A snapshot of the the Rugby Championship to date

We are now a third of the way through the Rugby Championship and it seems like a good opportunity to take a snapshot of where each team lies.

The Wallabies currently sit in last place with two points, earned from their first up draw with the All Blacks in Sydney in the first round. The Wallabies are on the same number of points as Argentina, however they are sitting last due to a heavy differential of -31.

After a promising start against the competition favourites in Sydney, the Wallabies wilted in the return match in Auckland – losing 51-20.

It was a complete reversal of what we saw in Sydney. In Sydney the Wallabies were hungry, dominated the contact area and adapted their game plan to suit the match. They put the All Blacks under immense pressure.

Unfortunately the All Blacks managed to hold on at the end for a draw but signs were positive for the following week.

However, the All Blacks lifted their game immeasurably from Sydney and in Auckland the Wallabies simply could not match the pace or intensity that the All Blacks bought to the match particularly up front.

Ewen McKenzie has a fair bit to ponder before the next stage of the competition begins and when you consider the strength of the forward packs to come it must be a concern.

The biggest area for concern was the lack of intensity his forwards showed at Eden Park and that simply has to improve regardless of the final selections he makes and the players must take ownership of that.

The Wallabies were embarrassed on Saturday night and have two weeks to dwell on it.

That embarrassment is a major reason why I think they will turn it around and secure a win against an ‘out of sorts’ Boks in Perth.

Never underestimate the power of embarrassment to motivate and I imagine the Wallabies will be desperate to put that performance in the rear view mirror. They will be itching to hit the ground running against South Africa.

The Pumas sit in third place with two points but with a superior points differential of -9. They secured two bonus-point losses to the Springboks.

The Pumas are still waiting to get their first win in the Championship since entering in 2012 and how on earth they have not managed it in the last two games is almost bewildering.

The first game in Pretoria was marred by absolutely atrocious weather, but the Pumas did have their opportunities and were unable to execute at vital times.

Salta was a magnificent performance. I have never seen a Springbok team dominated up front like they were in that match but again the Pumas just came up short and only have themselves to blame.

The turning point in my view was around the 65th minute and the Pumas were leading at this stage by five points, 28-23.

In good field position on the Springboks 22, Nicolas Sanchez, their impressive first five eighth, went for a drop goal and missed.

Before then, the Pumas had led by 28-16 but the Springboks were starting to click into gear. The momentum of the match – which had been in the Pumas favour – was beginning to swing to the Boks who had just scored a converted try to narrow the gap to five.

It was a wasted opportunity to put the Boks out of the game and it is a lesson that the Pumas need to take on board. They must change their mentality.

Even if successful the margin would have only been eight and with fifteen minutes to play that would not have been enough to hold on.

As it happened, two minutes later the Springboks had scored a converted try to take the lead.

It wasn’t so much the drop goal that was the problem; it was the amount of time left in the match. The Pumas will need to score tries if they want to secure wins against their Rugby Championship competitors and the drop goal was a poor decision at the time, even more bewildering when they had already managed to cross the line three times.

It was also noticeable how long Daniel Hourcade left his starters on in very hot and dry conditions. Considering how they faded in the last quarter it was perhaps an error not to promote fresh legs a bit earlier.

One thing is for certain; the Pumas represent a significant challenge for both the All Blacks and Wallabies to come and cannot be taken lightly. The Pumas have nothing to fear from either side, particularly up front.

The All Blacks currently sit in second place with seven points, two from their first round draw and five for a bonus point win against the Wallabies last Saturday night.

With a healthy points differential of 31 they are sitting in a very reasonable position and on form are still heavy favourites for the competition.

After a scrappy start where they escaped Sydney with a draw, they have turned their performance around in emphatic fashion with an absolute thumping of the Wallabies in Auckland.

If they can reproduce the intensity and desperation showed on Saturday it seems hard to believe they can be beaten.

However, discipline remains an issue, having now conceded four yellow cards in two matches and when one considers the strength of the forward packs to come and accuracy and distance in goal kickers this needs to be remedied.

I also expect our scrum to come under heavy scrutiny and I wait to see how we handle the Pumas in particular.

Consistency of performance is the All Blacks challenge moving forward as I do not believe they can afford another ‘Sydney’ against either the Springboks or Pumas.

The Springboks currently lead the competition on eight points after two wins over the Pumas with no bonus points.

Although unbeaten, they have looked anything but convincing so far this year. They appear disjointed and rusty and seem to be struggling to come together as a cohesive unit.

As I mentioned earlier, I have never seen a Springbok side outmuscled and out enthused as they were against the Pumas and a scrum, usually an area of strength, was at times destroyed.

Halfback and five-eighth still appeal as problem areas with no suitable solutions found as of yet.

This must be of concern to Heyneke Meyer heading into their away leg in the antipodes and hard to see where the answers will come from.

However, they have still managed to find ways to win despite being in such poor form and have two weeks off to prepare for their upcoming tour.

I am certainly not prepared to write the Springboks off, there is too much class and experience within their squad and we know they will lift but some serious improvement is needed, and quickly.