Australia has completed a comfortable fourth round Rugby Championship victory over Argentina by 36 points to 20 in Perth in an open, if somewhat scrappy, affair.
The Wallabies will be very happy to have finished their domestic season off with a good win and a solid second stage of the rugby Championship while Argentina will be dissatisfied with their Australasian tour in 2016.
More of the wash-up from Wallabies vs Argentina:
» LORD: When Genia fires, the Wallabies fire
» Pocock sidelined by broken hand
» What changes should the Wallabies make?
» DIY Player ratings
» Read the full match report
» Watch all the highlights
There were a number of quality individual performances from the Wallabies last night, there were none more so than halfback Will Genia who seems to be going from strength to strength this season with the more games he plays. His running game caused havoc for Argentina while young lock Adam Coleman continues to impress with his work rate and aggression adding great value to the Wallaby tight five.
Here are a few talking points I would nominate from this encounter.
Wallaby defence
Many were hesitant to praise the improvements in this area last weekend against the Springboks, preferring to look at the South Africans’ inability to exploit rather than the Wallaby effort however last night demonstrated that the Wallabies have made significant progress in this area.
Forced to make 143 tackles in Perth, the defensive line was committed and at times vigorous; Reece Hodge catching the eye for some cracking tackles in midfield, halting Puma momentum.
The Pumas had the majority of possession, 67 per cent worth, and made a whopping 34 offloads yet the Wallaby defence scrambled well and held firm, and is a pleasing aspect of the Wallabies recent matches.
Wallaby set piece
Another good night for the lineout, 100 per cent secured on the Wallaby throw while the scrum had a few issues at times which is a little bit of a backward step for an area that has been reasonably good for the Wallabies and will potentially see a grumpy Mario Ledesma in training for the next few weeks.
Wallaby discipline
The Wallabies were absolutely caned by referee Wayne Barnes, conceding 16 penalties to seven by Argentina and a further two yellow cards for good measure.
While debate may rage around the quality of some of the decisions made, it does not change the fact that the Wallabies struggled to adapt to the interpretation during the match and let themselves down in this area.
I imagine this will be a major area of focus for the squad before heading overseas.
Puma consistency
Into their fifth season of the Rugby Championship, the Pumas have still to learn how to produce consistent performances and certainly seem to have some mental barriers to overcome. While the style of play is at times exhilarating there is no hiding from the fact that they have lost both recent matches comfortably.
They will be a different proposition playing at home but they are still battling to produce consistent performances over 80 minutes and week to week. There is no doubting the talent and potential of the side; however the mental application of the squad seems to be a weakness for the Argentinians. This was epitomised by a soft start to last night’s match, down 21 zip within 15 minutes and the game essentially lost at that point.
I would suggest dropping you’re in form halfback, who had just out played Aaron Smith the week before, does not help with the sides belief nor consistency.
Diving
Have had to get this off my chest for some time now but look, cut it out, just stop it Pumas, it is embarrassing and a blight on the game. There is no issue raising concerns with a ref, none at all, there is a captain for that. But feigning injury and causing stoppages? Enough please.
Five points there worth chewing the fat over and significant ones at that.
What were your big areas for discussion from last night’s encounter?
Timbo (L)
Guest
I just re-watched the footage, What I saw: Cooper was stationary at the time of impact and appeared to be protecting himself. If my observations are correct, Sanchez charged Cooper and made no attempt to avoid the collision. He could have been penalized for obstructing the defending player. And the Oscar Winner is......
Martin Santurtun
Roar Rookie
RF the Pumas have a concentration problem - they have to learn how to finish games (lost to SA in SA on the last 10 minutes) or keep up a very good game for 80 minutes instead of 60 - and one important is repeat a good performance in the following match!! I believe they need a good sport psychologist!! This is a very young team , with most of the players in the 21 - 23 years old range and representing a country who became part of an annual competition at Tier 1 level just 5 years ago and this is their first year taking part of a professional club tournament. Local rugby is totally amateur. Needless to say that a good number of experienced and good professional players can not be part of the Pumas because they play in Europe!! Give us a couple more years!!
Fernando Marzano
Guest
GOD bless you, you need it
Carlos the Argie
Roar Guru
Fernando, go back to take care of the vineyards. Your comments regarding the refereeing are ridiculous. Gardner is a great up and coming referee, or you forgot how he dealt with the Argentine TMO in Buenos Aires that "forgot" that a foot in touch is out?
