The Wallabies' best is yet to come

As good as the 52-17 win over the Pumas in Rosario was, and as well as we played during the 80 minutes; the most satisfying aspect of it was our potential to get better.

As mediocre as Quade Cooper has been over the last two seasons, he really looked like his dynamic 2011 self on Saturday night.

He threw short balls when the defensive line was spread, often leading to line breaks, and he went wide at the right times also.

This vision was something lacking in Cooper’s games of late, often holding the ball for too long or running across field and closing off potential gaps for his ball runners.

Cooper released the ball early against the Pumas, distributing well and also drew his defender effectively when he needed to.

His most pleasing aspect was the long looped pass to Tevita Kuridrani at outside centre, both times he made this pass the defensive line was bunched waiting for the short ball, and were caught off guard.

Joe Tomane had the finest game of his career (including Brumbies and Wallabies).

Before Saturday night he had not looked comfortable in the gold jersey, often caught out in defense by moving in on the outside centre and leaving his own winger unmarked (think back to the Lions series).

Although he made a couple of early defensive mistakes against the Pumas he made up for it by doing what all wingers should do more often, getting involved in the middle of the field.

His crash balls were effective, making Nick Cummins-like line breaks, but too often forcing the last pass.

It is great to see the Wallabies making positive metres but our outside backs and Will Genia especially need to take a leaf out of the South African and New Zealand playbooks and learn to take the ball to ground and trust their forwards to get over the ball.

That might be a tall ask considering how slow our tight five were to clean out against the Boks in Newlands but trusting your support and going to ground is an essential component of playing mistake-free rugby.

Too often our last offload, flick pass or no-looker is a thorn in our side.

Adding to this great performance is the knowledge that two of our best players are yet to return to the team.

Scott Higginbotham is the physical presence that our forwards still lack, his inclusion should come at the expense of Rob Simmons, who played fine last test but isn’t doing enough to cement his spot.

Higginbotham should go to blindside flanker, pushing Scott Fardy to his preferred position of lock.

Another massive positive is David Pocock’s inclusion. His absence has not often been talked about because of how well Michael Hooper has played in the last year, and he has been fantastic.

However with Pocock back in the number seven jumper, we will finally have a genuine pilferer back on the field, able to cause havoc in the rucks that Hooper cannot create.

We will then have a situation where in the 65th minute or thereabouts, when opposition defences are wearier, to bring on a fresh Hooper to work hard around the park doing what he does best; running the ball.

The situation with the backs is harder to guess, but having too many options is never a problem in Test rugby.

Cooper has done enough to earn his test spot for the next test, Toomua working well as a number 10 and 12 substitute.

Kuridrani has been good also when called upon however when our winger injury and suspension crisis subsides it will be only a matter of time until he is pushed to the bench for Adam Ashley-Cooper, the premier number 13 in the country.

The rumoured desire to play Folau in the centres should be quashed, he played his best rugby at 15 for the Tahs and played his best game for the Wallabies at 15 on Saturday night, so logic only assumes he should stay 15.

Folau in the centres would limit his ability to counter attack in open field, and if our five-eighth has a bad game and is unable to distribute the ball to the 13 on a regular basis (which is a likely possibility) then he would be wasted.

The return of Cummins, availability of Henry Speight, and promising rise of Chris Feauai-Sautia means we shouldn’t have problems in the quality of our wingers as well, should Tomane return to his earlier inconsistent form.

There was also a positive to come out of the performance of the front row, something that hasn’t been said in a while, and rightly so.

It has been proven again that the James Slipper – Ben Alexander prop combination isn’t physical enough in the set piece.

Slipper is a Test-quality prop and his yellow carding was a result of over-compensating in the scrum for his fellow prop’s mistakes.

Alexander is a concern in the scrums, a concern that is only getting worse. His previously only saving grace in his general play ability is also waning so he needs to get back to his 2012 Twickenham form otherwise his spot in the 22 man squad will become severely jeopardised.

Robinson coming on the field provided an immediate upgrade in the scrum, his efforts helping to hold the Pumas off our line despite having a winger pushing at number six.

It is time to try different options in the scrum. A Robinson, Moore, Slipper combination should be picked for the next Test and other players should also be looked at heavily such as the Waratahs’ Paddy Ryan; a big physical prop who is effective both in the set piece and general play.

There is no reason why the excellent front row play for the Waratahs, with the Robinson – Ryan prop combination, wouldn’t translate to excellent play in the gold jersey.

People may downplay the win in Rosario, saying we should have beat the Argentines, or they compare us to the world class quality played out in Ellis Park beforehand, but we are simply not up to that level yet.

The most exciting prospect is that Saturday night provided the rugby tragics among us with a glimpse of what we could play like.

Hopefully the best is yet to come.