just keeps getting better and better and I would go as far to suggest the Wallabies may not have won if he was not playing. A nice bit of hyperbole I know but he was instrumental in a number of the Wallaby tries and was a constant menace with ball in hand, whether going through, around or creating space for others, adding real threat to the Wallaby backline in a difficult position.
Lopeti Timani
A long wait for many Roarers has finally come to an end with the numerous calls for Timani to start at 8 was finally answered and he made a pretty reasonable fist of his opportunity. He showed he can link well, carries hard and makes the advantage line and certainly provides presence on defence with some nice hits. I did feel at times that he appeared lost or unsure of himself but the more game time he has the better and he is certainly worth persisting with.
The All Black Pumas
Several times in the UK commentary, Stuart Barnes made comparisons between the Argentinians and All Blacks in terms of their attempted style of play, suggesting this was admirable but that the Pumas lack the skill level to implement accurately.
While I can see his point and it proved to be correct at times with the Pumas putting themselves under pressure trying to play expansively, I for one hope that they continue in this vein, attempting to perfect this style and build the depth and skill levels required. It is an exciting brand the Pumas are trying to create and I hope they are eventually successful.
Will Michael Cheika pick and stick?
While injuries have played their part throughout the season, there has been little continuity in selection amongst the forwards in particular at lock this season and I cannot help but feel this contributes to the inconsistent performances we have seen so far.
Certainly in the backs, where selection has been a bit more stable for the second half of the competition, the improvement has been significant while the forwards continue to stagnate.
Will we see further rotation up front and on the bench in two weeks or will Cheika decide to allow his forward pack the chance to settle?
Does Cheika know what his best pack is? And has naming a nine-man bench actually served any purpose?
How bizarre
I cannot recall seeing anything else quite like it at this level. Perhaps the closest was Nathan Grey during Super Rugby but I cannot recall anything similar.
During a stoppage in play, the Argentinian physio was moving towards the rolling ball coming towards him on the field and gathers it, this in turn incensed replacement Wallaby halfback Nick Phipps who gave the physio a shove which in turn enraged the Puma right wing Matias Moroni who rushed 15 odd meters to give Phipps a what-for.
So the physio shouldn’t have picked up the ball, Phipps definitely should not have shoved the physio and Moroni is not supposed to be running in from a distance, it’s a no go and in the wash-up we ended up with just a penalty to Argentina for Phipps push?
I suppose I can understand that but it appeared to me to be multiple brain explosions across the board. Perhaps the physio was just being nice and was going to pass it on?
There are my talking points from this match, what did you take away Roarers?
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.