Wallabies cop hiding
THE Wallabies will return home with their tails between their legs after letting slip a golden opportunity in Argentina.
Not for the first time the Wallabies were slow out of the blocks and, with a number of big names sidelined, Dave Rennie’s side was unable to finish strongly as Michael Cheika’s Los Pumas scored two late tries to seal a massive 48-17 bonus point win in San Juan.
The 31-point loss was the Wallabies’ heaviest against Argentina, surpassing the 15-point margin in 1983.
“Massive disappointment. It’s not good enough,” Rennie said.
“We conceded four tries with kicks in behind us and certainly got dominated in the collision area and created plenty of opportunities but we’ve got to be patient. A ruck’s not a disaster; just not clinical enough.
“We certainly want to earn the respect of the country and you don’t do it with performances like that.”
The Wallabies will feel aggrieved. Rennie’s side felt like they should have taken the lead midway through the first half when James O’connor touched down, but referee Karl Dickson instead sought the assistance of his TMO and it was deemed James Slipper had illegally cleaned his opponent out.
Former All Blacks star Andrew Mehrtens deemed the decision “ridiculous”, and what could have seen the Wallabies go ahead 17-14 saw them trail 10-26 at halftime after two tries in
seven minutes saw the home side open up a big lead at halftime.
Needing to be the first to score in the second half, Tom Wright was penalised for not releasing and Emiliano Boffelli stepped up to bang over a critical penalty and extend the lead out to 29-10.
And when prop Thomas Gallo crashed over for his second try in the 63rd minute the game was as good as over.
While Len Ikitau hit back after 66 minutes, two late tries saw the home side pull away and punish the Wallabies for their mistakes to grab a bonus point and move to the top of The Rugby Championship standings.
The Wallabies were tactically outplayed, with their back three exposed by Argentina’s shrewd kicking game where they put boot to ball on 28 occasions. In particular Wright – playing his second Test at fullback – was exposed in the air and with his decision making.
The Wallabies were beaten at the set-piece, with their scrum struggling at times and although their attack looked threatening their discipline also hurt.