RobC
Roar Guru
I reckon Digs, to keep things interesting: - SANZAARJ should create a new TRC team - All Blacks team 2 - Or two teams. NZ North, vs NZ South. - Another permutation: NZ Canterbury + Waikato vs RoNZ
TD
Guest
Thanks for this. For me these results have to be evaluated in context. First - as others have noted - the Pumas were poor on the weekend. I think they may have got ahead of themselves after seeing those All Black thrashings and had forgotten they were playing extremely high quality players. They learned a painful lesson about what happens when you underestimate quality, wounded opposition. Having said that, the Pumas showed good fight, had 65% + of the possession and showed some glimpses of class. I rate the Wallabies and Cheika's team, so I was pretty pleased by what I saw on Saturday night. A big improvement overall. We've got top players, but need to focus on core skills and discipline - as well as all out attack. And when the attack comes together, it is pretty deadly. The trouble is that at this stage of their development, it comes apart more than it comes together (against the ABs, it fell apart!). With time, it will start to gel more and more. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. An improvement, yes, but as others have posted already, this was a victory against inferior opposition on the night. The Pumas didn't have the same class in attack or defence (esp line speed) as the All Blacks and at Test level, these are gifts to quality players. Our guys took full advantage.
Smiggle Jiggle
Roar Guru
I do like the way he goes looking for work.
Sulzberg
Guest
How was Genia's second try award , he was short of the line!!! no review or checking by the match officials??
Smiggle Jiggle
Roar Guru
Except South Africa last match. They kept bombing him. he is not a long distant sort of player, so FB might be taking its toll.
Rhino66
Roar Rookie
Glad you picked up one of my gripes from the game in point 5. These soccer style dives are getting very boring and Sanchez is the chief perpetrator. It's right up there with crowds booing the opposition kicker as my pet hates in rugby.
Dave_S
Guest
Trump would build a great D wall, Moa, and he'd make the other team pay for it!
Dave_S
Guest
It could have been just a penalty and a stern warning but it wasn't a poor decision, certainly not the worst YC I've seen. If that was a real attempt to avoid contact by QC, it didn't look like it to me, and he led with the shoulder. You put yourself at risk of a YC with that sort of stuff.
Dave_S
Guest
Yep maybe Izzy and QC are not on the same page yet, they have played very little together and playing well with QC means getting yourself into position and trusting him to hit you with the pass. Folau's more used to Foley which probably means he's thinking he has to get the ball earlier before he get to the D line and do more of the work himself.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Kellaway is nowhere near right now.
Dave_S
Guest
Agree, Kellaway is promising but it would be premature. With Kerevi, DHP and Hodge bedded in, Kuridrani in reserve and wingers to come in, there is no pressing need to bring Kellaway through at this stage. Actually, I don't mind what I'm seeing from Foley, either. Arguable that any paring of Hodge / Kerevi / Kuridrani is the better bet, but I like Foley's running game, it has some penetration. Seems that being freed of the creative decision-making by QC has freed his running game a bit.
Jack
Guest
That makes Mummys stats look even worse...A lock making more tackles than a 6?? and missing way less tackles than a 6.. Mumms Gotta go ..He just has to .If Chieka has any Bottle, he`s gotta tell Deans dad he cant pick him anymore.. Stand up Chieka ..Show us your the leader..
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Coleman mad 18 from 19. Enormous effort considering he played only 67 minutes.
Terry
Guest
Nonu made a great career out of shoulder charging and not getting away with it..Kiwis have short memories.hahaha I remember him knocking out James Slipper in NEW ZULLAND with a massive shoulder charge. .Not even a penalty ..haha
Jack
Guest
Biggest talking point for me was...Dean Mumm was a passenger !!! ..He can’t run like a 6 or bust tackles like a 6, he is ineffective at the tackle area and didn't do much in the lineout. Coleman and Simmons took most of lineout ball… Coleman made 10 tackles from 10 attempts Simmons made 14 tackles and missed 2 Mummy made 10 tackles and missed 8 dropped a ball and made zero tackle busts Now we will see if Mumm is protected because that was the worst performance from a lock ive ever witnessed. No wonder Pocock broke his hand when this absolute imposter Mumm did nothing but miss tackles..I hope McMahon starts at 6 and Timani is 8 .But it won’t happen unfortunately :(
Fernando Marzano
Guest
Hello from Argentina Congratulations to the WB´s for the win, yesterday they where much better LP´s, instead of preparing for a tough game to face the WB's, ilooks to me like they were taking a week vacation, sunbathing on the beaches, they probably took those days for shopping, sad, very sad, laziness, the lack of commitment of some players during the first 20 minutes. A player who has been disastrous throughout the year, Super Rugby, June window, Rugby Championship, is Ramiro Herrera. He has been dismal at Scrum, very wrong with the ball in his hands, an so on. His performance yesterday cost the team two tries, which still struggling LPs had been in game. A separate paragraph for the Australian referee Angus Garden, who led the Springboks AB's party. To me look like je is the number one AB's fan. Was incredible to see how he favored the men of black during the game, besides the AB's not need it, they are too good to win without referees help. It gave me sad to see how AB's props were going across all the time into the scrum, and he penalized the Boks, the number of screens that they made on both sides, being ignored by the referees. In the end I found him going to celebrate with the AB's, shaking hands with KR, sharing smiles, ironically seemed to me like "We did it well together" Craig Joubert is another one of the referees who does the same, Nigell Owens hurt the WB's openly in the final of the World Cup. What's going on with the referees. I fully agree with Stephen Larkham, AG definitely hurt the Brumbies.